CONSIDER THIS
A Design Logbook by Carley Friesen
“On the tip of my tongue an offensive is poised and rearing...” (Incubus, Pistola - A Crow Left of the Murder 2004)
“Architecture is not only about building...it is the way we think and talk about it.� (Aaron Betsky, Venice Architecture Biennale)
LUND UNIVERSITY MASTER’S OF SUSTAINABLE URBAN DESIGN URBAN QUALITY AND URBAN FORM LOG BOOK ASSIGNMENT DECEMBER 3, 2008 CARLEY FRIESEN “CONSIDER THIS”
09.01.08 - 12.03.08
CONTENTS
All writing in this book was influenced by the cited lectures. Attempts have been made to give distinction where the words came directly from the lecturer, however, most of the work has been paraphrased, and should not be considered as a direct quote of the lecturer. The attempt has been made to distinguish between the thoughts of myself, and the words of others involved in the discussion. Content may be reproduced, however, please give credit where credit is due.
09.11.08 Copenhagen
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Gehl Architects - Copenhagen
09.18.08 Lund
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Harrison Fraker Lectures - University of California
09.18.08 Lund
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Torben Schonherr - Landskab - Copenhagen
09.25.08 Lund
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Karlskrona Design Charette
10.09.08 Amsterdam
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Layers of Time - Amsterdam
10.16.08 Lund
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Lars Bendrup - Transform - Denmark
10.22.08 Lund/Malmo
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Instant Urbanism Research
10.30.08 Lund
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Presentations
11.06.08 Lund
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Klas Tham - BO01 - City of Malmo
11.13.08 Helsingborg
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Jacob Peetre - Jais Nielsen-White - Helsingborg
11.20.08 Lund
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Joaquim Reiter - ONIX - Helsingborg
11.27.08 Lund
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Kristoffer Nilsson - City of Helsingborg
09.01.08 - 12.03.08
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Appendix I - Sketchbook
09.01.08 - 12.03.08
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Appendix II - Language
09.01.08 - 12.03.08
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Appendix III - Lectures of Interest
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“Man is man’s greatest joy.” (Derived from Lecture at Gehl Architects)
09.11.08
Gehl Architects - Copenhagen
I was encouraged by the visit to Gehl design because of their humanistic approach to urban design and architecture. The theory behind the work emphasis the urban actor and the importance of the urban actor in creating good urban design. They realize this importance through considering human scale, daily activity, and human emotions and interactions. They seemed to have a great deal of research on the human body and its perceptions of space, and they used this information to inform their design. Factors such as scale, color, human eyesight, were all evaluated and used to create design (or analysis of design) that could stimulate and accommodate the human body. The description of ‘necessary’ and ‘optional’ activities was very helpful. They said that necessary activities will happen in a city regardless of the setting. This includes activities such as food shopping, or travel. Leisure (optional) activities are engaged in by urban actors only when the space or place is of a quality that allows for it. This is important for urban designers, in realising how we evaluate and describe spaces. For example, to say that a “place is successful because of the number of people that are using it and because multiple functions occur here” does not necessarily mean that it is desirable or well-designed place. These qualities could apply to a big-box stores parking lot, but the place is not a successful urban design. Urban designers need to be more focused and accurate in describing the spatial conditions which are contributing to the success of the space. They need to consider if people are there because they must be, or because they enjoy being there. I found their ‘12 Quality Criteria’ to be surprisingly superficial and almost demeaning towards urban design. If urban analysis could actually be carried out by this simple graph, it would seem that there are limited different urban spaces (created by the amount of combinations allowed by this criteria) and that they are all easily described (and prescribed). This is not true, however, and I believe that your analysis must also be very specific and respond to the context. This is especially true when it comes to the cultural context. In the same way that I don’t believe there can be a universal design for urban spaces, I also don’t believe that there can be a universal analysis schema.
I. I.
II.II.
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III. This simplified image shows the limited approach of the Jan Gehl analysis, which rests on three main topics: protection, comfort, and environment. It provides for a clear starting point to analysis, but I think this limits your ability to fully understand a place.
This is what my idea of a typical analysis would look like. It allows an exploration of the space, and you may move through an analysis freely, rather than with linear movement. You may also state that some of the factors are of greater importance than others. The analysis also allows you to enter your own factors for analysis as is appropriate.
I think it is positive how much international celebration this firm has received. The ideas are not new, nor by any means extraordinary, but sometimes it is important to point out what is right in front of use, because for some reason, this is sometimes the hardest to see. I would be interested to learn more about how their international consultations carry out, and how they have learned from analyzing the value of public spaces in other cultures. PRESENTATION TECHINIQUE : I like that the form of the visit began with a formal lecture, which led into a trip into the city to try the methods that the lecture had introduced. 1
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“The site will be ever-changing and therefor the architecture is constantly re-emerging.” (Derived from Harrison Fraker Lectures)
09.19.08
Harrison Fraker Lectures - University of California fraker@berkeley.edu We heard a few lectures by Harrison Fraker, from Berkeley University. They covered topics such as process and transparency, the design charette, and the work he has done studying the design for eco-blocks in China.
Carley Friesen 26 Vagnmansgt. Landskrona Sweden 26 140 09.19.08 603 Wurster Hall, 1820 Berkeley University Berkeley, California 94720 Mr. Fraker The work that you showcased, both at the conference (SuperBlocks in China) and at the lecture series on Friday afternoon, seemed to me, to lay the groundwork for any new urban (or rural, for that matter) development. The images you showed were mainly of systems, which could be applied anywhere (although some of them were climatically dependant). It seemed that this system was a new infrastructure typology: rather than separate sewage, green space, water treatment, compost, etc, all of these functions could be combined in one cycle. To me, this is not a discussion of urban design, or of architectural design. It is infrastructure design. The attempt should be that all designers are aware of how these systems work, and then the architecture and urban design is attached to it, melded with it. In the same way we were taught in school about HVAC and traditional plumbing systems, we now must be taught a new infrastructure, one that is not simply ‘green’ as a fashion or design paradigm, but rather is inherent in design itself. I appreciated how clearly you stated that the project for NASA was not meant to be architecture, but was rather a diagram. There was also some obvious urban design points that had not been challenged, but could also be read as solely diagrammatically. There was a question or comment about why no one could critique the work that was presented, and I think that the reason for this is that it is not for critique. It is a system, which makes sense environmentally. Essentially, it is making natural processes usable in an urban and human constructed environment and that is a method that is difficult to contest. I was surprised, however, in all of the discussion on sustainable urban and architectural design, that the issue of re-use never came up. I believe that new development is one of the greatest strains on the environment (re. The wealth of information on ‘invested energy’, and also the inefficiency of the construction process, and bureaucratic process for new development). What about renovation and retrofit? Where do these fit in? Where is the line when even sustainable new housing has a greater cost to the environment than an unsustainable renovation could have? One thing that I must say I appreciated very much in the combination of all of your lectures was the mixture between theory, practice and reality. During my undergraduate studies in Architecture, I felt as though the school, in fact the entire architectural community, seemed to be split between ‘theorists’ and ‘pragmatists’ (these are my own terms, not to be connoted with another use). Essentially, it felt that either projects could look at architecture as theory, or ideas ‘beyond the building’, etc, etc, or they could be attached to a budget and a distinct social or environmental program and leave architectural theory behind. I was very happy with the balance between your lecture on the ‘thick now’ with the lectures on current environmental issues. I have always felt myself so heavily drawn to both aspects of design, and feel that in reality they cannot be separated. Theory and pragmatism must mix to create the best of designs. Friends of mine who are radical on environmentalism they cannot see my draw to the design world. Many designers feel that social and environmental sustainability are unnecessary constraints on the pure art of design. Can we find some balance? In ‘thick now’ you showed the project of the defense building in San Francisco. You talked about how the diagrammatic form was related in the physical form of the building. It seems as though architecture is very successful when it has this layering of literal, functional diagram along with physical space and form. The building form also was a beautiful showcase of sustainable technologies. These are some very quick thoughts, and I apologize for how unclear, or simple they may be. I hope that if nothing else you will take this letter as a complement of the work that you are doing. Sincerely Carley Friesen PRESENTATION TECHINIQUE : There were enough images shown on the slide show to describe all of the given lectures. It could have been more clear which were diagrams, and which were designs.
