Spring Break Assignment

ANSH VAKIL ARCHITECTURE DESIGN STUDIO I CCSF SPRING 2012 APRIL 10, 2012

CREATION OF PLACES AND PATHS IMBUED WITH DIVERSE SPATIAL EXPERIENCES 1

INTRODUCTION Spa>al experience is a rela>vely new discipline that crosses the boundaries of tradi>onal design disciplines such as architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and landscape design as well as public art within the Public Realm.

It focuses upon the flow of space between interior and exterior environments both in the natural and man-­‐made realm. The emphasis of the discipline is upon working with people and space, par>cularly looking at the no>on of place, also place iden>ty and genius loci. As such the discipline covers a variety of scales, from detailed design of interior spaces to large regional strategies, and is largely found around the world. As a discipline it uses the language of Architecture, Interior Design and Landscape Architecture to communicate design inten>ons.

Spa>al experiences refers to the sensorial quali>es that a space emits. Space is an immediate form of physical percep>on, and is recognized through emo>onal sensibility. Architects and designers use the no>on of space to argue that architecture and space is designed and built for people to use and experience.

2

MAN-­‐MADE ENVIRONMENT

3

4

While working on the Spring Break assignment a dialogue was created between two elements, an ar>st and architect. This collabora>on lead to the development of merging ideas. The common concern was based on spa>al experiences of the immediate context we live in, as a cri>cal view of the society and its physical basic transla>on. The work stands as documentaries, ar>ficial construc>ons of urban reali>es, not sculptures but situa>ons. It’s a dialogue between the viewer and the space he stands in, in an extension, exaggera>on of something exis>ng, some>mes deforming the reality. The gap between the planning and the reality creates a dissonance, a zone of tension as a working material for us. The dialogue between a model and a real construc>on leads to the fact that we can only plan, to reveal the truth of space. The perversion is merging when we create a parallel reality more real than the reality itself. Then we are closer to the ‘project’ itself, to exaggerate the physical experiences.

Physical experience is a func>on of space, >me, knowledge and memory. Playing with these elements creates an ar>ficial situa>on, forcing the viewer to be a ‘voyeur’ of a virtual reality detached from its natural context to reveal the perversion of a familiar known environment. Everything happens in this momentum of tension between a very familiar place and a totally new spa>al experience. It obliges the visitor to look at reality and its actual esthe>cs, bringing to light its basic experiences of wonder, mystery, awe, solitude, peace, excitement, companionship, disagreement and apathy.

5

6

LIGHT: Light that fills a room can give the impression of a space being serene, exhilara>ng, gloomy, celebratory or creepy. Spaces are experienced by the mood transmiaed within. Light is crucial in crea>ng space within architecture. Architecture provokes emo>ons and spaces. This sense of space is enhanced not only of objects, walls, and solids, but also of light, sound, color. The effect light has on each structure during the rise of the morning sun almost gives me a spiritual feeling, whereas gives me a sense of solitude at the >me of sunset. Light, whether natural or ar>ficial, highlights certain parts of the building which may have been overlooked otherwise.

The brightness and response that light has on the material used on buildings can reflect a place of fun, excitement, enthusiasm as well as one of dac, shallow, dull and sluggish. The effect of light on solid materials rebounds the aesthe>c value of the structure, which may be pleasant to the eyes of the observer.

AIR: Air encapsulates buildings. Buildings are said to be alive. By inhabita>on, life is given to interior spaces through imagina>on and presence. Air in buildings forms space. Like the sky, space is mobile, mutable, perturbed, polymorphous, subject to stress, strain and fa>gue. The most important agita>ons of space are sound, heat and odor. These agita>ons are carried by air and fill space. Buildings defend and sustain their interiority; air creates an apparent space within architecture. Air enhances the aesthe>c experience and appearance of the environment. Air brings in the tangible feature that has the capacity to transform a dry and sultry environment into a pleasant one and vice versa.

MATERIALS: Materials create architectural spaces. Materials can be transformed in mul>ple ways to obtain certain atmospherics in architecture and spaces. For example, a stone can be split, cut, sawed, drilled, polished and with each process it posses a different quality.

7

8

Materials are also combined with other materials in a building that play with texture, color, temperature and tone; all of which create an atmosphere and mood. Standing in a building built with the help of diverse materials establishes a revolu>onary rela>on with one another and have their own radiance. Composi>on of materials creates a unique experience and emo>on like that of warmth, brisk, mild or rough. The personifica>on of materials in defining architectural spaces in a house, bridge, skyscraper, coaage, or temple is endless.

SOUND: Interiors are like large instruments, collec>ng sound, amplifying it, transmigng it elsewhere. Depending on the peculiar shape of each room, surface of materials and the way those materials have been applied plays an important role in influencing the way sound is heard and felt in a room. Sounds are associated with certain rooms, places and memories. Empty spaces s>ll produce sound through the s>llness and silence of scale and materials. Sound in architecture is heard through physical presence and sensi>vity. Sound induces emo>onal and sensual responses. Material, scale, memory, and familiarity all create a sense of sound inside a building. It is up to individuals within a space to iden>fy and associate with the sounds present. Sound is both a tangible and intangible sensa>onal atmospheric quality. It allows the observer to physically hear, as well as feel and sense the characteris>c spaces present in architecture.

