6th year portfolio - Volume 2 by Elii Ecoo

[eleni economidou] 2013-14

Portfolio

VOLUME 2

M..Arch 6th year qed

MSA MArch 2013

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MSA MArch 2013

**this publication can be found online at: just scan the QR bar-code. –Portfolio 4–

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Eleni Economidou _MArch Master of Architecture 2013 Manchester School of Architecture University of Manchester Manchester Metropolitan University Year 6

T: E: W:

+447598942804 economidou.eleni@gmail.com economidou.eleni@stu.mmu.ac.uk www.elenieconomidou.com

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This portfolio has been prepared as part of a the 1st semester portfolio submission 5.1 for Manchester School of Architecture for the academic year 2013-2014. â&#x20AC;&#x201C;6â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

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Index: MArch Master of Architecture 2013-14 6th year works

| instructors: Colin Pugh, Siobhan Barry, Dominic Sagar | | unit: q.e.d.(quad erat demonstradum) | –7–

VOLUME 2

Arch Triumph

Dream Pavilion 2014

DREAMCATCHER

MSA MArch 2013

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Contents:

0.0 - Preface 1.0 - Concept

1.1 - Concept

2.0 Precedents

2.1 - Precedents

2.2 - Precedents

2.3 - Precedents

3.0 - Reasearch 4.0 - Concept 5.0 - Final Drawings 6.0 - Competition Sheet Bibliography

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0.0 Preface Brief: The brief’s objective was to design a temporary, free-standing, transportable and contemporary showcase Pavilion to be installed in the Museum Gardens, Bethnal Green, Cambridge Heath Road, London. The concept had to be inspired by a series of thoughts, images and sensations that would invite participants and visitors to dream about a unique space while it would encourage and highlight the need for ecological and sustainable design principles.

Image: night view of the final proposal – 12 –

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1.0 Concept Dreamcatcher We sleep on average eight hours a day, around two thousand six hundred hours a year. About a third of a lifespan is spent sleeping and dreaming. Our dreams reflect our unconscious minds. Dreams can be memories, fantasies, fears, or a chance to unlock our imagination and creativity. When we wake our dreams become a memory, lost somewhere in our unconscious. Most people struggle to remember the exact details of their dreams, if at all. We visualise DREAMCATCHER as a place to lay, away from the busy lives we live. Lying inside a visual illuminated network of our complex mind, it is a place for

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people to relax and reconnect with those lost ‘memories’ of the unconscious world. The design is inspired by the imagery of the neurotransmitter signals of the brain and the web like characteristics of a dreamcatcher. Dreamcatchers were believed to catch good dreams and filter out the bad. DREAMCATCHER is a more modern interpretation of the story. The neuroweb is a place that catches the dreams and memories lost in the unconscious in a way that the feathers of a dreamcatcher guide the dream to the sleeping person below. The pavilion provides an environment to focus on remembering and reliving.

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1.1 Concept Interaction The central core ‘neuro-web’ is formed from electro luminescent wire. The lights up in different colours. In the way that visual representations of neurotransmissions that occur in the brain are mapped with sparks of colour. This light environment aims to create a similar environment that sparks imagination. The use of lighting in the pavilion gives it a varied day and night use. The design of the pavilion creates an interesting combination of broken light and dark spots enhancing the internal environment in order to experience the lights during the day. This in the evening is obviously enhanced. – 16 –

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Lighting impacts on a very different overall aesthetic throughout the day, giving the design a somewhat new experience at night. The air-bed is a mechanism to manipulate the position of the user. In a way that can only be experienced through lying down. Therefore encouraging a space of brief rest and to take in the complexity of the modern dreamcatcher. – 17 –

MSA MArch 2013

2.0 Precedents Windshape Pavilion Narchitects An ephemeral structure created as a gathering space dynamically changed. Woven from gauzy nets, the pavilion was designed to move and morph in the local wind, creating a spectacular art installation for the locals to enjoy. The surfaces of the pavilion would ripple, move, and even make noise, depending on the speed of the winds that blew through it. Perched at the top of Lacoste on the castle of the Marquis de Sade, the Windshape pavilion was composed of thread-like walls made from a simple assortment of materials. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 18 â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

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Construction A structural network of plastic pipes were joined together and stretched by aluminium colars. Lengths of white polypropylene string were threaded through the lattice to create enclosures

reference: http://www.archdaily.com/4608/windshape-narchitects/

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Construction The structure is created from draped fabric over a steel structure reference: http://www.arcstreet.com/article-madrid-book-fair-pavilion-by-olga-sanina-marcelo-dantas-aurora-by-ryuji-nakamura-110934420.html â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 20 â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

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2.1 Precedents Madrid Bookfare Pavilion A volume between opaci-

ty and transparency, which filters the light to create a sheltered space. The external regularity contrasts with the small auditorium within which appears fluid and continuous.