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“I think we should be very happy and make beautiful cities.” (From Torben Schonherr Lecture)
09.25.08
Torben Schonherr - Landskab - Copenhagen
- we sometimes have an emphasis on middle, but in the grand scheme of things; where is the middle? everything around us is in a constant state of movement, but without distinct centre. - projects can begin with a study of history; how has the space transformed before and how will these transformations compare with your proposal? - people want to have beautiful views over their head. as soon as we move indoors we want to look outdoors. - the use of scale is important. as we move from rural - suburban - urban - core, the scale (grid) is constantly collapsing on itself. designers can also use this collapse in scale or hierarchy to show program or change of meaning in a space. - a variety of materials can show a variety of programming (e.g. sports centre) - something which is nothing suddenly turns into everything (e.g. the empty plaza design) - beauty in simple space can be created with a care in details (e.g. paving of the plaza with exquisite pattern) - a simple insertion of art shows play in a serious environment (e.g. parking lot with x’s created with extra paint)
Since this lecture, the idea of void in the city has come up many times. One of the projects which he showed was a courtyard in front of a popular museum and gallery. The design for it consisted of one tree planting, and a sculpture which exists very low to the ground (pool circle). He was saying how these spaces are sometimes necessary in a city. I think that this is a good observation on a few points. Sometimes it feels good, stretching the eyes and being able to see a greater distance than only a few meters in front of you. This does not often happen in the old European city centres. Creating a void allows for a sense of freedom, even if only visually. The void space also has the ability to lend itself to many uses. Because it is an unprogrammed space it is adaptable to the needs of the place and the people. A lack of specific program in a space cannot be read as a lack of design. If anything it is the opposite; it is heavier on the spacial design because it does not rely on programmatic elements to make the space successful; it relies solely on its form and its details. It was interesting how the landscape design wasn’t as ‘green’ as we are perhaps used to (or expectant) of landscape designers. His solutions were more about the exterior spaces, and making them accessible and enjoyable to use. His work was almost about allowing people to enjoy the outdoors in the current state rather than creating some landscaped form of the outdoors (rather than manipulating, the work exposes). I think this is very poetic and also a strong stance for a landscape designer to make. Regarding medium; I must say how much the web site for his office clearly displays the ideology which he began his lecture. The web site is a vast network of the people and projects in the office. It begins seeming well defined, by allowing the user to click on people or projects. However, from clicking on a person, you can see the projects they are involved with and the places. Clicking on one of those places might lead to another person , who worked on a different project and so one. It becomes a complex web, always changing and revolving and allowing you to see the connections from a different perspective. I think it is very clear when designers manage to have such a coherent system, that can tie their design, their methods, their ideals, their advertising, their literature, all together into one. In total, I enjoyed this lecture a great deal. He was an interesting designer to listen to and the work seemed thorough and strong, yet humble and thoughtful. PRESENTATION TECHNIQUE : This presentation was well rounded, however some of the projects need more photos to describe them properly, or more of the context (for the project of the empty square, we needed to see what context it was in, and then could better judge its appropriatness.)
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“The charette allows for a type of pure brainstorming with less analysis and political gestures” (Derived from Doug Kelbough Lecture 09.12.08)
10.02.08
Karlskrona Design Charette
There are many positives to performing a design charrette. I think that the design charette is a critical and valuable tool for all types of designers to use. It can help them re-work their creative mind, and awaken their design intuitions. A design charette is a design scheme that takes place in a relatively limited amount of time. They may range from a few hours to a few days. Usually they consist of a few different ‘teams’ of designers, working on the same problem. The purpose of a design charette is to generate a wide array of design proposals in a small amount of time. The proposals are usually more broad ideas than specific answers but the ideas can allow the host of the competition to better understand the variety of answers that exist for the design problem. It also will bring aspects of the place to the attention of the competition host which might not have been realized by a resident. The design charette might seem specific to environmental design, however, this type of exercise exists in other arts as well. For example, sight reading is a tool that musicians use to keep their reading skills sharp. The musician is given a piece of music which they have never played, has a few minutes to read it over, and then challenges themselves to play it once over without stopping, as though they were performing. This, in turn, obviously also leads to a degree of improvisation, and challenges the musician to read the music thoroughly while playing. In the design charette the designer is given a problem, and given a relatively short amount of time to generate their design. It challenges the designer to work their creativity and to produce images and schemes accurately the first time. There is not time to flip-flop between ideas, but rather the designer must work effectively on their process to a successful production. The design charette that we performed in class was unique because they site was a place we had never been to, nor did we have the opportunity to visit it. Also, the amount of information about the site was limited, allowing us to make assumptions about the use of the space, given what we saw in plan. The plan view was the only view we had of the place as well. These constraints were both setbacks and points of interest. Because we were not intimate with the site or the town, we could be more courageous and daring with our proposals. However, because we only understood the area in plan, we were blind to many of the realties of the space. (Perhaps it would be interesting for designers to attempt analysis or design isolating one view. For example, only working and studying in perspective, or only working and studying in plan, and to see how much variation there would be in the work.) As said earlier, the constraints allowed for more courageous suggestions. However, it was interesting how most of the suggestions were so general that they could have existed anywhere; they were not specifically in tune with the site at Karlskrona. Sometimes design charettes are practiced by mixing a group of designers together. In this way, it also encourages group work, and working with people whom you have not worked with before. This is also good practice for designers, and pushes them out of the comfort zone of their own work. In conclusion, I enjoy doing design charettes, and believe that they are very important and useful for designers.
