G2.grilli.daniel.rep2.17 by Daniel Grilli

light a journey

representation II - daniel grilli

contents place 02

idea 12

form 22

material 32

elevations and plan 02 perspective views 04 photography 06 visual analysis 08 case study: illumination 10

conceptual overview 12 concept a 14 concept b 16 design precedents 18 case study: reflection 20

elevations and plan perspective views photography visual analysis case study: illumination

conceptual overview details - concept one details - concept two precedent study case study: reflection

image credits 22

Library

South

North

elevations 2

PLACE

,7 42

The Braggs

0m ,26 37

Molecular Life Sciences

Santos

,60 42

Engineering / Maths Sciences

10m

1:1000

Ingkarni Wardli Barr Smith Library

site plan PLACE

site perspectives 4

PLACE

Summer - 9am

Summer - 12pm

Summer - 3pm

Winter - 9am

Winter - 12pm

Winter - 3pm

shade PLACE

photography - day 6

PLACE

photography - night PLACE

access and movement 8

PLACE

The site is flanked by science buildings to the north (green), mathematics and engineering buildings to the south (blue), and the library reading room to the west (red). Paradoxically, the library is the only building not accessible from the public square.

The central lawn areas are for common use by students and the public, but only the tables on their edges are regularly used. The open areas are occasionally used for events.

The view to the library building from Frome Road is heritage listed and cannot be obstructed. A minor axis of view also exist across the front of the library building.

site character PLACE

linguistic definition

philosophical definition

Luminosity is, in its strictest sense, the presence of light and its intensity. It is the state of being luminous, an ambiguous state in which an object can either be the source of light or irradiated by it. Derived from the Latin word for light, lumen, luminosity is also defined by its opposite: darkness.

When we examine the roles that the concept of light has in the English language today, it is apparent that luminosity is far more than a mere physical phenomenon. Light is associated with the good, with progress, with the divine. Someone may have a bright smile, as if there were literally rays of light streaming from their face. An illuminating lecture will clear away the darkness surrounding a difficult topic, leaving its listeners better off than they were before. Most tellingly, the coming of the age of reason in Western civilisation is known as the enlightenment. Like that of the Buddha, enlightenment is a transcendence of the mundane, an emergence from darkness which is unquestionably good and from which there is no return. Light is truth; the truth of God, of science, and of our own visual realities.

Left: The staricase at the Villa Savoye. Right (from top): the facade of the Mill Ownersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Association building in Ahmedabad, an alcove lit by the morning sun in the chapel at Ronchamp, the glowing sun celebrated at La Tourette.

case study one: illumination 10

PLACE

the purifying light of le corbusier The architects of modernism in the early twentieth century saw light as perhaps the most important fundamental of architecture. Light was healthy: an illuminated dwelling could change the lives of those who lived within, and foremost of the exponents of light was Le Corbusier. Fascinated with the pure Euclidian geometries of ancient Greek and Roman architecture, he marvelled at the way the bright Mediterranean sun revealed the plastic qualities of the white ruins of the Parthenon. Accordingly, in his early works light was not considered to be important in itself so much as it was used as a device by which to reveal, accentuate and glorify the new architecture he had created. The wash of light over the planar facades and geometrical roof gardens of his Villa Savoye (1928-31), the light that floods its interior spaces, is a passive light that merely illuminates his architectural creation.

their pure geometries not as ends in themselves but as means to celebrate light shadow. Light’s truth became a truth of emotion change rather than of pure reason. The openings of the Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut at Ronchamp (1950-55) are arranged not for maximum illumination but rather for emotional effect: coloured alcoves lit in the morning and evening accentuate the warmth of the sun as it rises and sets, and deep cavities in the wall separate light into rays of different shapes and sizes that are revealed at different times of the day. In the Monastery of Sainte Marie de la Tourette at Éveux-surl’Arbresle (1953-60), the particular qualities of light at sunset are given almost ceremonial importance where a slit opening in a western wall draws lines of glowing light across the room as the sun descends. Illumination was always central to the works of Le Corbusier, but by the end of his career light was his architecture.

In his later works, Le Corbusier’s attitude towards light shifted. Light no longer revealed his architecture; instead, his architecture revealed light. The depth in the facades of his buildings such as the Mill Owners’ Association Building in Ahmedabad (1951-54) used References: Corrodi, M. & Spechtenhauser, K., 2008. Le Corbusier: Purifying Light. In Illuminating: Natural Light in Residential Architecture. Basel: Birkhäuser, p. 212. Merriam-Webster, Luminosity | Definition of Luminosity by Merriam-Webster. Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/luminosity [Accessed August 12, 2017].