In seeking to learn about emo>onal experiences in a man-­‐made spa>al environment, it is useful to recognize that there are no right or wrong emo>ons, posi>ve or nega>ve emo>ons: emo>ons are emo>ons. An emo>on is a psychological element, that can be felt as if they are taking hold of us to the point where we are going to be overwhelmed by them and loose all sense of control. To feel is to be alive. The fact that our culture encourages us to think in terms of discrete emo>ons, makes the understanding and handling of emo>ons tricky.

9

10

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

11

12

The central character of natural space is its shy openness to form. Space is both the most prominent and the most reserved dimension of nature. Its public quality is shown by the way it appears before our very eyes. Its hidden and private character is revealed by the fact that we cannot touch or feel it. In fact if we do, we know that what we have felt is not space but rather that which is taking up space. Space slips through our hands even as we try to grasp it. At the same >me, it is quite misleading to think of space as empty. Space does give room but emp>ness is not its primary characteris>c.

Furthermore, space is pliable. When pushed, it yields , and when contained, it stays. Also, space seems to be indefinitely malleable, for it can assume any number of shapes and s>ll remain space. Again, space separates but it can also join things together. It is both a barrier and an entrance. Space can welcome and space can forbid. Space is open and space is also closed.

It is a cultural fact that we are condi>oned to think of space in nature as empty.

This is a hangover from the age of thinking about space in Newtonian terms as an empty container. It is also one of the chief cultural obstacles standing in the way of a reformed environmental vision. Scien>fic materialism would have us regard this fundamental axis of experience as a type of empty vessel within which experience takes place. Nothing could be further than the truth.

13

14

When a spa>al order displays a fundamental vagueness, its component features exhibit simplicity as a guiding trait. Within vague paaerns of spa>al order an overall uniformity rise up to assert itself. Thus, one can vaguely speak of a natural environment as being arid or fer>le or boggy and all the while make room for opposite condi>ons within its domain. A good concrete example of a vague spa>al order would be a mountain range as seen from a distance. Undoubtedly, there are rivers, lakes and valleys running all through such a spa>al display, but from a distance, the many count as one and we see the mountain range in all its vague majesty.

A narrow spa>al paaern is characterized by an extreme simplicity such that liale or no distrac>ons are allowed within its domain. Narrowness marks out a par>cular channel for space to follow and what cannot fit in gets very short shric. Its lack of generosity has been noted before and when narrowness characterizes a spa>al domain, it most ocen is accompanied by a feeling of incompleteness. This comes about because narrowness contradicts an essen>al trait of natural space, its generosity or openness. An intolerantly narrow space trenches on the very essence of spa>al being. The very word, narrow, conjures up the specter of the poten>al disappearance of space.

One of the more obvious examples of a narrow spa>al paaern is a dense impacted material object. Narrow environments specialize in separa>on. Unlike the trivial, which lets any kind of space into its domain, the narrow reacts against complex addi>ons even if by itself it may be quite complex.

15

16

Where vagueness eschews clarity, narrowness endorses it. An environment steeped in narrowness presents great presence and individuality. Clear perspec>ves and a high degree of individual character are common marks of narrow spa>al environmental paaerns.

A wide spread paaern is the outcome of a fortunate blending of the vague and the narrow. Natural spa>al width is dis>nguished by its capacity to surround and embrace without elimina>ng dis>nc>ve individual features. Both simplicity and complexity are aauned to each other. The resultant harmony is such that individuality which is the gic of narrowness and unity which is the gic of vagueness are brought into fruijul contrast. From one side a complex simplicity reigns which is then seen from the other side as a form of simple complexity. Width lets both the narrow and the vague assert their full weight and in doing so elevates the environment to a totally new level of importance and value.

Consider a hillside in the San Francisco district of California. It sits back and through it width embraces numerous stones, boulders, and rocky outcroppings such that they all appear to belong quite naturally to the hillside. Such is the width of this special environment embrace that even the animals that dwell on it are accepted.

They appear to belong in the most natural way to the hillside itself. All such spa>ally wide natural landscapes are correctly judged to be beau>ful for they do two things quite well. First of all, they fit into their segngs of the strong individuality of their members. In this way they embrace the narrow. Second, they harmonize their components in such a way as to pull together differences and thereby preserve the unity of strong modes of beauty.

17

18

Experienced spa>ally, width creates appropriate room for the right amount of simplicity and complexity. Such observa>ons bring the discussion quite naturally to the ques>on of percep>on of spa>al paaerns.

In its own special way natural space also expresses the fundamental theme of the one and the many. The paaerns of natural space are one because they integrate their components so as to always express a harmony of unique determinateness that grasps within its spa>al spread all the essen>al and condi>onal features of its spa>al posi>on.

These same harmonies are also many because each expresses its own unique perspec>ve of importance that spreads itself throughout the environment in ques>on.

Therefore, space is the very first expression of crea>vity in nature. As soon as any instance of crea>vity appears on the scene, space is always already there. This is what it means to say that each event spreads itself in a spa>al manner. There can be no crea>vity in the actual world without there also being an accompanying spa>al mark.

These marks are in fact the regions of space and >me that environmental ac>vi>es express it their process of coming to be.

19