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2.2 Precedents Shellfish Pavilion An experimental pavilion constructed using a robot which mimics a lobster’s natural fibre matrix

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Construction: Exoskeleton composed of strands of clear glass and black carbon fibres woven around scaffolding and hardened to maintain rigidity. reference: http://icd.uni-stuttgart.de?p=8807 – 23 –

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Theory: Gabo used time and space as construction elements where solid matter unfolds and becomes surreal and otherworldly. Key works: Translucent variations on a spheric theme Construction in space with crystalline centre â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 24 â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

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2.3 Precedents Naum Gabo The essence of Gabo’s art was the exploration of space, which he believed could be done without having to depict mass.

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3.0 research Dreams and sleep Dreams are a window into our unconscious. Dreams are images and imagery, thoughts, sounds and voices, and subjective sensations experienced when we sleep. This can include people you know, people you’ve never met, places you’ve been, and places you’ve never even heard ofThey can also be your deepest and darkest fears and secrets, and most private fantasies. There’s no limit to what the mind can experience during a dream. Dreams are most abundant and best remembered during the R.E.M. stage of sleep. – 26 –

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This is the deepest stage of the sleep cycle, when your eyes are moving rapidly, your heart rate and breathing become inconsistent, and paralysis of your skeletal muscles

occurs, interestingly as a safeguard that keeps us from acting out our dreams physically. Other theories on dreams are: our brain’s attempt

to make sense of what would otherwise be meaningless stimuli; or merely the brain firing signals as it organises the previous day’s thoughts and experiences. – 27 –

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3.1 Research Unconscious, Sub-conscious, conscious: The unconscious mind contains our biologically based instincts. While we are fully aware of what is going on in the conscious mind, we have no idea of what information is stored in the unconscious mind. The sub-conscious contains thoughts and feelings that a person is not currently aware of, but which can easily be brought to consciousness. It exists just below the level of consciousness before the unconscious mind.

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The subconscious is the part of the brain that for example stores our passwords and mobile number. Our feelings, motives and decisions are actually powerfully influenced by our past experiences, stored in the pre-conscious and instincts from the unconscious.

Sigmund Freud believed that the influences of the pre-conscious and unconscious reveal themselves in a variety of ways, including dreams. SYNAPSE & NEURONS A neuron is an electrically excitable cell that processes and

transmits information through electrochemical signals. These signals between neurons occur via synapses. Neurons can connect to each other to form neural networks. This complex network is what passes signals from the brain. – 29 –

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The dendritic tree is composed of thin structures called dendrites, that arise from the cell body (soma). Through this frail structure, the cell communicates with other neighbouring neurons, receiving chemical signalling, which is transferred by electrical excitations to the soma.

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3.2 research neurological theory of dreams Dreams are random firings of neurons that form a storyline and make connections in the brain. Theory: In 1977 Hobson & McCarley put forward the produced research claiming dreaming is the result of random impulses coming from the brain stem.

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3.3 research Brain mapping Brain mapping is a set of neuroscience techniques involving the mapping of biological properties into spatial representations of the (human or non- human) brain resulting in maps. Theory: Maps of the brain can be created using EEG or MRU scanning. reference: brainmaps.org

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3.4 research Anatomy of a dreamcatcher Dream catchers are believed to protect people who are sleeping from negative, bad dreams while still letting the positive, good dreams come through. Once the sun rises, the bad dreams would just disappear. Good dreams pass through the centre hole of the dreamcatchers. It is said that the web catches the bad dreams as they do not know how to pass through. The feathers are seen as a guide. The good dreams are believed to glide down the feathers to the sleeping person below. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 34 â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

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Dreamcatchers have a variety of web styles. All of which have a complex design centred around a central node. This in a number of ways has a similarity to that of the neuron networks with the neuron itself forming the source of the signal. The idea behind the feathers of the dreamcatcher being located above the ‘user’ creates an interesting conceptual link to pavilion in a space that can only be experienced by lying below

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4.0 Concept Development The dreamcatcher ‘s web could be as complicated as the maker wanted. This was seen as a concept to represent the complexity of the neuron networks in the brain. The idea of someone lying within a visual representation of the complex networks of their brain was a powerful image;which inspired the idea of some sort of ground manipulation that would get users to lie down. The initial model took sections of the human brain arranged them in a sequence and lofted a surface to create a cocoon style structure. – 36 –

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Using parametric design in Rhinoceros 3D and Grasshopper We managed to create a mesh around the surface that emerged from the brain sections. However the mesh was not used due to its disproportion and complexity but we decided to keep the general idea of the networks around the structure. – 37 –

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4.1 Concept Development The multiple levels of consciousness was something we wanted to portray in the pavilion as well. To add to the complexity of the mind. The centre would be the connection with the unconscious mind. The form of a neuron has a certain organic beauty. This aesthetic is something that can help to attract attention to the pavilion and enhance the experience.

