House Party

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A thesis by Celia Chaussabel Advisor: Doug Jackson California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, California Bachelor of Architecture Thesis

table of contents 5

abstract

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characters, subjectivities, and contradictions

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C H A P T E R 1: T H E H OT E L

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C H A P T E R 2: U P LOA D I N G

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C H A P T E R 3: S E N D O F F

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I N T E R M I S S I O N: N O R M

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C H A P T E R 4: AWA K E N I N G

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C H A P T E R 5: W E LC OM E

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C H A P T E R 6 : PA R T Y

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bibliography

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image credits

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character credits

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misc precedents

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abstract Robin Evans’ 1978 essay “Figures, Doors and Passages” analyzes the emergence of architectural formal and organizational strategies that prevented the exchange of ideas, collective experiences, and accidental encounters within the domestic realm. This emphasis on form and organization also characterizes the contemporaneous efforts

by Rem Koolhaas and Bernard Tschumi to catalyze such exchanges and encounters. “Characters, Subjectivities, and Contradictions” critically analyzes seminal work by these architects, and suggests that an architecture more suitable to contemporary social and cultural experience – in which individuals freely navigate the Internet and participate in the exchange of personal perspectives – must exceed the formal and organizational strategies articulated by Evans, and practiced by Koolhaas and Tschumi, by enlisting the idiosyncratic personal narratives, world views, ideas, and fantasies of its characters.

The accompanying design project, “House Party,” demonstrates a hypothetical form of space – at once urban and domestic – that, through a congruency between its architectural affordances and individual subjectivities, guarantees continual reinterpretation by evoking the unfulfilled desires of its diverse inhabitants. The result is an expanded form of architecture that succeeds in catalyzing spontaneous and unpredictable events by aligning its performative potential with the subjectivities of the individuals who perform them.

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n’s matrix and corridor schemes

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1. Rooms as thoroughfares: a form of domestic organization priveleging encounters, which Evans terms the “matrix of rooms.” Plan of Palazzo Antonini, Udine, by Andrea Palladio, 1556,from “Figures, Doors and Passages.”

2. Rooms off of a corridor resulting in a tranquil, uninterrupted home life. Plan of Coleshill, Berkshire, by Sir Roger Pratt, 1600s, from “Figures, Doors and Passages.”

rrangement of rooms means that each room had a door wherever there is an adjoining room. This was n obstacle to domesticity, because inhabitants were constantly getting interrupted by people moving he room to get to another part of the house. The shift of spacial arrangements from matrix to corridor esa new distinction of some space as circulation and other spaces as destination. In a corridor arrangeh room only has one door, which only opens to the corridor. The corridor acts as a buffer that prevents n different rooms from bleeding into one another and minimizes intersection between members of the d. It allows for privacy in each of the rooms and the development of individuality in the domestic realm in were not possible before, but keeps them permanently segregated. The purpose of the segregation is “to the self from others”. (Evans) This type of arrangement comes from valuing harmony over cacophony.

thesis is attempting to provide simultaneous isolation and reintersection, a hybrid between matrix and chemes is desired. Imposing a checkerboard-like condition between rooms with one door (like the corrdor and leftover space (which becomes similar to the matrix’s room with many doors) make it so that the interirrounded on all sides by one unified experience, while the exteriors are surrounded by sides each belongfferent room-world, making for a fragmented experience.

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From Evan’s matrix and corridor schemes

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A matrix arrangement of rooms means that each room had a door wherever there is an adjoining room. This seen as an obstacle to domesticity, because inhabitants were constantly getting interrupted by people movi through the room to get to another part of the house. The shift of spacial arrangements from matrix to corrid tablished a new distinction of some space as circulation and other spaces as destination. In a corridor arrang ment, each room only has one door, which only opens to the corridor. The corridor acts as a buffer that preve activities in different rooms from bleeding into one another and minimizes intersection between members of household. It allows for privacy in each of the rooms and the development of individuality in the domestic rea ways that were not possible before, but keeps them permanently segregated. The purpose of the segregatio preserve the self from others”. (Evans) This type of arrangement comes from valuing harmony over cacopho

CHARACTERS, SUBJECTIVITIES, AND CONTRADICTIONS

characters, subjectivties, and contradictions

valued spontaneous encounters and exchanges between members of the household – a quality that Evans refers to as “carnality.”2

The creation of a dedicated space for circulation – a corridor from which rooms branch off – marks

“figures, doors and passages”

the introduction of a new level of privacy and compartmentalization within the domestic realm,

Robin Evans’ 1978 seminal essay “Figures, Doors

responding to and facilitating an emerging cultural

and Passages” identifies the shift in domestic values

preference for individual control over social encounters.

that paralleled a physical shift in how domestic spaces

Initially created to separate the servants from the

were organized. The disappearance of a non-hierarchical

family, it established a new hierarchy of space between

organization that he refers to as a “matrix of rooms,”

circulation and destination. The shift in what was

and the emergence of the corridor as a circulational

considered convenient parallels a shift in societal values.

medium and spatial buffer, Evans argues, did not only

In a home where the space of circulation and the spaces

have a functional rationale, but also revealed the societal

for events coincide, it was inevitable that inhabitants

values at the time and affected the relationships between

would cross paths. “Company was the ordinary condition

members of the household.

and solitude the exceptional state.”3 In a society where domestic life became more about protecting the self from

Upon examination of Italian domestic spaces prior to

the “evils” of society (Evans cites the Puritanical shift

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1650, such as the Palazzo Antonini , Evans observes that

in England in the 17th century), the seclusion offered

a strategy of having rooms with multiple doors created

by the corridor layout gained value. Evans attempts to

“a matrix of discrete but thoroughly interconnected

trace the first appearance of the “corridor” layout, which

chambers.”1 In this type of spatial organization, there is

at first operated in tandem with the matrix of rooms. It

no separation between the space for domestic activities

eventually replaced the matrix arrangement, becoming

and the space for circulation, so inhabitants must use

the only way to circulate throughout the house – the

the rooms to circulate throughout the home. The result

“backbone” of the home. The effect that this new layout

of this non-hierarchical space is that inhabitants’ paths

had on the relationships between inhabitants is that an

would inevitably intersect with other members of the

inhabitant would no longer enter a room unless they had

household as they went about their domestic activities.

reason to be there: it was “difficult to justify entering

Evans observes that these domestic interruptions, while

any room where you had no specific business.”4 The

they may be considered annoying by today’s standards,

resulting encounters between inhabitants were therefore

were not always perceived as negative. At the time that

purposeful and culturally appropriate, while accidental

this domestic layout was common, the matrix of rooms

encounters were eliminated.

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allowed for the exchange of ideas, collective experiences, and programmatic crossovers to occur between adjacent

1. Robin Evans, “Figures, Doors and Passages” in Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997), 64.

2. Evans, “Figures, Doors and Passages”, 88.

3. Evans, 66.

4. Evans, 75.

rooms. It was an appropriate form of domesticity for a society, such as that of Renaissance-era Italy, that

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HOUSE PARTY

3. People focused on movement in New York City.

Stills from James Nares’ film “Street”.

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CHARACTERS, SUBJECTIVITIES, AND CONTRADICTIONS

and practices, contemporary public spaces do not

subjectivities

afford a common meeting space in which a wide range of perspectives can be exchanged. An example of this

At the end of the essay, Evans suggests that the

can be seen in James Nares’ video “Street”8, in which

corridor is an outmoded form of domestic organization

slow-motion candid footage of pedestrians on New

and no longer reflective of contemporary values.

York City streets reveal individuals who avoid social

Originally implemented in the search for domestic peace,

encounters by averting their eyes or focusing on the

tranquility, and separation, the corridor has ultimately

familiar spaces of their phone screens.

resulted in a “general lobotomy” on social experience,

explain this phenomenon with an extension of the

withholding experiences that have been pre-determined

argument he makes for domestic spaces: in the same

as undesirable. The corridor layout is responsible

way that the corridor provides a dedicated space for pure

for “reducing noise-transmission… suppressing

circulation devoid of activity or encounter, the modern

smells, stemming vandalism…veiling embarrassment,

city has transformed the street into a space of pure

closeting indecency and abolishing the unnecessary”6

circulation – one that facilitates the efficient movement

– the general suppression of certain perspectives and

of individuals and goods to their destinations, and which

experiences.

correspondingly inhibits productive social encounter.

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Evans might

If one thinks of the flattened and non-hierarchical space of the Internet, which has allowed individuals

shortcomings of Evans’ organizational approach

to access information and express themselves, a formal organization of space that prioritizes certain encounters and perspectives, and leads to the omission

In actuality, the physical organization of architectural

of others, does not appear to align with the values

space only plays a small part in the social encounters

of our contemporary society. For all of our modern

it either inhibits or promotes. What Evans fails to

preoccupation with social media, which stems from our

acknowledge is that the idiosyncratic subjectivities of

incessant need to be informed about the lives of other

the individuals concerned – the unique characteristics,

people and our desire to share our own perspective

world views, inclinations, and fantasies that each

with others, what would be a more appropriate form of

individual brings to encounter – as well as the cultural

contemporary space than the matrix layout, which as

context that dictates how much of that subjectivity is

Evans puts it, is “an architecture arising out of the deep

allowed to reveal itself in public space, are much more

fascination that draws people towards others?”7

powerful prohibitors of engagement than the corridor itself. In film footage of early New York City streets,

However, even in this contemporary society, which

which Nares excerpts from a Ken Burns documentary

appears to once again desire an architecture of social “carnality,” public spaces do not exhibit spontaneous encounters. Despite being occupied by individuals with

5. Evans, 89.

6. Evans, 90.

7. Evans, 90.

8. James Nares, “James Nares - Street.” Vimeo video, 53:04, October 11, 2012, https://vimeo.com/51223150.

increasingly unique subjectivities, which could reveal themselves through increasingly unique behaviors

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4. The streets of New York City, pre-car. Movement is not prioritized over street events and encounters are much more common. Still from Ken Burns documentary, used in a 2012 James Nares lecture.

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6. Drawing from Delirious New York of the Downtown Athletic Club, able to accommodate the rapidly changing needs of the metropolis, known as programmatic instability.

5. Evans does recognize the role of culture, as it helps him explain the changing perception of “convenience.” If in Victorian times, a culture that could “deplore the mixing of servants and family, the racket of children, and the prattle of women,” would of course consider the corridor a useful invention. But even if the corridor had never been invented, Victorian culture would have invented other countermeasures to ensure that the social discomfort of unplanned encounters would never occur.