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“...In dreams of what you thought you saw and imagine to understand.” (Carley Friesen)
10.09.08
Layers of Time - Amsterdam
I am packed and ready to leave the city. Wanting, waiting, and craving. I’m going through withdrawal already. Part of it is consumption. It is easy to consume in this city. Easy and cheap, and with good people it’s always fun. The larger part of the withdrawal is from the stimulation. Already my body wants (needs) to be back among that city. Endless stimulation, endless foreplay, the climax is in sleep, in dreams of what you thought you saw and imagine to understand. The mystery is addiction, the history is contagious. The smells stay in your skin when everything is so close. The city is as stable as it is dynamic. It thrusts and pulls you in and out of it’s crevices and secret passages, making you believe it is ever changing, ever desiring to please you. At the same time, it is the same as it has always been, and it is what it is. It is based upon the stable and serious need for safety from the sea. It is based on the need for shelter, it is based on the need for light, for water, and for human contact. The physical city was built despite fear and recognition of the power of the sea. The carpenters used the high water table to their advantage, using wooden piles without worry of rot because of the ability of the water to preserve. Today, the old buildings remain standing, still fearing the water, but relying on it for the strength of their foundations. The city people began early as crafts people. With limited natural resources, they couldn’t rely on natural products for their economy, but instead relied on their skills at making. The Netherlands today is still known for its creativity, and quality of design. The people are willing to try difficult tasks, and are willing to take the time to make sure that something is done well. The willingness extends beyond physical design to social design, with the allowance of activities and substances forbidden by most nations. They have managed that delicate balance between respect for history and childlike wonder and temptations for newness. Their modern architecture is creative and distinct, standing away from historical references. However, the people value the historical buildings and urban planning of their city. The city is as stable as it is dynamic. The tempting mysteries of the old streets beckon to young and old, male and female, lust and leisure. The creativity and playfulness of the new demand your attention. They draw you into the city as playground, the human being as actor, as explorer, as creator of the map. And still everything is based on the need for shelter, it is based on the need for light, for water, and for human contact. Many elements of historical architecture and urban design are still used in the same way today. For example, light is still a major influence of design. New buildings also search for ways to allow daylight to enter and penetrate the buildings using relief in facades, various types of windows and room forms. Light is used as pastiche, to create the ‘red light district’ the one area of the city which remain glowing with artificial light at night. An attraction of dark desire, the attraction of moths to a night lamp. Water is still a major influence of design. Construction sights remain in a struggle to build due to the high water table, and at the same time rely on the water to hold the base of the city together. New urban realms continue to build closer and closer to the water, adding new land, and purposefully cutting through their additions with canals. Daring the sea, tempting the sea with it’s closeness. In this way we see how layered the city is, layers that have added up over time, paralleling at some points and offsetting slightly at others, but always adding. Layering chronologically, but also peeling back layers, erosion of walls, replacement of stones, changing populations, and the layering is offset, is construed by the sideways movements on the time-based journey. Modern art in an old bar, computer offices in a historical house, a restaurant on an abandoned houseboat, a new development along an old canal, a bicycle moving along a vehicle street, these are ways that the city defines and showcases its layers. Without even leaving the city, I feel the craving set in. The need to discover more, the need to create my own map, to press my own waxy layer of enjoyment over the city. The stimulation has me caught, has me absorbed in rotten history, in colorful facades, in childish pleasure and adultesque lust.
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“One of my favorite architects is le Corbusier.” (Derived from Lars Bendrup Lecture)
10.16.08
Lars Bendrup - Transform - Denmark
I found this to be an interesting presentation but I am finding it difficult to summarize why that is. It was arguable and convincing all at the same time. The TRANSFORM firm had worked on a few designs for suburbs, where the requirements of the project indicated a low density development, of single family housing. I was quite impressed with their acknowledgement of landscape’s power over development. Historically, cities as well as architecture can be seen to read the landscape and the constructions are a reaction to the physical landscape. (Where modern constructions seem to usually be a reaction to a non-physical landscape, such as politics, social factors, etc.) I thought that the project which created ‘pocket parks’ at various intervals was also well- informed when it came to issues of respecting the existing situation. There was one discrepancy in his discussion of this project, however, and it may have been only a slight of tongue, but at first he said that many of the parks were to be located where some sort of distinction in the landscape already existed (e.g. Farmland, nursery, etc.) but later he said that each of the pieces could be moved to any location. I am not sure if this was my confusion or his. The part of this idea that seemed very relevant was how the subdivision could be constructed by very small pieces at a time and that the feeling of completeness could occur before the entire 1700 dwellings had been built. In standard subdivision building you see the opposite, where the entire area of land is being constructed in one grand scheme, resulting in a long period of disorder and construction ‘wasteland’. Although it may be difficult to convince a developer to work on one piece at a time, I believe it is a very noble gesture to include that suggestion in the work. These were good suburban projects, however; still do not make me believe in any kind of value in the suburban lifestyle. The theme that seemed common in most of the projects presented was that of scale. Not of scale on various levels, but of the large scale. Most of the renderings presented their constructions at large scale, and denied showing the human scale more than once. In some cases the grand scale was necessary given the parameters of the project; however, the work seemed to rely on scale as an attraction. The ‘barcode’ project in Oslo did show very suitable attention paid to street level, although, it was more of a gesture, than a convincing argument. The space that was created under the building is still disputably not at a human scale, nor providing direct ground-sky access for users (although, due to the apparent 200 days of rain a year in Oslo, perhaps you don’t want a connection to the sky…). I also felt that this gesture towards a sensitivity to the ground level could have been taken further, to actually become a statement. Also, it seemed embarrassing to me that their project was denied construction because the developer would not believe in it’s energy efficiency. That must be a signal that the qualities of spaces and choices of materials do not inherently support an energy efficient building. The building seemed to rely heavily on technical systems to create efficiency, rather than relying on physical design. To me, this seems as an abandonment, or a simple solution to a difficult problem, a problem which could have a very exciting formal solution, but instead suckles to hidden technologies. To talk more about scale we look at the project in Xi’An, China and the project in Bergen, Norway. Both of these projects resort to using scale as the main attraction. The renderings clearly emphasize the scale of the project as it’s main feature, not only in structure, but also in light. The constructions seek to be like stars, large and flaming, seen from far away. The Bergen project did have a sense of reason to scale, and that was the highway system that surrounds the site. I thought that this was a logical argument to the need for spectacle in the centre, but perhaps an argument made reactively rather than responsively. The idea was that in the traditional city, functions are layered on top of each other, stores and service on the bottom, and residence on top. The design response was to break tradition by creating strips of zoning. (Zoning is a concept that has been repeated world wide, especially since the notorious CIAM, and most cities are now realizing the fault of zoning, and beginning to repent.) So, yes, I was a little surprised that this was a ‘concept’. The project did seem well connected to the surrounding areas, and although it was supposed to be large scale, it still demanded exclusive pedestrian use. To me this is an encouraging new type of construction, which I had not experience until a visit to Amsterdam. (The new subway stop at Bijlmeer is becoming an urban hub, with a music hall, theatre, stadium, shopping, etc, and it seemed as though most of the area was pedestrian exclusive.)