Thomas Schielke, 2015. Light Matters: Le Corbusier and the Trinity of Light | ArchDaily. Available at: http://www. archdaily.com/597598/light-mattersle-corbusier-and-the-trinity-of-light [Accessed August 14, 2017]. University, O., 2010. Oxford Dictionary of English Third Edit. A. Stevenson, ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press.

case study one: illumination PLACE

journey

direction

destination

modification

function

concept development 12

IDEA

light as a journey Light, often thought of as one of lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s constants, is in fact continually changing. The direction, intensity and colour of light from the sun shifts throughout the day and across the seasons. Indeed, it is these changes and cycles that have fascinated humankind since before the dawn of civilisation. Rather than despair that light cannot be fixed into place, the journey of the sun through the sky and all of the wonderful variations in light it brings should be celebrated. The light pavilions herein take the concept of journey as their parti. Much as the cycles of light have no beginning or end, the destination of each pavilion is ambiguous. As visitors travel through their depths, they pass through sun and shade, from bright to dark, and back again. Yet, each journey is different: being conceived to capture and amplify the movements of the sun, the pavillions will present an entirely different atmosphere upon visiting, each moment a once-in-a-year experience.

Conceptual sketches

conceptual overview IDEA

concept a 14

IDEA

1:500

library

exhibition

Taking visitors on a slow, considered journey across the length of the site, the narrow skylights in this concept wash its walls with sun. In its simplicity the essential qualities of light are brought into sharp focus. Upon descending, a bright glow of light on a wall in the

bathroom

seminar

distance entices visitors forward, but the destination cannot yet be seen. An exhibition hall, lit by the warm glow of light reflected from a gently-curved wall, lies at the heart of the pavillion, a place to linger a while before visitors continue on their journeys.

concept a IDEA

concept b 16

IDEA

bathroom / storage

seminar exhibition library

entry

glass-covered light well

2.5m

1:250

The spiral ramp slowly descends into the earth, plunging into darkness and then returning to the light as it passes a shaft dug into the ground. Each revolution the light dims, the change all the more apparent for the contrast between the dark of the earth and light of the shaft. Much as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;travelling is half the funâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, the gallery in this concept is the walls of the spiral ramp itself, and the final destination at the bottom is merely a place for repose and contemplation. Each visit rewards with something new, and the passage of the seasons is celebrated, with the bottom of the shaft being completely illuminated only at noon on midsummerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s day.

concept b IDEA

koshino house In the Koshino House, Tadao Ando almost entirely eschews traditional windows for narrow slits and skylights. In doing so, light is abstracted to its essence and the inhabitants are made keenly aware of the movement of the sun across the sky from sunrise to sunset, from summer to winter.

design precedent 18

IDEA

pozzo di san patrizio Built for Pope Clement VII by Antonio San Gallo the Younger between 1527 and 1537 and named after the Purgatory of Saint Patrick, the well provided drinking water for the town of Orvieto, Umbria. Originally lit only by the sun, the interior gradually becomes darker as one descends he double-helical staircase, similarly lightening on the return journey to the surface.

design precedent IDEA

linguistic definition

philosophical definition

A reflection is a phenomenon that arises from or is the consequence of something else. Light reflected by an object is light that the object throws back without absorbing it; the object is not the source of light. Similarly, an image seen as a reflection in a mirrored surface has an intimate relationship with but is not the source of the image itself.

Reflection is intimately tied up with the concept of human thought. The English philosopher John Locke used reflection to describe ‘the notice which the mind takes of its own operations’, in other words, thought about thought. For Hegel, on the other hand, reflection is the way by which we find the essential and significant in things (thoughts, experiences). In this sense, much as light reflected from an object is intrinsically linked to the light that hit it but will undergo a change in its intensity, colour or direction, reflection can only ever be a part of the thing from which it has arisen, a simplified indication of the presence of this thing but without any explanation of the thing’s deeper processes or origins.

Left: Reflected light off the entry wall in the Church of the Light. Right (from top): the reflecting pool at the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth, descending into the sky at Honpuku-ji, the essential reflection of the sun on the concrete walls of Koshino House.

case study two: reflection 20

IDEA

the essential reflections of tadao ando The grounded, heavy concrete forms of Tadao Ando’s architecture are not typically associated with the phenomenon of reflection. However, in the austere surfaces of Ando’s work we can find a use of reflection that is much richer than the immediate visual stimulation of a mirrored façade. Most obviously, this is apparent in his recurring use of a reflective body of water as a compositional element, particularly in his public works such as the pools outside the Modern Art Museum at Fort Worth or the Museum of Literature in Himeji. Rather than reflect, his buildings are reflected; with this important distinction they surrender some of themselves to outside nature, becoming clear or distorted as light and weather changes. In their horizontality these pools also bring a part of the sky down to the earth, so that the oval-shaped pool in the Naoshima Museum of Contemporary Art infinitely expands its sunken, enclosing courtyard. The most profound manifestation of this use of reflection is the Buddhist temple of Honpuku-ji on Awaji island: the entry stairs to the main hall descend into the middle of a lotus pond, and in the reflection of the water the visitor finds themselves paradoxically descending into the sky, into heaven, marking