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CHARACTERS, SUBJECTIVITIES, AND CONTRADICTIONS

to feature at a 2012 lecture at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art9, there is much more social engagement

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and activity on the streets.

analysis of Koolhaas and Tschumi

While the form of the

street in this archival footage is essentially the same as that of a contemporary city street, the absence of the car reveals a space that was not solely devoted to circulation but was instead shared by markets, groups of people standing around and talking, pedestrians on the move, and horses pulling carriages. Such a street does not privilege efficient movement, so the expectation is that one must weave between market stands and people standing around to get around. The cultural expectation is that one must negotiate this public space with others. Therefore, despite its formal structure, it retains the potential for the “carnality” that Evans associates with the reduced structure of a matrix. In contrast, the eventual usurpation of the street by the automobile eliminated this spatial negotiation from the set of cultural practices expected to be performed in the street. As a result, the cultural codes became reduced to encourage only those behaviors associated with efficient movement. In contemporary urban spaces, such New York City, cultural codes dictate a negative judgment about anyone who fails to conform to the crowd of people

Evans’ 1978 essay was not the only one of its time to address the lack of exchange in contemporary society.

Within a few years of the publication of “Figures, Doors and Passages,” Delirious New York by Rem Koolhaas (1978)10 and The Manhattan Transcripts by Bernard Tschumi (1981)11 were also published, both advocating for an architecture based on novel organizational strategies intended to activate the same type of unplanned social performances as Evans’ matrix of rooms does. Both architects would subsequently build practices whose influential work derives from and extends the theories described in these texts. Moreover, both architects share the emphasis on formal and organizational techniques evinced in Evans’ influential essay. This dissertation therefore examines their competing proposals for the Parc de la Villette competition in 1982, which are both premised on the organizational logic of a flattened, nonhierarchical matrix of diverse programs. As proposals for the practical application of their theories, this affords the opportunity to critically evaluate the ability of such formal and organizational strategies to catalyze unplanned social encounters.

minding their own business (including behaviors such as making eye-contact or smiling). It is therefore not a surprise that engagement between strangers is rare. As this dissertation will examine later, these same cultural norms do not extend to online platforms, where people

In Delirious New York, Koolhaas’ fascination

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with the Downtown Athletic Club derives from its unique ability to encapsulate in building form the ever-changing, unstable configuration of programs,

are much less hesitant to engage with strangers. An architecture designed to encourage productive social encounter that acknowledges that culture factors into how people behave in certain spaces, rather than merely relying on organizational strategies designed to produce circulation and programmatic collisions, could overcome

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9. James Nares, “Street.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art video, 2:17, February 26, 2013, https://www.metmuseum.org/metmedia/video/ collections/ph/street.

10. Rem Koolhaas, Delirious New York (Cambridge: Oxford University Press, 1978).

11. Bernard Tschumi, The Manhattan Transcripts (London: Academy Editions/St. Martin’s Press, 1981).

these barriers to engagement.

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7. One layer of OMA’s proposed Parc de la Villette design: the programmatic strips. Drawing from Office of Metropolitan Architecture’s website.

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9. “Eating oysters with boxing gloves, naked, on the nth floor”: spontaneous behavior in the Downtown Athletic Club. Illustration from Delirious New York.

10. Tschumi treats the architecture as a stage set, onto which actors and events unfold in a choreographed manner. The specificity and idiosyncrasy of the events themselves go beyond program. In The Manhattan Transcripts, Tschumi forgoes conventional programs for more passionate events like murder, death, and love – events one could say are results of subjective emotions and desires rather than just functional 8-1

ones.

8. Every strip articulated with its assigned program: Hills for kite-flying,track for running, long pool for lap swimming, sand for cowboys. Drawing from Office of Metropolitan Architecture’s website.

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CHARACTERS, SUBJECTIVITIES, AND CONTRADICTIONS

made possible by the metropolis’ rapidly changing

down the strips shows a differentiation of materials

programmatic needs, Manhattan’s quintessential and

and landscapes between the strips, but whether those

non-hierarchical grid organization, and the freedom of

are meant to inspire the park-goers to act according

the skyscrapers’ stacked floor plates. For the Downtown

to their desires is left vague. In the absence of a clear

Athletic Club, the incorporation of these programmatic

strategy to both negate prevailing social and cultural

and organizational characteristics into a structure

codes of behavior and to afford the opportunity for

occupied by a single clientele affords the potential to

the creative re-interpretation of program to generate

capitalize on the circulation through diverse programs

new and unexpected activities and encounters, each

to produce unexpected experiences and, hopefully,

programmatic strip would probably always be used

productive encounters. This programmatic potential

for the same function, with their interesting and

gets exploited in his Parc de la Villette proposal, which

quirky adjacencies to contradictory programs quickly

translates the Downtown Athletic Club section into a

becoming unexceptional. As a result, Koolhaas’ image

horizontal organization, thus removing the barriers

of “eating oysters with boxing gloves, naked, on the

(floor plates) separating the program. Like in Evans’

nth floor”14 cannot realistically describe an unexpected

matrix of rooms, the programmatic strips serve as both

or spontaneous activity within contemporary public

the circulation and the event space, meaning that as

space.

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park visitors travel through the park, they inevitably experience the wide variety of programs the park has

Bernard Tschumi is interested in a similar

to offer. Where this project departs from the purely

misalignment of architectural space and program, in

formal and organizational focus of Evans’ writing is

order to catalyze unexpected activities. He refers to

that architectural specificity distinguishes each of the

such spontaneous activities as “events”15 –unplanned

strips. Whereas Evans never acknowledges that the

social and spatial phenomena that result more so

programs of the different rooms play a role in what kinds

from the desires of users than what is dictated by the

of encounters are possible, OMA’s strategy is to optimize

architecture.

each strip of program’s distinct physical, spatial, and

Villette, constructed from 1984 – 1998, was imagined

material identity in order to maximize the effects of their

as an open-ended space that would not only host public

proximity and combination, which Koolhaas refers to as

and cultural activities, but also afford visitors the

programmatic “pollution.”

agency to dictate what those activities are. The red folies

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His winning design for the Parc de la

distributed throughout the park are intended to create a Koolhaas hoped to create a system that would

situation in which different individuals might reasonably

generate a park by combining “programmatic instability

interpret the proper use of a space differently, their

with architectural specificity.” However, the driving

incomplete forms both inspiring and accommodating the

force for the instability is the constantly changing

events.

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programs, which are imagined to change according to the needs of the users. But the project proposal never elaborates on how the architecture assists in the interpretation of space. A perspective drawing looking

12. “Parc de la Villette,” Office for Metropolitan Architecture, https://oma.eu/projects/parc-de-la-villette.

13. “Parc de la Villette.”

14. Koolhaas, Delirious New York, 155.

15. Tschumi, The Manhattan Transcripts, 7.

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11. “Supercrits” are organized and hosted by the Research Centre for Experimental Practice in Architecture at the University of Westminster. They provide a forum in which well-known architects are brought before a panel of international critics to present one of their most famous projects. The presentation and discussion that follows are transcribed into a book.

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13. Folies designed as a kit-of-parts. Drawings of variations on the folies from Bernard Tschumi Architects, reproduced in Supercrit #4.

12.. Park-goers performing activities around the folies but not being facilitated by them or using them. What are the folies contributing besides acting as points of reference? Images from Bernard Tschumi Architects, reproduced in Supercrit #4.

14. In The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman, affordances are referred to as “the potential actions that are possible.” For a space to encourage play, the architecture needs to express ambiguous ideas about the proper use of the space in question, rewarding individual creativity. Too much structure (set programs, rigid boundaries) inhibits play, but too little structure (open, “flexible” space that has no program at

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all) is insufficient to catalyze it. As pointed out

by Norman, for people to take advantage of those possible actions, the affordances must also be perceivable, or discoverable. That ability to perceive affordances, which is shaped by both the physical traits of the space and by the immaterial experiences and desires of the user, is what is explored in the design project of this dissertation.

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15. Another questionable strategy of Tschumi’s is the reliance on “movement vectors” as a form of circulation throughout the park. Tschumi claims that the rubbing of those paths against the activity spaces contributes to the catalyzation of unplanned events, but from the standpoint of “Figures, Doors and Passages,” it is this efficient mode of movement – analogous to the corridor – that is prohibitive to participation.

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CHARACTERS, SUBJECTIVITIES, AND CONTRADICTIONS

However, the Parc de la Villette ultimately fails at

form, the folies were intended to trigger different types of

catalyzing the unexpected and novel behaviors desired

responses and actions in the park. However, ambiguous

by Tschumi. In his defense of the project at a “Supercrit”

readings do not necessarily result in productive

in 2005

misreadings—especially when the forms employed are

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, Tschumi recounts his first time walking

through the completed park, and describes the users and

suggestive of a collage of normative activities, rather

activities he saw as evidence of the supposed success of

than designed to suggest and authorize novel and

his architectural strategy. He cites musicians playing

transgressive behaviors.

the drums on the promenade, soccer players taking over some of the triangular areas, and people playing boule

Tschumi himself described the formal strategy that

in a patch of gravel. In an attempt to support his claim,

he used to facilitate the design and construction of

he characterizes such normative recreational activities

the twenty-six folies as a “kit-of-parts” approach.18

as spontaneous and unexpected events and credits their

The compositional elements that comprise the kit –

occurrence to the fact that the park was sufficiently

such as stair, ramp, and room – too clearly describe

unprogrammed to allow them to occur.

each function, effectively prescribing fairly normative

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What

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Tschumi claims to have designed is “a sort of anchor for

activities and undermining the vagueness that their

the imagination.” But these are neither unexpected

many reconfigurations is supposed to imbue. In contrast

nor particularly imaginative activities, neither for the

to a collage of normative forms, a more effective

space of a park, where boules, music, and soccer are all

approach for the design of the folies would have been

culturally acceptable activities in French parks, nor for

for Tschumi to consider forms that project multiple,

the users: musicians playing music, families playing

diverse affordances.

games, soccer players playing soccer. The activities he

projecting multiple affordances in a frequently used

recounts have nothing of the scandalous qualities of the

element in the folies would be to design a staircase with

event/space combinations that Tschumi describes in his

materials and proportions so that it could also easily be

1994 book Architecture and Disjunction: “pole vaulting

interpreted as an object for seating or reclining – such

in the chapel, bicycling in the laundromat, sky diving

as employing deeper, contoured “treads” surfaced with

in the elevator shaft.” Folie, after all, translates to

a softer material, such as grass. However, in Tschumi’s

“madness” in French, and the events of the park that he

kit-of-parts design, the staircases are all too similar,

uses to support his architecture do not substantiate the

too normative, and thus read only as affording vertical

transgressive quality connoted by that term.

circulation. The fact that the folies are all red, and

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One example of critically

constructed primarily of steel, also limits the number of The fact that many of the folies – which were

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readings and possible uses.

intentionally designed to be program-less structures open to interpretation – have, since the opening of the park, been converted into permanent, regular programs such as a restaurant, office, and information center, is evidence that the open-ended nature of the folies was ultimately unsuccessful. By being ambiguous in their

16. Samantha Hardingham and Kester Rattenbury, Bernard Tschumi: Parc de la Villette, Supercrit #4 (Oxford: Routledge, 2012), 83.