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I wonder about this work though, and what attracts people other than scale. Also, when the attention of the urban designer is on scale, they seem to choose programs which can pay for a large scale, such as a shopping mall or a cinema. These activities, however, are private, and may be excluding the members of the neighbourhood who need, or wish lower cost activity. So the question is who this area attracting, and if it is attracting the residents that will be living on the ‘urban island’. With the work it was interesting how the suburban projects seemed to have such a sensitive, and thoughtful reading of the landscape, but when the landscape was in an urban area, this sensitivity was forgotten. (In exchange, a skyline which mimics the mountains…really?) I did not understand the project in Xi’An at all. I think perhaps a person must visit a place like China before judging its architecture (or proposals for its architecture) but this proposal to me, was ego-centric, futurism-praising, and inarticulately flamboyant work. (strong words from such a young designer…well on my way to Kunstler’s level of bitterness perhaps….) However, there must be something about the work that I do not understand. The proposed ‘infrastructure’ completely diminishes and consumes the masterful art of the City wall, which is the pure attraction of the city which attracts so many tourists. The proposal shown was more than twice the height of the wall, suggests completely wrapping the wall in it’s circumference, and was rendered as being entirely backlit at night, creating a dark void where the historical wall once was. I was actually incredibly shocked by this project, and felt that for such a proposal there should have been more explanation. With the rendering the entire work felt blasphemous. (Which everyone says there should be room for in modern architecture but with the state of the world, is there really?) Or, if the case was to be architecture of some sort of ‘statement’, I could perhaps understand this work, but then it could also have been pushed further. I will need to check the web site again to see if there was a design manifesto posted, because at the end of the lecture, I was wondering about the inconsistencies I seemed to be picking up between this very detailed and slow reading of a landscape, and moving into an enormous construction relevant only to itself, with a small concern for its precedent. Perhaps there needs to be a stronger design manifesto for this office’s work to become more clear and poignant. In conclusion, I enjoyed this lecture a great deal. I wish that there had been more time for discussion because it is always encouraging to see work which has some sort of strong thought. I believe very strongly that in most cases, it is the best and smartest work, which allows for the most criticism, because this is the work that gets people thinking. An inspiring conversation. After the Klas Tham lecture, I was thinking about what these two designers would think about each others work. They seem very perpendicular to the other. One is praise for spectacle and glamor in everyday life, and the other is a love and attachement to the basic nuclear family, and the daily life of its actors. PRESENTATION TECHNIQUE : I felt that less projects could have been shown, and more detail given to the works described.
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“[we] acknowledge no boundaries...separations such as work/leisure or public/private will finally be dissolved.” (Debord 1959, The Situationist City)
10.22.08
Instant Urbanism Research Carley Friesen and Maria Flores
I was very excited for this assignment. There seemed to some sort of collective consciousness at work because only 3 weeks before the assignment, I randomly picked up the book The Situationist City by Simon Sadler at the library. I had been reading from it a great deal, and was also interested to learn that some important situationist meetings had occurred near to where I live in Landskrona. Needless to say, I was enthusiastic to work and learn more about their theories, and how they have informed the current trend of Instant Urbanism.
“We must replace travel as an adjunct to work, with travel as pleasure.” (Debord, pg.25)
“Those who believe that the particulars of the problem are permanent want in fact to believe in the permanence of the present society.” (Situationists, pg.26)
“The tyranny of commonsense...” (Aldo van Eyck, pg. 26)
“The hierarchy of artificial values upon which contemporary existence has come to rest.” (Aldo van Eyck, pg.26)
“Psychogeography - attempts to combine subjective and objective modes of study. On one hand it recognized that the self cannot be divorced from the urban environment; on the other hand, it had to pertain to ore than just the psyche of the individual if it was to be useful in the collective rethinking of the city.”
Maria and I began our work with some research and discussion. In our discussion we talked about what we already knew and/or assumed about situationism and instant urbanism. We talked about how there is a difference in noticing a situation because it is unpleasant, and how there are places of un-circumstance, which you don’t notice because they are mediocre. We talked about how your state of mind can affect how you view spaces and places and that you can never really understand a place because you are not able to be there all of the time. Each judgement of a situation is subjective. We had both seen acts that we thought applied to instant urbanism. Examples like quick daily festivals, flee markets, graffiti, were some of the examples that we thought of. We were very interested in the act of exploring the city for explorations sake, that Situationists encouraged to do through ‘drifting.’ We discussed human movement today, how is focuses on always finding the shortest route, even if it is more unpleasant to the senses. The situationists talk about the ‘free play of event’ so we discussed the factors today that don’t allow this play to occur (work school, schedules, pathways, etc) and we discussed places of events where free play could take place. “Derive (drifting) - and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there. Chance is a less important factor in this activity than one might think: from a dérive point of view cities have psychogeographical contours, with constant currents, fixed points and vortexes that strongly discourage entry into or exit from certain zones. But the dérive includes both this letting-go and its necessary contradiction: the domination of psychogeographical variations by the knowledge and calculation of their possibilities. In this latter regard, ecological science, despite the narrow social space to which it limits itself, provides psychogeography with abundant data. “ (GUY DEBORD 1958 as translated on Bureau of Public Secrets) There is no concrete definition for what makes an instant urbanism project, but we decided that it could be a project which momentarily allows people to stray from their normal route, being distracted by their senses because of their body’s instant response to a new urban stimulation. One example we looked at was in Rotterdam. A house that was listed to be demolished was painted completely blue. This allowed the artist to announce that art is meant to be temporary, that even in a gallery it is only consumed by one person’s senses for a small amount but nonetheless, meaningful time. The artist also was able to enhance an urban experience based on sense because people might choose to travel closer to the house, in order that their senses would be stimulated by the unusual, colorful house. We decided that our presentation of the project would consist of three parts. The first would be an attempt to carry out ‘the drift’ and create a psychogeographical map of our route. The second would be to create a proposal for an instant urbanism project. The third part of our presentation would be giving examples we have found of situationist urban qualities and instant urbanism projects.
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1. Drifting and Psychogeography -We chose a place in Malmo which neither of us was familiar with. We began in the same place and decided to walk as we felt like it. We used photographs to record places or stimulations significant to us. -We each mapped our walk based on our perceptions, not on the traditional geography or distances. 2. Instant Urbanism Proposal - After walking the area we agreed on a location for a proposal of Instant Urbanism. We decided to use the SopStationen, and to bring the market out onto the street. It could break free of the building as boundary, and allow people to use the street that is usually consumed by industrial traffic. - The idea was presented using collage and montage. 3. Presentation and Finding Examples - We presented how we had come to understand Situationism and Instant Urbanism, giving a collection of our own thoughts and experiences mixed with quotes from other Situationist and Instant Urbanism projects. - We attempted to find our own examples and came across Parkour, the sport of Urban Running or Urban Jumping. We felt that this was a modern translation of Urban Drifting carried out in an extreme way. One web site defined it as “moving through your environment as swiftly and effectively as possible using only the body.�
Carley Friesen - Mind Map
Maria Flores - Mind Map
The two mind maps show very different geographical routes as well as points of importance despite being travelled in the same place at the same time.