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Generated

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4.2 Concept Previous Design Analysis This design followed the ideas of the design concept however there were a number of issues. The structure was too basic and with the web design had too much of a resemblance to a spider and its web. The web itself also need to appear more complex. The overall design was just far too transparent. In order to create the intended experience with the EL wire the outside world needed to be more obscured and the interior much shadier. It was important that there was a ‘haziness’ and separation from the conscious world. – 40 –

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4.3 Concept components External Shell: Inspired by the Neuron • Adds to multiple layers of consciousness - outside conscious - middle sub-conscious - core unconscious • Creates shadier space enhancing experience of lights inside • Further limitation to view of surrounding environment/ conscious world • Glulam Timber

The Synapse: • The centre of the experience. • The link with the unconscious mind/memories • Dream State /Unconsciousness • Glulam Timber – 42 –

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neuro-web Dreamcatcher Element • Complexity of brain networks and neurotransmissions • Distortion of the outside world / half reality • EL wire enhances experience through colour light representing brain signals • Experiencing the unconscious world, also enhanced at night • Electro Luminescent Wire and Sail Cloth Ribbon

Brain Wave • Generated from the irregular brain wave activity during sleep • Manipulation of position • Lying floating state to experience surroundings • Inflatable Bed - Polyurethane or PVC – 43 –

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5.0 final drawings

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6.0 Competition submission learning outcome:

Out of this competition we managed to coordinate the teams skills, a hard task to achieve for a team of 6 memebers.

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bibliography Archiable (2011) ‘ZA11 Pavilion’, [online] Available : http://www.archiable.com/201107/110724_za11pavilion.html [accessed 28 September 2013] Archinect (2013) ‘Mobius: The parasite pavilion’, [online] Available: http://archinect.com/ blog/21823920/tag/210244/pavilion [Accessed 30 September 2013] Belbin, M. (2010) ‘Team Roles at Work’’, Taylor & Francis Ltd Bryant, C. (n.d.a.) ‘What are Dreams?’, [Online] Availabe: http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/ what-are-dreams.htm Connect the world (2010) ‘Unknown WWI soldier buried as mass graves give up secrets’ [online] Availabe: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/01/30/wwi.soldier.buried/ [Accessed 30 September 2013] Digital History (n.d.a.) ‘Overview of World War I’, [Online] Availabe: http://www.digitalhistory. uh.edu/era.cfm?eraID=12&smtID=1 Dreamcatchers.org (n.d.a.) ‘Dreamcatchers’, [Online] Availabe: http://www.dream-catchers.org/ Ghose, T. (2012) ‘Universe grows like a giant brain’, Live Science, [Online] Availabe: http://www. livescience.com/25027-universe-grows-like-brain.html Guisepi, R. (2001) ‘Tragic War And Futile Peace: World War I’, history-world.org, [Online] Availabe: http://history-world.org/world_war_one.htm Hackman, R. (2011) ‘Six Common Misperceptions about Teamwork’, [Online] Available: http:// blogs.hbr.org/2011/06/six-common-misperceptions-abou/ Healy, P. (2007) ‘Project Management’, Taylor & Francis Ltd International Association for the Study of Dreams (n.d.a.) ‘International Association for the – 48 –

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Study of Dreams’, [Online] Availabe: http://www.asdreams.org/about-dreams/ Janis, I. (1982) ‘Group Think’, Houghton Mifflin Maylor, H. (2010) ‘Project Management’, Pearson Education McLeod, S. (2009) ‘Unconscious Mind’, Simply Psychology, [Online] Availabe: http://www. simplypsychology.org/unconscious-mind.html Molenbroek, J. (2004) ‘Children’s Climbing Skills’, [Online] Available: http://www.academia. edu/245284/Climbing_Children nArchitects (2008) ‘Windshape’, [Online] Available: http://www.archdaily.com/4608/windshapenarchitects/ National Trust (n.d.a.) ‘Sanctuary from the Trenches - Project Sources’, [Online] Availabe: http:// www.nationaltrust.org.uk/article-1355804713730/ North West Timber Treatments Ltd (n.d.a.) ‘Timber Treatment Guide’ [Online] Available: http:// www.nwtt.co.uk/treatment-services.asp Noticias arquitectura (2012) ‘Seat Public Pavilion/ E/B office’, [online] Avaliable: http://socializarq. com/seat-public-pavilion-eb-office/ [accessed 28 September 2013 Peters, B. and De Kestelier, X. (2013) ‘Computation Works: The Building of Algorithmic Thought’, Volume 83, Issue 2, John Wiley & Sons Ltd Richardson, P. and Dietrich, L. (2001) ‘XS: Big Ideas, Small Buildings’, Thames & Hudson Richardson, P. and Dietrich, L. (2007) ‘XS Green: Big Ideas, Small Buildings’, Thames & Hudson Self, M. and Walker, C. (2010) ‘Making Pavilions’, Architectural Association Publications Tassicone, P. and Luca, J. (2002) ‘Successful teamwork: A case study’, Herdsa, [Online] Available: http://www.deakin.edu.au/itl/assets/resources/pd/tl-modules/teaching-approach/groupassignments/case-studies/case-study-edith-cowan-university.pdf

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MSA MArch 2013

**this publication can be found online. Scan the QR bar-code.