17. Bernard Tschumi, “Spaces and Events” in Architecture and Disjunction (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1994), 146.

18. Hardingham and Rattenbury, Bernard Tschumi, 65.

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16. On the other hand, a search engine is analogous to a corridor in that it allows one to efficiently navigate to a webpage. After typing in keywords, one can scroll through the results page that summarizes each link and find the webpage they are looking for without opening every link. The searching is condensed to the results page so that no unexpected websites are arrived at. Moreover, these results are ranked based on their congruence with other people’s behavior – thus rewarding conformity rather than uniqueness.

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CHARACTERS, SUBJECTIVITIES, AND CONTRADICTIONS

strategies from the internet Since the publication of Evans’ essay in 1978, a new type of space has emerged, one which can serve as a foil to the formal strategies that Evans dissects and to the Parc de la Villette entries that rely on them. Although it is entirely without physical form, the space of the Internet allows for a similar mode of navigation between differentiated spaces as that of the matrix of rooms, and yet is much more capable of encouraging spontaneous experiences and engagements. It therefore demonstrates that diverse subjectivities can be exploited to catalyze social and programmatic play irrespective of form and organization.

Within the Internet one has the ability to move directly from one space (website) to the next, clicking on the links that interest them in order to arrive at another page – the immaterial equivalent of moving between adjacent rooms. One example of this type of movement is the pastime of going to a random Wikipedia article and jumping from one article to the next in a spontaneous, exploratory way. Since each entry typically contains links to many adjacent subjects, people have made a game of seeing how distant of a subject they can arrive at by only clicking through links within the Wikipedia page they are currently on, to the extent that the game

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of “Wikiracing”19 has been coined.

In contrast to any form of physical space, the space of the Internet has no obvious organizational rules and navigation occurs much more freely. Compared to the matrix of rooms, which is constrained by the

one’s individual subjectivity and choices. Each webpage can have hundreds of “doorways” (links to other webpages) to choose from, so that one’s experiences and encounters within the Internet depend significantly on one’s personal inclinations and interests. In addition, because the social norms of public space do not fully extend to the Internet, behavior likewise occurs more freely. As a result, the Internet, despite its virtual nature, is contemporary society’s most potent space for fulfilling individual fantasies – allowing for limitless play within a diverse and multitudinous spatial environment controlled by each individual’s idiosyncratic subjectivity.

This is so far unmatched in our physical space, particularly in the public realm.

Despite affording individuals increased agency to organize their own experiences into idiosyncratic and engaging worlds, the proliferation of private, domesticated realities on the Internet competes with and displaces the shared, physical reality of public space.

The quintessential value of the public realm as a space for encountering perspectives that are different than one’s own is compromised when social encounters move from the unpredictable realm of real, local space to the intangible but individually-controlled realm of digital networks. Every individual’s experience in virtual space is completely unique, but the potentially interesting differences between them are untapped since there is no way to spontaneously encounter these in local space. Consequently, there exists a need to manifest the subjective and idiosyncratic experiences of the Internet within physical space, where others can encounter it unexpectedly.

permanency of each room’s relationships to one another and to the number of rooms that can be adjacent to one another, navigation through the Internet can occur in an endless number of combinations, based entirely on

19. “Wikiracing.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiracing.

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ooh toasty

17. Field of play: the projection of personalities on architecture. smells like fruit

nutella

mmm crepes

L’s garden

G’s kitchen vitamin C

these are pics from my latest adventure to the Himalayas when I climbed to the peak

*sniff*

ugh F’s garden

this is good.

groovy

fml

gel

still got it

T you handsome son of a b*tch

...and my appetite is gone

T’s movie room

T’s powder room

did I remember to bring a towel L’s playroom

H’s pool

hm that shelf needs something

is this a good picnic spot?

T’s living room

ah-CHOO!

nah.

whoops

crepe break!

H’s kitchen

B, how about a picnic? okay B. HAM

G ‘s study

L’s garage

B and B’s pantry

G’s medicine cabinet

N’s garage

M’s bedroom

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CHARACTERS, SUBJECTIVITIES, AND CONTRADICTIONS

Architectural theorist Sanford Kwinter defines play

Koolhaas and Tschumi by strategically enlisting the

as “worldmaking in the absence of verification.”20 Play

idiosyncratic personal narratives, world views, ideas, and

is valuable in that it allows each individual to construct

fantasies of the unique individuals that inhabit it. Their

their own subjectivity irrespective of the dominant

actions, choices, and perceptions, which are unique to

reality, empowering the individual’s perspective while

each inhabitant and their personalities, create a potent

encouraging difference and tension. Play space is

but unpredictable field of social and programmatic “play”

commonly theorized to exist as an overlay on real,

in which unique subjectivities can be fully expressed.

physical space – affording a space within which

The form and organization of this architecture

individuals can enact performances and constitute

activates this potential by proliferating idiosyncratic

identities that differ from (and thus remain unverifiable

interpretations of its programmatic affordances.

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within) the culturally-coded arena of public space. Like In this way, architecture can harness the positive

the space of the Internet, play space strains against the conformity of normative, programmed space – and

qualities of the Internet – “play” and the resulting

likewise provides a model for achieving the spontaneous

proliferation of unique viewpoints – and physicalize it in

and unpredictable experiences that characterize Evans’

order to situate these unique viewpoints in an expanded

matrix of rooms as well as the architectural aspirations

form of public space. Manifesting the liberated space

of Tschumi and Koolhaas.

of the Internet in physical space requires not only a matrix-like formal organization and circulation, but also

To understand such spatial and programmatic agendas through the lens of play, therefore,

the creation of forms and spaces that express ambiguous ideas about the proper use of the space in question.

acknowledges that architectural strategies must The design project is presented as an illustrated

exceed the mere fixing of program and bounding of space – by expanding to strategically exploit the

narrative – a form of representation that privileges the

idiosyncrasies of the individuals that activate that

subjective perception and experience crucial to this

space. The diversification of personality brought out

architectural approach. It begins with the narrator

by play reinscribes value to public space as an arena of

agreeing to participate in a housing experiment that is

difference and potential rather than a space of cultural

being conducted in Brussels, Belgium. Unbeknownst

commonality and consensus, and carries the potential to

to the narrator, who believes she is destined to receive

“raise the chance encounter to a sublimated art form”21

a perfect, custom house, the experiment is actually intended to manifest a more radical form of space – one in which the idiosyncratic and uninhibited qualities

design project: house party

of domestic space are entangled with and destabilize the culturally-coded space of the public realm. Such a

The design project following this dissertation, in

hybridized dwelling/urban space is arguably a space that

Book 2, is a speculative case study that demonstrates a

is more suitable for the contemporary world. Moreover,

hypothetical form of space – at once urban and domestic

in developing architectural form to differently engage

– that expands on the formal and organizational

different individuals, it demonstrates an expanded

strategies articulated by Evans’ and pursued by

idea of architecture in which the unique subjectivities

19

HOUSE PARTY

19. The constant reinterpretation of public rooms.

18. The empty hotel room facilitates digital “play.”

[4:17pm] “the sparrow by mary doria russell”

C’s reading room

wholesome breakfast

[4:08pm] “hammock”

G’s practice room

[4:18pm] “pine tree forest”

[4:15pm] “stephen king’s the stand”

[5:46 pm]“bananas” “ripe bananas”

murakami

[5:43 pm]“banana leaf”

!!!! awkward C’s reading room

bath time pool party

[7:53 pm] “table”

wholesome breakfast romantic encounter

[7:54 pm] “cake”

G’s practice room

T’s souvenir room

N’s bathroom

Whiskey -distillery and tasting Observation deck Below-deck sweet hammock sleep Pool for nautical sports

M

20. Meet the neighbors.

Photo and reminiscing screening room Vanity mirror room for doing hair Map room for planning voyages Souvenir display gallery

bath time pool party cactus garden

Forest hammock reading room Pastry shop gazing Pasta-making kitchen

Sunset viewing Cactus and succulent garden Horse training arena Stable Quick-draw shadow-shooting practice Saloon

T’s souvenir room

N’s bathroom

M

Orange grove for vitamin C Weight-lifting gym Sickness recovery bedroom Serious study desk for schoolwork

Crepe-eating bachelor kitchen Corporate, time-wasting cubicle Harp-performing stage for audience of zero “I’m such a klutz” staircase Butcher shop that shields innocent eyes Bunk bed for two close friends Sledding hill with snow machine

20

CHARACTERS, SUBJECTIVITIES, AND CONTRADICTIONS

of the inhabitants acquire a status equal to that of the

type of “street” through which all the inhabitants

architecture.

must circulate, but which is also full of potential

19

for encounters.

The first procedure is to capture the subjectivity of

The interlocked nature of the

private rooms with the common spaces allows for a

the test subjects in a digital form, for which the test

de-hierarchization and blurring of private and public

subjects are held in blank, standardized hotel rooms,

space. It also results in a form of public space in

to be filled by holograms of every domestic fantasy and

which personalities and desires are more comfortably

desire that the individuals possess.

Not satisfied

revealed, and in which inhabitants feel free to express

with the conscious imaginations of the dwellers, the

their uniqueness by taking ownership of these spaces

hotel room will even trigger vivid dreams in order to

between their rooms to accommodate idiosyncratic

collect more data from the inhabitants’ memories and

performances. This new reality is contrasted with the

subconscious. The data collected from this process is

narrator’s old memories of the street, which was only

used as a starting point for the new dwellings, which

used for circulating from one destination to the next

translates the digital cloud of information about the

with no chance for encounters, plagued by anonymity

inhabitants to a built architecture inside of a literal

and indifference.