Carley Friesen - Instant Market Collage
Maria Flores - Instant Market Collage
The proposal for the market was to create an impromptu market that would spill out onto the street, exposing the interior contents of the historical building, and creating a temporary new use on the street.
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“People are more influenced by external factors than by internal traits.” (Unknown, discussion on instant urbanism)
10.30.08
Presentations Three topics : Venice Biennale, Cultural Planning, Instant Urbanism
Cultural Planning This presentation left me somewhat confused as to what the actual subject matter was. It felt as though the groups gave it the meaning that they desired to discuss. One group described Community Participation in design, as their discourse of what cultural planning was, and the other group seemed more fascinated with the notion of the creative class being used to re-develop neighbourhoods. By the end of the presentation I was more confused than I had been at the beginning. There was some discussion about using culture as a way of indentifying the wants and needs of a group, and this turned out to be a passionate subject. I feel that in a multi-cultural society you must be very careful about grouping people based on culture, especially in a place such as Canada, where most people identify with at least two cultural groups (e.g. French and English, Chinese-Canadian, German and Italian Ancestors, Native and French, etc, etc. ) Suddenly it turns into distinct stereotyping rather than cultural sensitivity. A lot of the students in our class also have varying degrees of identifying with their cultures of origin, and were upset to think that programming might be directly based upon an outside view of culture. The discussion of the creative class seems obvious to me. I read some on Richard Florida’s web site, and it is interesting because his approach is one of business, commerce, and turning his ideas into a product, rather than one of philosophy. To me, this is suspicious. His idea are valid, but I think it is also something that people have known for a long time. Innovation has been on the forefront for many years. It does not seem to be something new. Also, I think it is disturbing that he uses the word “class” which has such heavy connotations. (Basically the connotation that a hierarchy exists making the creative class either better or worse than some other group of people.) I think this is controversial and if it does mean as it sounds, untrue. In the end, I felt as though I still don’t understand what the concept of cultural planning is. The Venice Biennale - Architecture Beyond Building Ah. It was almost comforting to come back to this classic debate in Architectural design. When is it architecture and when is it art? Is functional the key difference? What does it mean for something to be functional? Does anyone in the world really care anymore? I feel; if people want to play games in architecture they are more than welcome to it. At the end of the day, however, you have to ask yourself if your work has only been improving your own selfish quality of life, or if you have contributed something to a society in need. There are some very successful experiments in form (usually when dealing with structural forms) and artistic practice is necessary (as seen throughout history) as a means of criticizing politics and power. However, form play (based on aesthetics) alone is not enough. I believe that we know that form is something beautiful, we understand that there are infinite possibilities, we are reaching a repetition of randomness. Now, I think, we must search for form with meaning. Architectural society takes for granted that we are no longer thinking about “keeping the rain off of our heads” and that we are now able to think about “how do you think and feel inside.” This is a luxury that we have won at the price of massive world wide pollution, and excessive consumption. When a designer creates a beautiful form, using a highly advanced computer program, built out of non-renewable, non-degradable materials, we have to question whether that investigation is really worth something more than selfgratification. Instant Urbanism Both of the presentations on instant urbanism were quite similar, mostly using project examples to describe the work, as the theory behind it is loose and contextually based and therefor more difficult to explain simply using words. The link between situationist theory and instant urbanism was clearly defined in both projects as it is very important to understand how the old ideas have taken so long to finally be realized in an urban context. Why is it that now, nearly 40 years later, we finally have more real life examples of what situationist elements of the city could look like, and at the time, they couldn’t seem to arrive at a 1:1 physical manifestation? I suppose it is because they were caught up in describing a theory at the time and felt they couldn’t practice before their ideals were clearly identified. I think that the situationist and instant urbanism discussion is very interesting and can help urban designers understand the value of the temporary in urban spaces. So often urban design looks to long-term solutions, making adaptation difficult. Temporal work could be given more value in urban quality. PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES : It is difficult to follow a presentation without visual ques as the one on Cultural Planning was. Examples that the groups found of their concept themselves, were very helpful. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
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“If we do not have emotions we cannot be rational.” (Derived from Klas Tham Lecture)
11.06.08
Klas Tham - BO01 - City of Malmo
It was a very good experience to have the opportunity to hear Klas Tham, the urban designer for Bo01 speak about his experiences in urban design. It is inspiring to have young people, beginning their own business come to speak about their work, but the knowledge gained by experience that has developed in a designer like Klas Tham is something truly extraordinary. Some of the points or values which he shared that I thought were especially important were the following. - In Bo01 the creation of a type of street mixed with a boardwalk worked very well. It allows for a greater variety of activities and greater accessibility than a waterside park would offer. - It is important to consider what people see when they look out the window. Think about what they want to see, and perhaps, what they should see. - A street system which breaks the grid is important to create a stimulating environment of choice. It also can be used to slow traffic, and discourage vehicle use. The broken grid makes distances look smaller. Also, adding obstacles to the sequence through a space makes the actor even more excited about continuing to explore, or more excited to reach a destination which they can view beyond. You can create drama in the sequence, and importance in the hierarchy. - Emotions must be used to creative a rational environment. We cannot deny that humans have emotions, and character flaws, etc. Design must be allowed to include these human instincts and impulses. - Successful design should be ergonomic both to the scale of the body, and to the senses of the body. Too many times designers create only for the sense of sight, without including the other senses. An order.
A rich order.