a transition into the sacred as surely as that of the raised platform of a traditional temple. Ando also uses reflection to illuminate his buildings with a soft, diffuse light. The mirrored surfaces of the pools of water outside the Museum at Fort Worth or the Church of the Water redirect an ever-changing light into the buildings’ interior, at once an elegant solution for illumination and a source of rich, shifting experience. Concrete too is made to reflect: in his Church of the Light, dominated as it is by the illuminating cross carved into the wall behind the altar, much of the internal light enters the dark interior reflected off the concrete plane that bisects the main building at an angle. Where other architects might use glass or polished metal to the same effect, by his use of concrete the light reflected off Ando’s forms is reduced to its essence. The reflections of the sun on the walls of his Koshino house thus become light materialised, and by removing all but abstract representations of light’s direction, intensity and colour reveal far more of the sun than might a glimpse through an open window.

References: Blunden, A., 1997. IV: The Meaning of “Reflection.” Available at: https://www. marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/ help/mean04.htm [Accessed August 26, 2017].

Erzen, J.N., 2004. Tadao Ando’s Architecture in the Light of Japanese Aesthetics. METU JFA, 21(1–2), pp.67–80.

Bunnin, N. & Yu, J. eds., 2004. Chapter 18: R. In The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy. Maiden, MA, USA: Blackwell Publishing.

University, O., 2010. Oxford Dictionary of English Third Edit. A. Stevenson, ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Jodidio, P., 2001. Tadao Ando, Koln: TASCHEN.

case study two: reflection IDEA

image credits case study one - Illumination p. 10-11

case study two - reflection p. 20-21

p. 18

Plummer, H., 2011. Upward view into scoop at sunrise. Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp, France. ArchDaily. Available at: http:// www.archdaily.com/597598/light-matters-lecorbusier-and-the-trinity-of-light [Accessed August 31, 2017].

Hsu, S.-M., 2007. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. flickr. Available at: https://www. flickr.com/photos/1001nights/2170110447/ [Accessed September 24, 2017].

Jodidio, P., 2001. Tadao Ando, Koln: TASCHEN.

Shinkenchiku-sha, 2011. Church of Light. Detail Inspiration. Available at: http://inspiration.detail. de/discussion-a-second-look---tadao-andoschurch-of-light-in-ibaraki-107219.html?lang=en [Accessed September 4, 2017].

van der Vegte, W., 2008. Honpukuji water temple designed by Tadao Ando. Panoramio. Available at: http://www.panoramio.com/ photo/13137364# [Accessed September 4, 2017].

Plummer, H., 2011. View looking east as solar line bends around the far end wall. Monastery of Sainte Marie de la Tourette, Eveux-surlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Arbresle, France. ArchDaily. Available at: http:// www.archdaily.com/597598/light-matters-lecorbusier-and-the-trinity-of-light [Accessed Augu st 31, 2017]. Sumner, E., 2017. Millowners Association Building. Edmund Sumner Photographer. Available at: http://www.edmundsumner.co.uk/mobile/ gallery.php?gallNo=112&catNo=10 [Accessed August 31, 2017]. Emden, C., 2012. Le Corbusier: Villa Savoye, Poissy, France. Divisare. Available at: https://divisare.com/projects/199426-lecorbusier-cemal-emden-ville-savoye?utm_ campaign=journal&utm_content=imageproject-id-199426&utm_medium=email&utm_ source=journal-id-6 [Accessed August 31, 2017].

Unknown, 2017. Koshino House. Pinterest. Available at: https://au.pinterest.com/ pin/350506783475642376/ [Accessed September 4, 2017]. Unknown, 2017. Koshino House. Pinterest. Available at: https://au.pinterest.com/fcannata/ architect-tadao-ando/ [Accessed September 4, 2017]. p. 19 Cinque, P., 2014. Pozzo di San Patrizio. flickr. Available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ viaggionelmondo82/11951837913/in/photolistjd9i1V [Accessed September 4, 2017]. Marjason, R., 2013. Pozzo di San Patrizio, Orvieto, Italy. flickr. Available at: https:// www.flickr.com/photos/regmarjason/ albums/72157633715775496 [Accessed September 4, 2017]. Socolik, A., 2012. Pozzo San Patrizio/st. Patrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Well. Fine Art America. Available at: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/pozzo-san-patriziost-patricks-well-alan-socolik.html [Accessed September 4, 2017].

representation II - assignment two - 2017