18

cloud.

As she explores her new world, the narrator finally Unconstrained by any site or existing form of

becomes acquainted with her neighbors.

20

The

urbanism that dominates the landscape on the ground,

unique and memorable characters she encounters

the new form of living taking shape in the sky is free to

serve to illustrate in an exaggerated manner the range

manifest every inhabitant’s unique perspective, which

of idiosyncratic subjectivities that have emerged in

up to that point had only existed virtually through the

contemporary society. The architecture allows those

holograms in the hotel rooms. When the dwellings

subjectivities to reveal themselves in the way each

are complete, the impatient narrator and the rest of

inhabitant interprets their ambiguous domestic space.

the test subjects, none of whom have ever met in the

Like in Tschumi’s The Manhattan Transcripts, the

solitary confinement of the hotel rooms, are sent up

representation of the characters’ personalities and the

into the cloud. However, upon arriving in this new

actions that unfold amongst the architecture are staged

world, the narrator discovers that her rooms, rather

and choreographed, demonstrating the power in this

than being contained in one unified, perfect house, are

architecture of carefully designed formal and material

dispersed within a field of other spaces – including the

affordances to trigger varied and unique programmatic

private rooms of all of the other inhabitants, as well

and performative responses according to the characters’

as unprogrammed intermediary spaces. The result is

unique subjectivities.

a matrix-like, non-hierarchical condition between the The form, material, and atmospheres that comprise

private spaces of the rooms and the shared spaces that exist between them.

the architecture are all informed by the data collected on the inhabitants. The interior of each private room

The shared spaces between the private rooms are configured as “public rooms.” This results in a new

legibly conveys the activity it is intended for, with the materials and form of the room specifically tuned to

21

HOUSE PARTY

“F”

Z Z Z nap time

“L”

bath time

orange chute

source of cold draft

nap time

juicing surface

firearm/cactus storage

grazing grounds

tiered cactus garden

reminder of Tibet

photoshoot spotlight lighting

mirrored surface

pipe-smoking spot

hiding spot

buoy storage

phonograph stand

21. Chart of character interpretations.

heat lamp

firearm/cactus storage

soft tanning surface

dance-off

sunken cactus garden

“T”

photoshoot soft glow lighting

“H”

26-1

drying

swimming puddle

swimming pool

bass-tuning station

musical accompaniment

spectator (?) seating

smoke a joint

dream of the spotlight

nutella-softening station

sled storage

slide

hide-and-go-seek spot

sledding

“G”

“B & B”

“N”

22

balloon tethering spot

CHARACTERS, SUBJECTIVITIES, AND CONTRADICTIONS

the individual subjectivity of its occupant. The exterior spaces between the private rooms, meanwhile, are bounded by surfaces that are a collage-like composition of all of the familiar forms and materials that comprise the private rooms. The resulting interiority of these exterior “public rooms” allows every inhabitant to perceive the space as appropriate for whatever activity they desire. This carefully designed congruency between architectural affordances and individual subjectivities guarantees continual performative reinterpretation by evoking the unfulfilled desires of the diverse individuals

21

in question.

The architecture exploits formal and performative affinities between the architectural elements of a space, such as a surface that is suggestive of either being slept on or having food placed on it. These distinct formal and performative readings, in addition to the constantly shifting combinations of architectural atmospheres, ambiguous materials, and inhabitants’ personalities, create a space ripe for contradicting interpretations. Through the tension between these multiple interpretations, the architecture acknowledges the differences between the inhabitants. The result is an architecture in which each individual’s perspectives and desires have equal opportunity to be expressed. This is a form of architecture that finally succeeds in being a space of spontaneous and unpredictable programmatic events, since it incorporates and responds to the subjectivities of the individuals who perform them. `

23

HOUSE PARTY

Who is this story about if it’s not about me?

24

EXTRA

metanarratives, micronarratives, and subjectivity What prevailed as the primary source of knowledge,

the church or the state.21 Nevertheless, throughout

before information was made readily accessible through

the course of modernity, the public at large remained

media, was an intellectual framework referred to as

consumers and interpreters of this information content,

the metanarrative, in which a singular authority would

rather than content creators. With the arrival of the

provide a comprehensive account of reality. Mythology,

Internet, however, the ability to produce and distribute

political ideology, religion, and even the scientific method

information has been afforded to every individual. Social

are all examples cited by French philosopher Jean-

media, blogs, and other online open-content platforms

Francois Lyotard of comprehensive accounts of reality

have not only provided a proliferation of non-hierarchical

that impose and enforce a particular set of values.20

content that has dramatically increased the ability for

Metanarratives ensure social and cultural cohesion in

individuals to curate their own ideas, perspectives,

that they allow individuals to inhabit a shared, public

and beliefs, they also constitute a widely accessible

reality. However, this version of reality is controlled by

platform for those perspectives to be easily shared and

whatever entity has the means to produce and distribute

distributed. With no single authority to which people

information at that time. Certain experiences and

could turn to for the truth, society entered an age of

cultural phenomena are socially accepted, while the

fragmentation and pluralism. According to Lyotard,

less dominant perspectives that do not fit within the

this is the defining characteristic of post-modernity, a

metanarrative are dismissed or excluded.

historical turning point in which reality can increasingly be represented through a multitude of personal

Mass media started to change this by allowing for a

perspectives.

plurality of narratives. Various forms of information such as books, newspapers, television, and radio ensured that the content of information began to diverge, insofar as this information was able to be produced and disseminated by entities other than

20. Jean-Francois Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, trans. Geoffrey Bennington and Brian Massumi (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984).

21. Beatriz Colomina, Privacy and Publicity: Modern Architecture as Mass Media, (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1994).

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HOUSE PARTY

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U PP LL O OA AD D II N N G G U

26

HO O TT EE LL H

CHAPTER 1: THE HOTEL

There is a neighborhood on the outskir ts of Brussels called Les Marolles. This is my destination.

N

B

L

E

S

R

M

U

A

X

R

O

E

L

L

L

L

E

E

S

S

I d o n’t k n o w m u c h a b o u t B r u s s e l s , e x c e p t t h a t i t ’s w h e r e N AT O a n d t h e E u r o p e a n U n i o n a r e h e a d q u a r t e r e d . T h a t s e e m s f i t t i n g f o r t h e h o u s i n g e x p e r i m e n t I ’m p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n , w h i c h i s s u p p o s e d t o b r i n g m a n y d i f f e r e n t t y p e s o f p e o p l e t o g e t h e r.

G

A

R

E

D

U

C

M

I

I

T

D

É

I

H

E

L

L

E

M

A

N

S

I arrive at the train station and walk to the Hotel Hellemans.

27

HOUSE PARTY

T h i s i s w h e r e t h e y ’v e b e e n conduc ting research in new home construction methods.

I ’m n e r v o u s a b o u t b e i n g i n a n e w p l a c e , b u t I f e e l comfor ted by the faces I see around me. I think these are my future neighbors.

I ’m s h o w n t o m y r o o m , r o o m 615 . T h i s i s w h e r e I’ll live temporarily while I am being fit ted for my brand new home. It should take about a month.

28

CHAPTER 1: THE HOTEL

I suspec t that this is an old soc ialist housing complex t h a t ’s b e e n c o n v e r t e d f o r t h i s e x p e r i m e n t .

29

HOUSE PARTY

Ever y thing is standardized, identical, repetitive.

The room is empt y and the walls are bare.

30

room 615

CHAPTER 1: THE HOTEL

I know it was my c hoice to come here, but I feel an over whelming sense of homesic kness.

How am I going to live here for a month?

31

HOUSE PARTY

11/23/2018

Standardized, private apartments 11/19/2018

L'exemple belge : l'habitat privé, la maison individuelle l'emportent sur

Brussels peuple 2

l'habitat collectif | Cairn.info

14-1

The grand dining room at the Maison du Peuple, Brussels, designed by Victo Horta in 1895 — Collection Baudewyns. Cote LF : 001183/020P. Les dossiers de La Fonderie

Socialist class: the Houses of the People | Thinkpiece | Architectural Review

: Le Foyer Schaerbeekois 100 ans, p. 46.

Couverture de « L’Habitation à bon marché », janvier 1930. Dixième

année. Revue mensuelle

https://www.cairn.info/revue-du-nord-2008-1-page-95.html

Brussels peuple 2

Designated social spaces referred to as the “houses of the people”

The grand dining room at the Maison du Peuple, Brussels, designed by Victor Horta in 1895

Brusselisation

9/13

14-2

Source: (colour image) PMRMAEYAERT / Wikimedia

The exterior of the Maison du Peuple in Brussels (left), juxtaposed with the T du Sablon (right) is a prime example of Brusselisation Brusselisation Source: (colour image) PMRMAEYAERT / Wikimedia The exterior of the Maison du Peuple in Brussels (left), juxtaposed with the Tour du Sablon (right) is a prime example of Brusselisation

https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/socialist-class-the-houses-of-the-people/10034778.article

4/6

32

EXTRA

the history of the cité hellemans

The experiments take place in converted socialist

Party, to be designed by Victor Horta. The House of the

housing originally built in 1912 for factory workers in a

People consisted of public programs such as a theater,

neighborhood of Brussels called Les Marolles. Although

co-op, trade union offices, concert hall, cafe, and meeting

the Cité Hellemans was a vast improvement over the

room. These communal spaces were intended to be sites

living conditions that existed before, the project could be

of “social condensing,” a Soviet Constructivist theory

seen as an attempt by the city to dismantle the culture

rooted in the contention that the design of public spaces

of the lower classes and impose a lifestyle deemed more

can break down perceived social hierarchies and create

suitable for the inhabitants of a great European capital.

socially equitable spaces.24 This idea persists today,

Each apartment has three bedrooms: one for parents,

with OMA defining social condensing in their own

one for girls, one for boys.

terms as “Programmatic layering upon vacant terrain

22

to encourage dynamic coexistence of activities and to Each unit in the Cité Hellemans is self-contained with

generate through their interference, unprecedented

its own kitchen and bathroom, and no communal

events.”25 Although the concept may be well-intentioned,

space except for a staircase shared between every

the separation of social life from living is problematic.

two apartments. Each apartment has its own southfacing terrace intended for relaxation, with the effect of privatizing leisure activities that used to happen in the streets.23 As a replacement for the social life that was missing from the workers’ housing, a “House of the People” was commissioned by the Belgian Workers’

22. M. J. Daunton, Housing the Workers, 1850-1914: a Comparative Perspective, (Leicester, UK: Leicester University Press, 1990).