His points were very relevant, and I think they created that important link between good design and trendy design. He also said that, “we won’t create the sustainable city unless we make it attractive enough.” I think this is a very good point, and that we must make places that people will enjoy the first time, because the restructuring and massive renovations that our society now craves, make a substantial contribution to excessive consumption of building supplies. I felt again as though there were a collective consciousness at work, because I have recently been reading about postmodern urbanism in Nan Ellin’s Postmodern Urbanism. Klas Tham seems to cling very strongly to an appreciation for old city centres and the old town model of historical settlements. He also loves and believes very much in the classic family life that these towns supported. The question that arises is how the modern city functions can fit into this scheme. I think that the work of designing a place like Bo01 would have been very challenging, and I think it was very well-informed and schematically very successful. However, it still is a town, and not an urban space. I don’t think it has the density of an urban space, nor does it house all of the functions that a true city is challenged with incorporating. Because of his healthy approach, I would have been interested to see what his solution would be to aid industrial areas, or large-scale housing areas. I don’t think we can deny that these have become a real part of the city, and I think that they can be incorporated in a healthy way also. Another fact would be if these traditional housing designs can accommodate a the growing amount of single adults, or the growing amount of transient young people, who wish to stay and work in a place for only a few years. Modern housing needs are very different now than they were in traditional villages. He did make a very nice reference to being culturally sensitive in housing design which I had not seen such good examples of before. I would like to hear more about lifestyle consideration. I was so encouraged by the discussion on quality in urban design. Coming form a Canadian city where quick, cheap construction is of value, it was so refreshing to hear an urban designer say that quality was in fact the best deal, economically and environmentally. In general, I enjoyed his views, but felt that there are more rigorous challenges in urban design which cannot be solved in the traditional town planning model, and which must be evaluated and solved in the modern context. PRESENTATION TECHNIQUE : His lecture was so vast, I think it was important for there to be questions at the end, but he ran overtime. The plans that zoomed in on scale, each showing a greater level of detail was very convincing. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
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“In an urban context buildings are unioned to their peers...alone they are incomplete.” (Richard Sennett, The Open City)
11.13.08
Jacob Peetre - Jais-Nielsen White Architecture Office - Helsingborg
How have they found that delicate balance between the critical and theoretical of design and the practicality and beauty of ordinary life? Throughout the lecture here I was impressed by the thoroughness of the projects. First off, it was a successful lecture because only two projects were shown during the entire afternoon. This was much more relaxing and valuable than a rush through multiple projects. It made the lecture more of a learning experience than a smoke and mirrors slideshow, or simplistic anecdote. The projects were described and shown in enough detail to allow us to learn from the failures and successes that the office had lived during the process. The beginning of the lecture stated a process of design and also three qualities that the process attempts to realize. views
entrances
flexible space views
entrances STRUCTURE
flexible space
STRUCTURE meeting possibilities
size
size
meeting possibilities
volume
concentration - - - distraction
comfortable - - - challenge
concentration - - - distraction
DESIGN PROCESS
calm/busy
volume SPATIAL QUALITY
DESIGN PROCESS
calm/busy
SPATIAL QUALITY character
exrovert/introvert
character
exrovert/introvert
pause
comfortable - - - challenge
seclusion - - - communication
daylight pause EMPATHY
acoustics
routine - - - event
seclusion - - - communication
routine - - - event
daylight
human scale EMPATHY human scale
spatial levels spatial levels acoustics
The qualities to consider
The process of consideration
The above diagrams show how dramatically linked architecture and urban design have become. The qualities for consideration are actually exactly the same for both of them. At this elemental level, you can see how this office has come to be aware of the importance of consummating the design of both scales into one discourse. The first project that was shown took place at an urban design scale. The project was for Valle Broar, Vaxjol. It involved the linking of a university area to the greater area of a city across a sound with prominent lakes on either side. When showing this project he commented on the general order and the absolute order. The general order was the buildable structure, or the skeleton of the system. The absolute order was the architectonic order, or the organs of the system. Design as organism creates the consummation of architecture and urban design. We see the importance of order and skeleton, fulfilled through the use of malleable, but definable organs. The second project was a building in the downtown (old city) of Helsingborg. The presentation of the project was almost half allotted to an explanation of the context that the building was set to occupy. The dynamics of the context were then realized in the architectural construction. The building was created to be a part of the urban landscape, and would have been incomplete without its specific surroundings. This reminded me of the reading we recently had from Richard Sennett. In The Open City he gives a dialogue about the incomplete form. He says that in the urban context, buildings are “unioned to their peers...alone they are incomplete.” For both architects and urban designers this is an important link to create. The projects were both well-presented visually, with humble drawings and simple but meaningful diagrams. They seemed honest and complete. The discussion around the projects equally honored all scales of the design. PRESENTATION TECHNIQUE : It was very interesting how much of the design process was shown in the presentations of the projects and I think this enhanced our ability to learn from the work. It was very nice to only have two projects to study, and to be able to go into detail. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
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“Are you raising questions or solving problems?” (Derived from Joaquim Reiter Lecture)
11.20.08
Joaquim Reiter - ONIX - Helsingborg
J oaquim was an interesting speaker to listen to because the format of his presentation was different than most of the ones that we’ve heard so far. Joaquim has worked with several different artists and architects, and therefor, choose a theme that he found to be significant, and showed a spread of work along the lines of the theme. The topic that he chose was Renegotiation. All of the works which he showed were examples of how interesting installations can give a new way of seeing space and arranging space, ranging from the temporary to the permanent. The projects which he showed also shared the common theme of bringing to life something in the surrounding environment, or causing the user to notice an element (not the project itself) in a new way. For example, he showed a project called Heliotropic Pavilion near Copenhagen. This outdoor pavilion was situated in the middle of a shared park. It was designed to give a new awareness to sunlight, by following the sun path in it’s physical form, and displaying the colors of the spectrum in its colored glass pieces. This project would be incomplete without the sunlight to fulfill it’s design. Rather than being an object unto itself, it is an object when arranged together with the sunlight, and rather than creating attention focused on it’s own form, it seeks to turn attention to the effects of sunlight. Another project was the Palazzo Grassi in Venice. This was a temporary light installation created for the opening of an art gallery. The building which housed the gallery was historically protected, and therefor creating an installation for it proved challenging, as no alterations could be made to the physical structure. The design was for a light net to spread across and down the facade of the building. A diamond like web was created using whitish blue ropes of light. This installation created a temporary new skin for the building, and increased curiosity, not of the lights themselves, but of what laid inside the building behind the lights. ‘Eye see you’ was a project for the holiday decoration to be used in Louis Vuitton stores around the world. The design again used light. Special lamps were created using solar cooker concaves, a specially treated class, and a mono frequent light sandwiched between the two. This created a very intense, bright glowing light. It was also a very warm, yellowish light. These lamps were placed in the storefront and when turned on, their light spilled into the street, so far it crossed to the facades of the buildings on the other side. For the time when these lamps existed, boundaries were no longer defined by the street and sidewalk, but rather by what the lights illuminated, by what their beams uncovered. If the lights were left on during the day, there would be no significant impact on the street. They rely on the dark to uncover their brilliance. I think that these types of temporary exhibitions are very important. Urban design is so often seen as permanent, or long-term solutions, when it could also be seen as a series of solutions, or a collection of temporary constructions. In the city of Winnipeg, for example, the freezing of the two rivers every year changes the urban context. Suddenly, urban actors have an entirely new realm for play and transportation. A skating path is created and this new roadway changes distances between city places. A new language is used to discuss means of transport, and new infrastructure (warming booths, skate rentals) is created around the area. This temporality brings excitement and increased use of the city. An urban designer or city government, however, would not give appropriate merit to this, or discuss it in seriousness because it is not a permanent solution. It is only available for 4 months during the year. Why does that make it less legitimate? Near the end of the lecture, discussion began about urban design and whether the intent of the project is to raise questions or solve problems. The projects which he showed, mostly were to raise questions (‘Eye see you’ and Palazzo Grassi). The pavilion, however, might have been said to also solve the problem of connecting park spaces, and creating greater use in the park. I think that the strongest projects have the power to do both. When a work can solve a problem and at the same time create questions in the user, this is the power of design. I think that designers must also always question the difference between art and design. Designers must remain socially, environmentally conscientious. They must create usable spaces and objects. I think that design is perhaps more about solving problems, and that good design will have a solution so complex and complete, that it will be heavily questioned. Designers must be careful about this because otherwise their design turns into pastiche. Design that relies on spectacle is not being true to the current needs of the architectural world, nor is it adequately searching for solutions. It is taking the easy way out, by falling back on the guaranteed fame created by spectacle. PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES : I liked the common theme being presented at the beginning of the presentation. This allowed us to analyze the work, in the context of a certain idea, and I think that this also allowed our questions\discussion to have more direction.
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“How can we balance being trapped in municiple rules, and escaping them to truly explore the city?” (Derived from Kristoffer Nilsson Lecture)
11.27.08
Kristoffer Nilsson - City of Helsingborg
This lecture was about the renewal of the southern area of Helsingborg. Helsingborg was historically built so that the North was the area for living, and the South was the area for working. The southern part of Helsingborg is where most of the industry and harbor factories are located. Today, the north is seen as the wealthy area, comprised of upper-class residents and well-kept old houses. The central station further enforces this boundary by facing directly North, turning it’s back to the south of the city. The south remains tied to the harbor industry, offering lower priced apartments, and acting as home for the lower-income residents of Helsingborg. Helsingborg is also known throughout Sweden as being a more ‘upper-class’ city, with the highest number of plastic surgeries in Sweden being performed on Helsingborg residents. The area for the H+ redevelopment is of incredible scale. It is twice as large as the area of the city centre. To manage the large area they have broken it up into 3 sub-regions. They are the Southern Harbor (the most central, and containing about 2 km of shoreline), Soder (urban area including the Lund campus and dense dwellings) and Goseback (where a river runs underground, but they desire to reveal it, also an area of small scale industry). The scale of the area being so large, the project has called for a number of initiatives for studies and proposals in the area. These have included a survey of area residents, the creation of SHIP, an interior space to be a meeting and exhibition area for the project, the creation of the Acupuncture strategy, the inclusion of work from Chalmers University architecture students and more. They have also applied a method called ‘open source planning.’ They have held a competition not simply for a winning master plan, but to find long term partners for the redevelopment. (The partners are Spacegroup, White, Foster and Partners and KCPP). This led into the discussion of master planning. Nilsson emphasized that the project didn’t call for an overall master plan, and that they were attempting to create a more organic process. Overall, I found the work difficult to understand. I suppose this is because it has been going on for so long, and because of the variety of exercises that have been carried out. I didn’t really understand what the main goal of the project was. I suppose it was the same urban rhetoric as in other urban projects, but then I don’t really understand why it has been such a drawn out and difficult process. It sounds like Helsingborg deals with a lot of trouble from the city government and conflicts of interest. It also sounds like the stakeholders involved are all only half in it, and perhaps only staying with it for some amount of prestige, or need to be ‘in the know’ rather than an actual commitment to the project. The project has been started and then re-started numerous times, and as the information gets older, or the competition loses value, it sounds like they must re-do certain steps in the process. Another difficulty is that they do not was to create ‘islands’ of development. There must be an attempt (as describe with the acupuncture analogy) to ensure that one area is not created as the strongest point. It sounds as though they want to make sure they are not favoring one area over another. I felt that I would have liked to have seen at least some projection of a possible timeline, or probable starting points for the project. It seems that at the rate is going now, nothing will ever get built. It is positive to realize that the city context is always changing, and that some of the studies performed 10 years ago may now be irrelevant and need refreshing, however at some point I think they will have to find a future projection and stick to it. It seems like the project is stuck trying to be so embodied in the ‘now’ that it keeps missing out on the ‘now’ and must start all over again with a new situation. Hearing about the project really made me realize the complexity of urban design, especially the challenges of working at such a large scale. The amount of stakeholders, residents, and programs to consider is overwhelming, and you must appreciate the work that is being done. The presentation also included a small look at another milliones project redux in Helsingborg. It seems as thought these developments, all over Sweden, are causing more problems than they have every solved. There was a relation created between this area and SMLXL, stating that the area could be linked to the city using scale references. The issue is that it is a mono-functional area, surround by other mono-functional areas and therefore must be re-negotiated. The images showed how the buildings are ‘fortified’ with expanses of green space and parking lots. The presentation was very complex and full of layers of information, in the same way that the H+ project seems to be. It has been very interesting to have heard of this project as well as Bo01 in Malmo, and to consider how the methods of design are different, and the position of the governments are different. PRESENTATION TECHNIQUE : I felt that a timeline, or content page could have been shown at the beginning of the presentation. So much work has happened with the H+ project that the presentation was difficult to follow at times.
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Appendix I
“...My secret arsenal is an infinite ageless ink well. It’s a fountain of youth and a patriot’s weapon of choice.” (Incubus, Pistola - A Crow Left of the Murder 2004)
09.01.08 - 12.03.08
Appendix I Pages from Sketchbook
The following appendix contains pages scanned from the notes and sketches taken during the lectures from 09.01.08 to 12.03.08.
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09.11.08
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09.19.08
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09.25.08
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10.09.08
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10.16.08
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10.22.08
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10.30.08
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11.06.08
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11.13.08
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11.20.08
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Appendix II
“...she sometimes asserts, ‘But you know what I meant.’ Do I? Does she want to relinquish control of meaning to me?” (Anna Leahy, Grammar Matters: A Creative Writer’s Argument)
09.01.08 - 12.03.08
Words from readings and lectures All definitions taken from Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus
vagary - an erratic, unpredictable, or extravagant manifestation, action, or notion ephemeral - lasting one day only, or lasting a short time [an ephemeral pleasure] tabula rasa - the mind in its hypothetical primary blank or empty state before receiving outside impressions, something existing in its original pristine state greyfield - refers to an abandoned paved site brownfield - refers to an abandoned industrial site (considered more polluted than greyfield) trombe wall - a masonry wall that is usually separated from the outdoors by a glass wall and is designed to absorb solar heat and release it into the interior of a building anathema - someone or something intensely disliked or loathed, one that is cursed by ecclesiastical authority, a ban or curse solemnly pronounced by ecclesiastical authority and accompanied by excommunication haptic - relating to or based on the sense of touch, characterized by a predilection for the sense of touch [a haptic person] predilection - an established preference for something eidetic - marked by or involving extraordinarily accurate and vivid recall especially of visual images [an eidetic memory] adjunct - something joined or added to another thing but not essentially a part of it dialectic - logic, discussion and reasoning by dialogue as a method of intellectual investigation rapacity - having the quality of being excessively grasping or covetous, voracious anachronistic - a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other, a person or a thing that is chronologically out of place pervasive - to become diffused throughout every part of propitious - favorable, being a good omen proffered - presented, offered for acceptance hermetic - impervious to external influence ambiguous - capable of being understood in two or more possible senses or ways amorphous - having no definite form, being without definite character or nature, lacking organization or unity syntax - a connected or orderly system, harmonious arrangement of parts or elements [the syntax of classical architecture] phenomenon - an object or aspect known through the senses rather than by thought or intuition, a temporal or spatiotemporal object of sensory experience as distinguished from a noumenon stratify - to form, deposit, or arrange in strata, to divide or arrange into classes, castes, or social strata, to divide into a series of graded statuses orthodox - conforming to established doctrine especially in religion [conventional]
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crepuscular - of, relating to, or resembling twilight, occurring or active during twilight plangent - having an expressive and especially plaintive [expressive of suffering or woe] quality repudiation - the refusal of public authorities to acknowledge or pay a debt epistemological - the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity mitigate - to cause to become less harsh or hostile palliate - to reduce the violence of a disease, to ease symptoms without curing the underlying disease, to cover by excuses and apologies, to moderate the intensity of salutary - producing a beneficial effect, remedial, promoting health autonomous - having the right or power of self-government, undertaken or carried on without outside control, self-sufficient inexorable - not to be persuaded, moved, or stopped, relentless attenuate - reduced especially in thickness, density, or force, tapering gradually usually to a long slender point, opposite of accentuate putative - commonly accepted or supposed, assumed to exist or to have existed hegemonic - preponderant influence or authority over others, domination, the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group
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Appendix III
“...at least it got to me. I venomously hated it but at least it got to me.” (Peter Cook Lecture)
09.01.08 - 12.03.08
A quick brief from other lectures of interest.