23. Jean Puissant, “L’Exemple Belge : l’Habitat Privé, La Maison Individuelle l’Emportent Sur l’Habitat Collectif,” Revue Du Nord, no. 374 (2008): 95–116.

24. Owen Hatherley, “Socialist Class: the Houses of the People,” The Architectural Review, Sept. 4, 2018, https://www.architectural-review.com/ essays/socialist-class-the-houses-of-the-people/10034778.article.

25. Rem Koolhaas, Content: OMA-AMO, Rem Koolhaas (Cologne: Taschen, 2004).

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34

HO O TT EE LL H

CHAPTER 2: UPLOADING

S i n c e w e’r e g o i n g t o b e h e r e f o r a w h i l e , a l l o f t h e par ticipants are encouraged to tr y to make the hotel room feel like home.

p i n e tre

est” e for

room 615

I d i d n’t t h i n k t h a t w a s p o s s i b l e , until they told us about the projec tors hidden in the walls.

“

“pine tree forest, please”

Room boundaries

Audio collection and search engine

Inhabitant desires

Hidden projectors

T hey s a y t ha t a ny t hi n g we c a n t hi n k of, we can project into the room as a hologram. All w e h a v e t o d o i s a s k t h e r o o m n i c e l y.

35

HOUSE PARTY

The complete f reedom takes some get ting used to.

My reques t s are s imple a t f irs t. I as k f or a hammoc k.

Then a few of my favorite books.

[4:17pm] “the sparrow by mary doria russell”

[4:08pm] “hammock”

[4:18pm] “pine tree forest”

[4:15pm] “stephen king’s the stand”

Then I remember the pine tree forest from back home, the one I used to love to read in. The sunlight would stream through t h e b r a n c h e s t o i l l u m i n a t e m y b o o k s o p e r f e c t l y.

[5:46 pm]“bananas” “ripe bananas” [5:43 pm]“banana leaf”

V i r t u a l l y, I c a n c u s t o m i z e my room to an extent that I never could in real life.

[7:53 pm] “table”

[7:54 pm] “cake”

The room star ts to feel much bigger than it really is.

36

CHAPTER 2: UPLOADING

Something about this hotel room is triggering vivid dreams about my past.

I remember my hometown and my parents and my childhood. I relive my most impor tant memories.

I think the hotel room is tr ying to remind me of who I am and where I came from.

Of ten these dreams inspire me to make more holograms that remind me of h o m e . I t ’s c o m f o r t i n g .

37

HOUSE PARTY

I wonder what other people are doing in their rooms. The hotel records it all.

38

EXTRA

contemporary subjectivity

With the unlimited ability to access and produce information online, contemporary individuals’ experiences and identities are no longer constrained to any standard, category, or stereotype. Domestication now occurs on an individual basis; the family unit is no longer the primary frame of reference for domestic space and experience. Individuals have become liberated by the ability to manifest new identities and digital spaces that are unique to them. One’s personal perspective is safeguarded by the online identities that they construct and the subsequent data that defines them.

The contemporary individual now has more agency than ever to construct their own subjectivity. When individuals customize their experience digitally in that way, they are renegotiating the limit between themselves and the world.26 Online, individuals possess the agency to organize what information they use to frame their experiences. This is an act of domestication – leading to the formation of idiosyncratic, subjective worlds, within which each person’s reality becomes privatized.

26. Hubert, Christian. “Play Time.” ANY: Architecture New York, no. 12 (1995): 10-19.

39

HOUSE PARTY

C H HA A PP TT EE RR C

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HO O TT EE LL H

D ND SS EE N

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CHAPTER 3: SEND OFF

I t ’s d a y 2 5 . I ’m g e t t i n g t i r e d o f m y r o o m . T h e h o l o g r a m s a r e f u n b u t a t t h e e n d o f t h e d a y t h e y ’r e n o t r e a l . I t ’s j u s t a n e m p t y r o o m . M y b a c k h u r t s f r o m s l e e p i n g o n t h e f l o o r.

The hotel room seems to sense my dissatisfac tion.

R e c e n t l y I ’v e b e e n w a k i n g u p t o s t r a n g e t h i n g s i n m y room. Real things, not holograms.

For example, a few mornings ago I woke up to some thing growing on my wall. It looked like the pine tree forest from my dreams. How can this be?

Does this mean my house is almost done?

41

HOUSE PARTY

W h a t I ’m r e a l l y l o o k i n g f o r w a r d t o i s m y n e w h o m e . I h e a r d t h a t i t h a s t o b e b u i l t i n t h e s k y b e c a u s e t h a t ’s w h e r e t h e r e a r e n o c o n s t r a i n t s .

constantly coming up with ingeniuous contraptions in his workshop. Despite his very old age and long white beard and inability to wear G is a goofball young anything but pajamas,adult. It’s a wonder his mind is extremely he is able to keep his sharp and he is widelyjob at a comic book regarded as the office, where he spends smartest man in the most of his time doingBB is a very wellland. However, all of non-work related mannered and kind this has gone to his non-sense or sleeping in young boy. All he wants head and he tends to his cubicle. Very clumsy to do is to help other be full of himself. He and gangly, he ends uppeople, which he is able needs to be working in the first aid room a to accomplish with an on these inventions lot for minor injuries, extraordinary muscular almost compulsively, which suits G just finestrength that he was for they are his constant born with. However, as it allows him to miss reaffirmation to himself shyness and work. G is oblivious tohis LL is an old-fashioned, that he is superior to his own incompetence ordinarycowboy. appearance Wild West-type everyone else. As a and to how much mean that his his He’s a big believer of superresult, L doesn’t sleep co-workers dislike strength is a secret him.

Wild West-type justice, much, but when he and his feats His one true passion in where the fastest manoften does it’s on an elevated, unacknowledged. life is playing his loud go to draw a gun is the one California King podium Completely unwanting and ugly harp,who whose is right, not what bed that makes him feel of attention, BB is music everyone but judge some decides. His like he’s on top of the him finds extremely perfectly content main occupation is to Hwith T is an optimistic used to be the captain world. The one place obnoxious. Hechase continuing to perform subsists after criminals and virtuous young of a boat. Although it outside his workshop mostly off of crepes, secret acts of kindness, to collect the ransom, man with an appetite has been many, many B is a young boy who is that L spends the mosta very easy meal that However, BB is prone something for exploration. He inseparable from his he is very years since he’s sailed, amount of time in is he can throw together to coldsto and loses all his good at thanks deliberates over H still fancies himself canine companion, also his bath tub, but only whenever he ishis strength when he gets hungry. legendary extensive maps and a sailor. He has kept named B. Home for B quick because it’s a great He only keeps draw. one.

Heatkeeps a comfy, two feels constantly searches all the habits of a only exists whenHe he is place for thinking of toppings: cheese bed for for theplush home he a speedy the globe for new sailor, such as smoking with B, which most moment of new ideas. recoverythe and an orange when he wantspushes savorythrough adventures. However, his pipe and cussing. the time is outdoors as orchard for a constant and Nutella fordouble-swinging when he doors his naive curiousity The only new habit H B is an outdoor dog. source of vitamin C. wants sweet. of any saloon, often masks the fact The front yard, which is especiallyhas picked up since after a bones, long day out that T holds himself coming to the mainland full of B’s buried after crooks. is distilling his own above the cultures that feels morechasing like home None of this would be whiskey, which he he explores. In all of than the two-bedroom, possible without his his adventures, he is has developed a real two-bathroom house it companion, the explorer and the appreciation for in the belongs to.faithful The butcher horse JJ, whom he process and loves to world only exists as it shop is thehis only indoor tends unfolds in his gaze. He space B likes, astoit in his stable. drink. H’s coarse and oneB’s for the comfortsgrumpy nature isn’t a vainly prepares himself is where heNot finds of life,meat LL sleeps on his sign of alcoholism, as for each adventure by and his favorite spending hours in his sausages. horse’s B and Bback. eat Besides many would believe. bathroom, carefully only meat,the andcompany as B is of JJ, LL Rather it stems from with a life of an inherent desire to be styling his quiff too young is to content have seen solitude. haristyle. He loves to Food Inc. the sourceToofstay sharp in solitude. He is at his he spends his days at most introspective when relive his adventures in the meat must remain his shooting his home cinema, where he has a view of the shielded from his youngrange, his quick he flips through the sea from his bedroom eyes. B andpracticing B’s favorite and in the field window. photos that he took on pastime isdraw, sledding with JJ, practicing his his trip, and only photos down the snowy jumps. greatest joys that he himself took. His neighborhood hillHis in the souvenir room reduces winters. are tending to his secret garden of cactuses and each place to a single succulents and being object, evidence of T’s completely immersed in limited understanding a beautiful sunset view, of each culture. as if riding off into it.

They tell us that all of the information being collec ted about us in this hotel room is being materialized up there. They promise this will be the per fec t home.

I ’m h a v i n g a h a r d t i m e i m a g i n i n g w h a t t h a t m i g h t l o o k l i k e .

42

CHAPTER 3: SEND OFF

Whiskey -distillery and tasting Observation deck Below-deck sweet hammock sleep Pool for nautical sports

All I know is that my new life is about to begin, one where I am c om p l e t e l y f ree t o b e mys e l f.

H used to be the captain of a boat. Although it has been many, many years since he’s sailed, H still fancies himself a sailor. He has kept all the habits of a sailor, such as smoking his pipe and cussing.

The only new habit H has picked up since coming to the mainland is distilling his own whiskey, which he has developed a real appreciation for in the process and loves to drink. H’s coarse and grumpy nature isn’t a sign of alcoholism, as many would believe.

Rather it stems from an inherent desire to be in solitude. He is at his most introspective when he has a view of the sea from his bedroom window.

Photo and reminiscing screening room Vanity mirror room for doing hair Map room for planning voyages Souvenir display gallery

T is an optimistic and virtuous young man with an appetite for exploration. He deliberates over extensive maps and constantly searches the globe for new adventures. However, his naive curiousity often masks the fact that T holds himself above the cultures that he explores. In all of his adventures, he is the explorer and the world only exists as it unfolds in his gaze. He vainly prepares himself for each adventure by spending hours in his bathroom, carefully styling his quiff haristyle. He loves to relive his adventures in his home cinema, where he flips through the photos that he took on his trip, and only photos that he himself took. His souvenir room reduces each place to a single object, evidence of T’s limited understanding of each culture.

Sunset viewing Cactus and succulent garden Horse training arena Stable Quick-draw shadow-shooting practice Saloon

L is an old-fashioned, Wild West-type cowboy.

He’s a big believer of Wild West-type justice, where the fastest man to draw a gun is the one who is right, not what some judge decides. He feels at home the moment he pushes through the double-swinging doors of a saloon. None of this would be possible without his faithful companion, his horse J, whom he tends to in his stable. Not one for the comforts of life, L sleeps on his horse’s back.

Besides the company of J, L is content with a life of solitude. To stay sharp he spends his days at his shooting range, practicing his quick draw, and in the field with J, practicing his jumps. His greatest joys are tending to his secret garden of cactuses and succulents and being completely immersed in a beautiful sunset view, as if riding off into it.

Forest hammock reading room Pastry shop gazing Pasta-making kitchen

Orange grove for vitamin C Weight-lifting gym Sickness recovery bedroom Serious study desk for schoolwork

F is a very wellmannered and kind young boy. All he wants to do is to help other people, which he is able to accomplish with an extraordinary muscular strength that he was born with. However, F is prone to colds and loses all his strength when he gets one. He keeps a comfy, plush bed for a speedy recovery and an orange orchard for a constant source of vitamin C.

Crepe-eating bachelor kitchen Corporate, time-wasting cubicle Harp-performing stage for audience of zero “I’m such a klutz” staircase Butcher shop that shields innocent eyes Bunk bed for two close friends Sledding hill with snow machine

B is a young boy who is inseparable from his canine companion, also named B. Home for B only exists when he is with B, which most of the time is outdoors as B is an outdoor dog.

The front yard, which is full of B’s buried bones, feels more like home than the two-bedroom, two-bathroom house it belongs to. The butcher shop is the only indoor space B likes, as it is where he finds B’s and his favorite meat sausages. B and B eat only meat, and as B is too young to have seen Food Inc. the source of the meat must remain shielded from his young eyes. B and B’s favorite pastime is sledding down the snowy neighborhood hill in the winters.

I wait.

43

G is a goofball young adult. Very clumsy and gangly, he ends up in the first aid room a lot for minor injuries.

G is oblivious to his own incompetence.

His only true passion in life is playing his loud and ugly musical instruments, whose music everyone but him finds extremely obnoxious. He subsists mostly off of crepes, a very easy meal that he can throw together whenever he is hungry.

He only keeps two toppings: cheese for when he wants savory and Nutella for when he wants sweet.

HOUSE PARTY

O n d a y 35, I wa ke u p t o a g l as s e l eva t or i n my room. `I k n o w w h a t t h i s m e a n s . M y h o u s e i s f i n a l l y r e a d y.

T h e r e’s n o t h i n g t o p a c k . E v e r y t h i n g I n e e d i s w a i t i n g f o r m e i n m y n e w h o m e . I s t e p i n t o t h e g l a s s e l e v a t o r.

44

CHAPTER 3: SEND OFF

On t he way up, I pas s ou t.

45

HOUSE PARTY

An experiment in the creation of an objectile-like object that simultaneously suggests multiple, conflicting affordances.

46

EXTRA

the objectile

Forms can evoke the idea of multiple realities by simultaneously embodying the possibility of multiple events. They do not need to actually, physically change.

Rather, they can embody one event in a manner that embeds information about all other possible events.

This is analogous to Deleuze’s concept of the objectile, which is the field of possible formal iterations that an object belongs to. The object that is part of an objectile bears traces of that field of possibilities from which it is derived, giving it a sense of transience and incompleteness.27 By carefully calibrating the representation of an object, its singularity can be weakened in order to represent the variations suggested by the objectile to which it belongs. While typically associated with formal variation, the concept of the objectile can be extended to the range of possible actions and performances afforded by those formal variations.

27. Levi R. Bryant, “Objectiles, Differencing, and Events.” Larval Subjects, Sept. 29, 2009, larvalsubjects.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/objectilesdifferencing-and-events/.

47

HOUSE PARTY

Ii N T E R M I S S I O N : 48

N O R M

INTERMISSION: NORM

Norm is a chair on an adventure across time and space to collec t as many uses as possible.

Rather than being a passive objec t, Norm is impressionable, embodying all of the uses it encounters.

49

HOUSE PARTY

N o r m d o e s n’t c a r e t h a t 9 9 % o f t h e t i m e , i t ’s u s e d f o r s i t t i n g .

N o r m w a n t s y o u t o k n o w t h a t i t ’s been used as a night stand before.

50

INTERMISSION: NORM

And been stepped on t o reac h a t a l l s he l f.

And that home -made pasta has been dried on its back.

This chair is multi-functional. It avoids associating with one primary use and instead equally represents other experiences that can be had on a chair besides sitting. By physically manifesting the less obvious uses, they cannot be ignored or forgotten. As we engage with Norm’s various functions, we cannot avoid confrontation with the other, less familiar uses. All of Norm’s functions are part of its identity, regardless of whether or not they are a part of our own understanding of a chair.

Even though you might never have made home - made pasta before.

51

HOUSE PARTY

C H HA A PP TT EE RR C

ON N EE :: O

H EE TT H

C H HA A PP TT EE RR C

WO O :: TT W

U PP LL O OA AD D II N N G G U

CH HA AR RA AC CT TE ER R SS ,, C

HO O TT EE LL H

UB B JJ E EC CT T II V V II T T II E E SS ,, SS U

A PP TT EE RR HA C H C

H RR EE EE : TT H

A PP TT EE RR HA C H C

U RR :: OU FF O

A PP TT EE RR HA C H C

V EE :: FF II V 52

D ND SS EE N

O FF FF O

G N G N II N K EE N AK WA AW A M EE OM CO W EE LL C W

CHAPTER 4: AWAKENING

I wake up in my room. The light f i l t e r s d o w n i n a b e a u t i f u l w a y.

In fac t, the light looks just like daylight that would come down through a forest of pine trees.

53

HOUSE PARTY

light funnels

drop ceiling

steel structure

Is that a wall texture or are those really tree trunks?

foam wall panel

interior wall texture

Is that my favorite book sticking out from bet ween those trees?

foam wall panel tree trunk structure

Is the whole floor really made of hammocks?

hammock floor

54

CHAPTER 4: AWAKENING

I c a n’t w a i t t o s e e t h e r e s t o f m y h o u s e .

I t j u s t d o e s n’t l o o k l i k e a n y t h i n g I h a d i m a g i n e d .

55

HOUSE PARTY

New physical implications

56

EXTRA

contemporary public space

Public space is the physical manifestation of the collective agreement necessary for society and culture to exist and function. It is therefore the site where shared customs and practices are performed in common, idealized as a space for the productive exchange of individual differences when those customs and practices diverge. In early Athens there was the agora, which was a common meeting point for the trade of goods and ideas.

In socialist ideology there was the idea of public space as a “social condenser” in which different classes of people mingled and were made aware of each other.28

The value of public space over virtual space is that individuals cannot choose or control their experiences.

By existing in it, individuals submit themselves to the negotiation of space. This leads to unexpected encounters and confrontations that are not always what is most comfortable, but result from an existence among many contradictory perspectives. The perspectives of other people would serve as a point of comparison for one’s own, and one’s views could be challenged by others.

28. Rem Koolhaas, Content: OMA-AMO, Rem Koolhaas (Cologne: Taschen, 2004)

57

HOUSE PARTY

C H HA A PP TT EE RR C

ON N EE :: O

H EE TT H

C H HA A PP TT EE RR C

WO O :: TT W

U PP LL O OA AD D II N N G G U

CH HA AR RA AC CT TE ER R SS ,, C

UB B JJ E EC CT T II V V II T T II E E SS ,, SS U

A PP TT EE RR HA C H C

H RR EE EE : TT H

A PP TT EE RR HA C H C

U RR :: OU FF O

A PP TT EE RR HA C H C

V EE :: FF II V

A PP TT EE RR HA C H C

X :: SS II X 58

HO O TT EE LL H

D ND SS EE N

O FF FF O

G N G N II N K EE N AK WA AW A M EE OM CO W EE LL C W

A RR TT YY PP A

CHAPTER 5: WELCOME

I ’m f i g u r i n g o u t h o w t h i s w o r l d w o r k s .

Ever yone has their own set of rooms. As far as I can tell, the rooms are highly specific, built to per fectly accommodate the needs of the inhabitant. And no t wo rooms are alike.

A c t i v i t i e s a r e c o n t a i n e d i n s i d e a n d d o n’t i n t e r f e r e w i t h o n e a n o t h e r.

B u t n o n e o f t h e s e r o o m s i s a c o m p l e t e h o u s e . I t ’s a d i s p e r e s e d d o m e s t i c i t y, e a c h r o o m a n i n c o m p l e t e p i e c e o f y o u r e v e r y d a y life that you must constantly move bet ween.

N’s house

L’s house

G’s house

59

HOUSE PARTY

nutella

L’s garden

G’s kitchen

T’s movie room

L’s playroom

T’s living room

HAM

G ‘s study B and B’s pantry

60

CHAPTER 5: WELCOME

T h e s p a c e b e t w e e n t h e r o o m s b e c o m e s t h e n e w s t r e e t . B u t i t ’s n o t a s t r e e t t h a t ’s o n l y f o c u s e d o n g e t t i n g t o y o u r d e s t i n a t i o n .

T h i s i s l i k e n o o t h e r s t r e e t I ’v e e x p e r i e n c e d b e f o r e .

F’s garden

gel

T’s powder room

H’s pool

H’s kitchen

L’s garage

G’s medicine cabinet

N’s garage

61

M’s bedroom

HOUSE PARTY

Yo u h a v e n o c h o i c e b u t t o w a l k b e t w e e n e v e r y o n e e l s e’s r o o m s t o g e t t o t h e r e s t o f y o u r h o u s e .

smells like fruit

smells like fruit

F’s garden

this is good. vitamin C

fml smells like fruit

F’s garden

T you handsome son of a b*tch

gel

groovy

...and my appetite is gone

fml

This opens up your domestic experience for possibilities of intersection.