Paivi Elmkvist – City of Malmo I was very encouraged by this presentation and with how comprehensive it was. It seems that many times when you have a presentation on something as specific as ‘sustainable transportation’ there is closed views to the topic. However, this presentation was incredibly well rounded and sensitive to wider approaches and aspects of sustainable transportation. The realization of un-economic growth is something that is very important when we are looking for sustainable solutions in technology. It is very difficult to investigate the invested energy needed for research and development of technologically ‘green’ products; however, I think it is worth thinking about. Perhaps the efforts to create and manufacture the technology out-weight it’s benefits during is actual effective life. I thought that the aspects that Ms. Elmkvist pointed out were very relevant and well organized. She lists the consideration of sustainable transit as ecological, economical, social, and motivations. These are all important because sustainable transit, should also be socially sustainable. If there is stigma attached to public transit, or if the transit is not safe, it is not socially sustainable, and therefore it won’t make much difference even if it is environmentally sustainable. “Maybe we should slow down transit,” is not a phrase you often here urban traffic planners use. Especially when the topic of conversation is rapid-public transit. It was very interesting to hear about how people are travelling around the same amount of time as they did historically, but now are travelling a greater distance. To me this seems as though perhaps the social sustainability is being lost. Familiar strangers, and relationships based on proximity, might be less likely to occur when our communities are so much more spread out. Three main points or goals of transit were identified as being - fewer trip - more modes - sell and better vehicle traffic I think the key here is fewer trips. In this way, suddenly mixed use, and small scale zoning also become a part of transit planning. Walking becomes a mode of public transit that is respected and we strive to make it possible. I think that is very positive. A mixture of transit options is very important, and I think this leads also to social sustainability. The needs of a student, a single parent, and an elderly person for their transit are something very different. Also, for the transit to be more efficient, it should consider a broader range of options so that there is max efficiency for different types of users. The program of Lund giving away a one month free pass sounds like a successful strategy to increase ridership. Ms.Elmkvist said, “Behavior comes before attitude.” This way, car owners who are unmotivated to try transit, have a good reason to loose their public transit virginity, and after they have experienced it, are more likely to keep using
it in the future. I believe she said at least between 40-60% continue to steadily use transit. It is critical to look at the qualities of public transit that matter the most to the users. For example, I was surprised to hear that cost fell at the bottom of the list of important factors for transit users. The list was 1. travel time 2. frequency 3. reliability 4. comfort 5. cost This is very important information for the city, as to how the dollars on public transit should be spent. When there is a problem with ridership, we now know that the money could be spent on making transit more quick and efficient to encourage users. I think that the conversation of environmental sustainability is often ineffective, when it looks to obvious, band-aid solutions, rather than to a careful analysis of the social and physical factors that lead to other realms of sustainability as well. (e.g. Social, political, economical) This lecture was very encouraging in how it first clearly identified the entire realm of environmental sustainability as it lies in parallel to other factors.
Han Xiii - Peking University The role of history in the environments that we create continues to literally haunt design. During the presentation of work today, I was inspired by the simple respect and diagrammatic ways of exposing and maintaining historical elements in landscape design. A lot of the work dealt with re-using industrial sites or buildings to create public parks. Elements such as old machinery, old signs, or pathways would be maintained and enveloped in the overall structure of the design. Importance was also given to items by various methods such as putting them on a stage (row of trees), placing them in a box (historical water tower), creating an edge around them (abandoned railway), or purposefully covering them and allowing them to expose in a certain area (piles of leftover from mining). It seemed as thought there was an emphasis on memory in the Chinese landscape because the population and spaces and constructions are changing so fast that memory has greater importance. (I.e. it is harder to remember when the visual cues are changing so fast).
Peter Cook - Archigram Dear Steff Peter cook gave a lecture at school the day before yesterday. It is so nice how this school gets so many guest lecturers. (There was also a designer, David Garcia, who came and he had gone to the Bartlett, so he showed us lots of projects that had to do with making machines. Does it not seem like that’s a pretty prevalent theme at the Bartlett?
Remember Nat’s studio all making drawing machines? And Nat’s thesis being about creating a machine?) Anyway that’s something else. The lecture by Peter Cook was again very interesting. It didn’t upset me quite as much as the one that he gave at our school (about playful architecture) but it did make me evaluate some of the tools that I use for design. His lecture, however, still seemed to be too shallow, too easy. The title of the speech was ‘Dogmas and Avoidances.’ It was basically about architectural language, and the creation of architectural movements or themes using manifesto writing (something I am very interested in). He was saying how manifesto writing holds such connotation, simply in the idea of manifesto as an impenetrable piece of writing, the ‘final word’ or the ‘rules’ of the movement. He was disappointed because he loves parametric architecture but had been to a meeting were one of the founders of the ‘parametricists’ had read their manifesto and it had used complex language, and detailed descriptions of what it was and was not to explain their work. So he talked more about the form of writing and showed an image where the words from some of their own writing about Archigram had been taken from an (essay or interview?) and put inside light blue cartoon speech bubbles on a purple page. The words being broken down into this new context had changed the meaning of the words, simply because they were not in an essay or typical manifest statement form. Anyway, I like thinking about that very much. The only thing is that I feel like he is almost too easy. There are some difficult questions in design and I think it requires more thinking than, ‘if you enjoy it its good, if it makes you mad it’s good.’ It’s so simple to be open minded? But I think there is a difference between accepting everything and challenging everything, and I think that challenging everything is more productive than accepting everything. Yes I think that that is what I am trying to say. Until the next one, Carley
An Atlas of Radical Cartography Lize Mogel I was interested to hear from the editor of this incredible compilation (book). I had experienced the book and I feel that the statements that the mixture of artists and designers make are very powerful. The discussion showed the power of the map as a tool to define boundaries. The purpose of mapping a land has always been to show points of significance, or to show bounds, and this give the map as a visual very a great amount of power. Simple shapes and names are given to incredibly complex geometries and cultures. It was interesting to hear about the differences between radical cartography and critical cartography, and also to hear about the similarities.
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“...My intention a bullet, my body a trigger finger. My pen is a Pistola...� (Incubus, Pistola - A Crow Left of the Murder 2004)