T’s powder room gel

...and my appetite is gone

T’s movie room

T you han son of a b

Searching for a good picnic spot

T’s powder room

H’s pool

F’s garden

this is good.

vy

is this a good picnic spot?

fml

gel

T you handsome son of a b*tch

is this a picnic

...and my appetite is gone H’s kitchen

T’s powder room

62 crepe break!

nah.

groovy

fml

CHAPTER 5: WELCOME T you handsome son of a b*tch

gel

nutella

mmm crepes ...and my appetite is gone

T’s movie room

L’s garden vitamin C

T’s powder room

G’s kitchen vitamin C

F’s garden

*sniff* groovy

these are pics from my latest adventure to the Himalayas when I climbed to the peak

hm that shelf needs something

this is good. ugh

fml

nutella

T you handsome son of a b*tch

gel

mmm crepes

T’s movie room

is this a good picnic spot?

...and my appetite is gone

T’s living room

T’s powder room

still got it

T’s movie room

crepe break!

did I remember to bring a towel

smells like fruit

H’s kitchen

P e r s o n a l i t i e s d o n’t j u s t s t a y c o n f i n e d t o t h e p r i v a t e r o o m s , t h e y g e t p r o j L’s e playroom cted and reinterpreted in the public spaces, sometimes in ways that not ever yone will agree with.

G’s kitchen

okay B.

H’s pool

G ‘s study

L’s

hm that shelf needs something is this a good picnic spot?

garden

ah-CHOO! H’s kitchen

these are pics from my latest adventure to vitamin C the Himalayas when I climbed to the peak

nah. ugh

whoops

T’s living room

crepe break!

F’s garden

N’s garage

B, how about a picnic?

G ‘s study

L’s garage okay B. HAM

smells like fruit

groovy

fml

G ‘s study

B and B’s pantry

gel

T you handsom son of a b*tch G’s medicine cabinet

...and my appetite is gone

T’s movie room

Annoying your neighbors with stories of your travels

T’s powder room

N’s garage

still got it

vitamin C

Forgetting your towel with the hopes of sneaking back to your room in your swim suit, but a disco has spontaneously started because a shiny, faceted surface, a light, and two people who like disco have coincided in the same space

M’s bedroom

F’s garden

T h e r e a r e n’t a n y p r e s c r i b e d e x p e r i e n c e s b e t w e e n t h e r o o m s because events have a tendenc y to spontaneously star t up.

groovy

fml

L’s playroom did I remember to bring a towel

gel

T you handsome son of a b*tch

is this a goo picnic spot?

...and my appetite is gone

T’s movie room

T’s powder room

H’s pool crepe break!

H’s kitchen

63 G ‘s study whoops

hm that she needs someth

HOUSE PARTY N

T i m e w o r k s d i f f e r e n t l y h e r e . P e o p l e a r e n’t s o f o c u s e d o n get ting from A to B. Movement feels more like wandering.

+ +

+

+ +

+

+

+

+

+

+

+ +

07:00

08:00

09:00

10:00

11:00

distance from home

06:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

17:00

ZZZZZ

18:00

one day Iʼll play at the big

+

19:00

20:00

21:00

22:00

23:00

okay time to start my work

G’s kitchen

“G”

+

G’s bedroom

+

G’s cubicle

G’s stage

distance from home

yum crepes

okay thatʼs enough

hungry

is this what it feels like to be in the spotlight

party

clash!

brrr

*coughs*

distance from home

comfy

need to clear my head ah-CHOO

so fresh

ah-CHOO

dance with me!

not this idiot

where can I squeeze this

I should probably just go to bed

+

F’s grove

+

F’s bedroom

“F”

distance from home

distance from home

+

+

F’s bedroom

F’s study

I still canʼt focus

oh God I feel weak and sick

contradictory territory

I need some Vitamin C ASAP

pause

horsey

hello my babies

+ L’s barn

itʼs a nice sunset tonight

+ L’s training course

+ L’s viewing room

“L”

+ L’s shooting range

distance from home

+ L’s cactus garden feeding time, J!

giddy-up!

64

still got it

+ L’s bar *sip*

CHAPTER 5: WELCOME

C’s reading room

wholesome breakfast

G’s

bath time pool party

T’s souvenir room

N’s bathroom

There are no hallways or other spaces intended only for move m e n t . Yo u ’r e j u s t s t u m b l i n g o n e e v e n t t o t h e n e x t , n e v e r k n o w i n g what to expec t next.

Yo u ’r e j u s t l i v i n g f r o m o n e e v e n t t o t h e n e x t . T h e r e’s n e v e r a m o m e n t w h e n t h e r e i s n’t a t l e a s t t h e p o t e n t i a l f o r a n e n c o u n t e r.

65

murakami

HOUSE PARTY

!!!! awkward C’s reading room

wholesome breakfast romantic encounter

T h e y ’r e n o t a l w a y s p l e a s a n t e n c o u n t e r s . T h e y c a n be unexpec ted and uncomfor table at times.

bath time pool party cactus garden

T’s souvenir room

N’s bathroom

66

G’s practice ro

CHAPTER 5: WELCOME

oom

In contrast, the inside of my rooms is comfor table and familiar to me. This is my refuge. Here, I know exac tly what to expec t.

But I like spending time outside my rooms. I can still be myself out there.

M’s pantry

67

HOUSE PARTY

M ”” ““ M

H ”” ““ H

T ”” ““ T B ”” & & ““ B B ”” ” ““ B N ”” ““ N L ”” ““ L G ”” ““ G

F ”” ““ F

68

EXTRA

play

Play not only has the potential to temporarily free individuals from the prescribed nature of everyday reality, but can also have a lasting and valuable impact on that reality. Jean-Francois Lyotard articulates such a value for play by proposing its use as a new way to legitimize knowledge. Instead of using metanarratives to accept new information as true – as exemplified by the global consensus of scientists required to legitimatize new scientific discoveries – this new mode of knowledge would privilege the production of new ideas that go against or stand outside of established norms.29 It would reveal what is unknown through the search for difference and instability. In this new mode of knowledge, all individual explorations or worlds would lose their meaning except for how they compare to other worlds around them. This makes a strong claim for play to manifest itself in the physical realm so that the contradictions between realities can be exaggerated.

29. Jean-Francois Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge.

69

HOUSE PARTY

Plus, this way I get to meet all my neighbors.

C H HA A PP TT EE RR C

ON N EE :: O

H EE TT H

C H HA A PP TT EE RR C

WO O :: TT W

U PP LL O OA AD D II N N G G U

CH HA AR RA AC CT TE ER R SS ,, C

UB B JJ E EC CT T II V V II T T II E E SS U

A PP TT EE RR HA C H C

H RR EE EE : TT H

A PP TT EE RR HA C H C

U RR :: OU FF O

A PP TT EE RR HA C H C

V EE :: FF II V

A PP TT EE RR HA C H C

X :: SS II X

70

HO O TT EE LL H

D ND SS EE N

O FF FF O

G N G N II N K EE N AK WA AW A M EE OM CO W EE LL C W

A RR TT YY PP A

CHAPTER 6: PARTY

71

HOUSE PARTY

“L” prefers a life of solitude, except for his beloved horse “J” and his cacti.

“F” is a sickly boy. He’s always on the lookout for Vitamin C and warm places to nap or take a bath.

Z

72

Z

Z

CHAPTER 6: PARTY

“H” is a retired boat captain who misses the sea. He will go swimming in any body of water he comes across, and he’s always ready with his swimsuit underneath.

N o t t h a t I g e t a l o n g w i t h e v e r y o n e . T a t f i r s t s e e m e d s o a d v e n t u r o u s a n d w o r l d l y, w i t h a l l t h e t r i p s h e’s t a k e n t o f a r a w a y p l a c e s . B u t n o w I t h i n k h e’s j u s t b r a g g i n g . H e c a n’t resist any oppor tunit y to tell the stor y of his adventures.

“T” is a world traveler, full of himself.

Won’t stop talking about his adventures. Wouldn’t miss an opportunity to turn a light-washed wall into a shadow puppet theater for his stories.

73

HOUSE PARTY

74

CHAPTER 6: PARTY

“When Snowy and I were in Tibet... Hey, you’re not looking!”

75

HOUSE PARTY

T h e r e’s p r o b a b l y s o m e l o g i c a l r e a s o n f o r t h e f o r m o f e a c h o f t h e r o o m s b a s e d o n t h e a c t i v i t y t h a t ’s g o i n g o n i n s i d e . B u t o n t h e o u t s i d e , i t ’s a c a c o p h o n y o f forms, materials, and atmospheric effects.

And that leads to many dif ferent ideas about w h a t e a c h s p a c e s h o u l d b e u s e d f o r.

“F”

Z Z Z nap time

bath time

orange chute

heat lamp

firearm/cactus storage

sunken cactus garden

soft tanning surface

dance-off

drying

swimming puddle

bass-tuning station

musical accompaniment

nutella-softening station

sled storage

source of cold draft

nap time

juicing surface

“L”

firearm/cactus storage

grazing grounds

reminder of Tibet

photoshoot spotlight lighting

mirrored surface

pipe-smoking spot

hiding spot

buoy storage

spectator (?) seating

smoke a joint

dream of the spotlight

phonograph stand

slide

hide-and-go-seek spot

sledding

“T”

photoshoot soft glow lighting

tiered cactus garden

To m a k e t h i n g s w o r s e . . . t h e a t m o s p h e r e i n these spaces seems to be constantly shif ting.

“H”

swimming pool

“G”

“B & B”

“N”

76

balloon tethering spot

CHAPTER 6: PARTY

The walls themselves leak or move. Lights come on and of f on their own. Music plays and breezes flow through.

thermal emissivity

substance leak

aural transmission

light emittence

kinetic

movement

temperature transference

light emittence

plumbing

kinetic

inhabitant interior inhabitant threshold

H O U S E

P A R T Y

77

D E T A I L

whatʟs happening in there? wandering between people’s rooms observations of temporary conditions

HOUSE PARTY

The spaces never stays good for just one thing.

T h e y ’r e a l w a y s h a v i n g t o b e r e i n t e r p r e t e d .

78

CHAPTER 6: PARTY

I e v e n f o u n d t e x t u r e s a p p l i e d w h e r e t h e y s h o u l d n’t b e . . . l i k e m y tree wall texture on another wall outside of my room.

At f irst I was really taken abac k. It was like this intimate piece of myself put on display for ever yone else.

But this metal tubing ac tually makes n i c e m u s i c w h e n t h e b r e e z e b l o w s b y, so I got over it.

inhabitant interior inhabitant threshold

79

HOUSE PARTY

I ’m g e t t i n g u s e d t o t h e i d e a t h a t t h e s p a c e s i n this world are just open to interpretation.

H splashes a bathing F

“B, what is this man doing on our trampoline?”

“B & B” are inseprable best friends. An innocent suburbam childhood spent playing and picnicking.

B, what is this man doing on our trampoline?

Sometimes you’ll come bac k to your usual spot to f ind that it has been taken over for some other use, one you could care less about.

“T” is vain, likes to be tan. Attracted to reflective surfaces.

80

CHAPTER 6: PARTY

F incoming Or you’ll be having a really nice moment doing exac tly what you like and it’ll be interrupted by someone who has different ideas.

“L” loves a good sunset and would REALLY prefer solitude.

But sometimes things do work out. Like when music star ted playing at the same time as three spotlights star ted shining down and illumnating the bright tile. Suddenly it became a dance floor and ever yone was in agreement.

81

HOUSE PARTY

R e g a r d l e s s o f w h a t h a p p e n s , t h i s w o r l d ’s m o s t d e f i n i n g c harac ter is tic is t ha t, as quic kly as event s c rop up, t hey also disappear or get over writ ten by other events.

82

Wh ose

re a l i t y

i s

t hi s

a nywa y ?

CHAPTER 6: PARTY

There is no single realit y or prescribed use. Spaces c a n b e r e w r i t t e n a s m a n y t i m e s a s n e e d e d . I t ’s a v e r y conflic ted, contradic tor y place.

The value in maintaining the tension is the potential for change and the acknowledgment of the full range of perspectives that exist.

83

HOUSE PARTY

If it ever gets to be too much, I can always retreat to one of my own rooms.

But when I stay too long, I star t to have weird dreams.

P e o p l e d o n’t l o o k a t e a c h o t h e r i n t h e s t r e e t . T h e y ’r e r u s h i n g f r o m o n e p l a c e t o t h e n e x t a n d n o o n e k n o w s e a c h o t h e r.

How can anyone really live like that?

84

CHAPTER 6: PARTY

I wake up.

85

HOUSE PARTY

I go back out into the chaos.

86

CHAPTER 6: PARTY

87

HOUSE PARTY

88

CHAPTER 6: PARTY

the end

89

HOUSE PARTY

90

bibliography Bryant, Levi R. “Objectiles, Differencing, and Events.” In Larval Subjects. Sept. 29, 2009. https://larvalsubjectswordpress.com/2009/09/29/objectiles-differencing-and-events/.

Colomina, Beatriz. Privacy and Publicity: Modern Architecture as Mass Media. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1994.

Daunton, M. J. Housing the Workers, 1850-1914: a Comparative Perspective. Leicester, UK: Leicester University Press, 1990.

Evans, Robin, “Figures, Doors and Passages” in Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays, 153167. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997.

Hatherley, Owen. “Socialist Class: the Houses of the People.” In The Architectural Review. Sept. 4, 2018. https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/socialist-class-the-houses-of-the-people/10034778.article.

Hardingham, Samantha and Kester Rattenbury. Bernard Tschumi: Parc de la Villette, Supercrit #4. Oxford: Routledge, 2012.

Hubert, Christian. “Play Time” in ANY: Architecture New York, no. 12, 10-19. 1995.

Koolhaas, Rem. Content: OMA-AMO, Rem Koolhaas. Cologne: Taschen, 2004.

Koolhaas, Rem. Delirious New York. Cambridge: Oxford University Press, 1978.

Kwinter, Sanford. “Playtime,” in Far from Equilibrium: Essays on Technology and Design Culture, 134-139. Edited

by Cynthia C. Davidson. Barcelona: Actar, 2007.

Lyotard, Jean-François. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Translated by Geoffrey Bennington and Brian Massumi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984.

Nares, James. “James Nares - Street.” Vimeo. Video File. October 11, 2012. https://vimeo.com/51223150.

Nares, James. “Street.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Video File. February 26, 2013. https://www.metmuseum.org/metmedia/video/collections/ph/street.

Norman, Donald A. The Design of Everyday Things. New York: Double Day, 1990.

“Parc de la Villette.” Office for Metropolitan Architecture. https://oma.eu/projects/parc-de-la-villette.

Puissant, Jean. “L’Exemple Belge : l’Habitat Privé, La Maison Individuelle l’Emportent Sur l’Habitat Collectif” in Revue Du Nord, no. 374, 96-116. 2008.

Tschumi, Bernard. The Manhattan Transcripts. London: Academy Editions/St. Martin’s Press, 1981.

Tschumi, Bernard. “Spaces and Events” in Architecture and Disjunction, 140-152. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1994.

“Wikiracing.” In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. May 12, 2019. Accessed May 21, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiracing.

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image credits

1-1. “Figures, Doors and Passages” in Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1997), 62.

1-2. Author’s diagram 2-1. Evans, “Figures, Doors and Passages”, 72.

2-2. Author’s diagram.

3-1 - 3-3. James Nares. “Street.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art video, 2:17, February 26, 2013, https:// www.metmuseum.org/metmedia/video/collections/ph/ street.

4-1. James Nares. “James Nares - Street.” Vimeo video, 53:04, October 11, 2012, https://vimeo.com/51223150.

6-1. Koolhaas, Delirious New York, 154.

7-1. “Parc de la Villette.” Office for Metropolitan Architecture. https://oma.eu/projects/parc-de-la-villette.

8-1. Parc de la Villette.” Office for Metropolitan Architecture. https://oma.eu/projects/parc-de-la-villette.

9-1. Koolhaas, Delirious New York, 155.

12-1 - 12-3. Bernard Tschumi Architects Images reproduced in Bernard Tschumi: Parc de la Villette, Supercrit #4, 82.

13-1. Bernard Tschumi Architects Image reproduced in Bernard Tschumi: Parc de la Villette, Supercrit #4, 64.

14-1. Puissant, “L’Exemple Belge” 14-2. Hatherley, “Socialist Class” Dream sequence images: Magritte

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character credits 1. “B” and “B” Roba, Jean. Boule Et Bill. Dupuis.

2. “F” Peyo. Benoit Brisefer. Le Lombard.

3. “G” Franquin, André. Gaston LaGaffe. Dupuis 4/5. “H” and “T” Hergé. Les adventures de Tintin. Le Lombard.

6. “L” Morris. Lucky Luke. Dupuis.

7.“M” Franquin, André. Marsupilami. Marsu Productions.

8.“N” de Groot, Bob. Liégeois, Philippe. Leonard est un Genie. Lombard Editions.

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misc precedents 1. Comics can allow us to experience a simultaneity of

5. Andrés Jaque’s MoMA installation “Ikea Disobedients” is a

subjectivities. The entirety of the graphic novel Here by

structure constructed out of purposefully misinterpreted Ikea

Richard McGuire is spent fixed on the same view of a living

furniture pieces, within which actors perform samples of their

room in a house. Every page of the book is seen through that

domestic routine. It explores the potential for a “dispersed

frame but at different points in time. Unlike the characters of

domestic urbanism” that occurs in people’s households. The

the book themselves, who only ever have one experience of the

installation demonstrates the misalignment between the

room at a time, the reader can enjoy multiple subjectivities

genericism of domestic programming envisioned by Ikea

at once when moments selected from different points in time

catalogs and the everyday lived realities.

are juxtaposed on the space of the page. Charting the events of that single space over time gives the room a map-like

6. Bureau Spectacular’s “Three Little Pigs” is a speculative

objectivity, from which simultaneous new stories can be told.

home for three brothers. Each of the brothers has their own private bedroom whose shape abstractly reflects their

2. In “Jimmy Corrigan”, Chris Ware frames personal,

personality, all facing each other and contained within a larger

subjective experiences – the “events and textures of everyday

volume. This common space is where domestic activities such

existence” within an objective history. He is illustrating

as eating, dining, and bathing take place. It is in this space

the limitations of individual experience. The reader

where the difference in the brother’s personalities is felt the

simultaneously sympathises with the character but also, with

greatest, with the clashing collage of furniture styles a smaller

their objective view, is aware of the world outside of that.

scale imposition of the different personalities of the brothers.

3. Jaque Tati’s film Playtime also brings its viewer an

7. Steven Holl’s proposal for the New York highline, the

awareness of the simultaneity of realities. The film differs from

“Manhattan Bridge of Houses”, consists of seven houses

conventional movie structure in that it doesn’t prioritize any

that can be experienced by the public in a linear progression.

single plot and instead overwhelms the viewer with multiple

Despite being of similar volumes and proportions, the houses

concurrent stories. It layers the foreground and background

reflect in their section and plan the personality of their owner,

of the scene with detailed gags and highly specific characters

with names such as “the House of the Decider”, “the House

so that the viewer no longer knows which story to focus on. By

of the Doubter”, or “the House for a Man Without Opinions”.

giving the same amount of data to every event occuring in the

Connected by a promenade, the space between the houses

scene, there is a flattening or dehierarchization of narratives

serve as a series of public courtyards. It is in these courtyards

that causes every story to come into equal focus at once.

that the contrast between the two characters on either side is experienced.

4. The 21 floor plates in Sou Fujimoto’s NA House fullfill the client family’s desire to live as “nomads” in their own home.

8. “Furniture Urbanism” by Bureau Spectacular is an

The house is simulataneously one large room and a collection

installation purposefully overstuffed with furniture pieces that

of small rooms. The spaces are defined by sectional difference

don’t relate to one another, allows one to compose their own

rather than walls. Their possible functions are defined by

stories as they move within. It doesn’t privilege efficiency in

fixed plumbing and electrical fixtures,furniture, and special

the movement through it.

features like heated floor plates.

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L’s garden

vitamin C

F’s garden

groovy

T’s movie room

hm that shelf needs something

T’s living room

crepe break!

G ‘s study

...and my appetite is gone

smells like fruit

this is good.

fml

gel

T you handsome son of a b*tch

T’s powder room

did I remembe to bring a tow

H’s pool

is this a good picnic spot?

nah.

whoops

H’s kitchen

L’s garage

G’s medicine cabinet