SPATIAL WEAVE
Emma Blundell
[MA Architectural Design: Tectonics] ESALA
Atmospheres Design for a fashion and textile foundation Ingram Street, Glasgow [5000 sqm]
CONTENT
[Statement]
Chapter One. [Precedent Study] Walsall Art Gallery, Walsall by Caruso St John Architects
1
Chapter Two. [A Visual Inventory] Merchant City, Glasgow
7
Chapter Three. [Atmospheric Fashioning] Atmospheric provocation at scale 1:20 Chapter Four. [Urban Stitching] Scale of the city at 1:500
15 23
Chapter Five. [An Evolving Fabrication] Programme and territorial conditioning
31
Chapter Six. [Structural Spatiality] Abstractions of structure 1:100
41
Chapter Seven. [Composed Facade] Material expression
49
Chapter Eight. [Retraced Atmospheres] Reimagining the 1:20 atmospheric model
55
Chapter Nine. [Collection] Final proposal
61
‘ S P A T I A L W E A V E ’ is a tectonic proposal for a fashion and textile foundation in Merchant City, Glasgow. The design borrows lessons from both this context and the materiality of a textile weave. Based on the ordering principles of ‘W A R P’ and ‘W E F T’, a structural framework of arches provides the setting against which people entwine, light filters, views are framed and atmosphere is fabricated. The nature of this interlacing structure, in which arches connect and loads are shared, reflects the grids of Glasgow’s urban condition. The site, originally a bazaar and cornered by Ramshorn Kirk, has a rich heritage. Looking to such language of bazaars and cathedrals, the design respects and interprets a historical fabric of architecture. Brick slips wrap around a cast concrete frame, asserting a contemporary translation of traditional arch construction. The structure is revealed and concealed – dressed - much like the layers of space clothing forms around the human body. The tectonic ambition of the project lies in the potential of construction methods as atmospheric devices. The foundation is grounded in tectonic tradition, context, and mass, but is ultimately orientated upwards; the skyward momentum of the arches emphasise the gravity of their construction. Like a viaduct, the design becomes ‘lighter’ as you move up. Light filters from the sky into the public spaces below, while the transparency of the arches themselves mean views loop through and inspire discovery. Light, architectural heritage, fashion and people become plaited in a contemporary spatial weave, offering a field of atmospheres. It is against the tectonic W A R P of the arches that the W E F T of activity unfolds.
C H A P T E R O N E [Precedent Study]
Walsall Art Gallery, Walsall, Caruso St John Architects.
‘The point was that it had many centres. They were pushed together to make one thing but they keep their independence. We did not want a single experience that encompassed the whole, more of a field of different experiences.’ [Peter St. John]
^ photographs [Walsall Art Gallery]
^ photographs [1:100 cast model]
^ TOP: diagrams [relationship to the city] [ from ‘tower’ to ‘big house’]
{ work with Callum Bolger and Dan Brown }
O N E [Precedent Study]
3
^ photographs [Walsall Art Gallery]
^ tectonic investigation [1:20 model]
^ tectonic investigation [section drawing] { work with Callum Bolger and Dan Brown }
O N E [Precedent Study]
5
C H A P T E R T W O [A Visual Inventory] < vaults
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;What he is working with is the essential space, the inconsistency between the body and the fabric.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; [Madelaine Vionnet on Issey Miyake]
9
11
‘What he is working with is the essential space, the inconsistency between the body and the fabric.’ [Madelaine Vionnet on Issey Miyake]
^ TOP left to right [Neues Museum, David Chipperfield] [Dome, Topkapi Palace] [Museum of Roman Art, Raphael Moneo] ^ MIDDLE left to right [Neues Museum, David Chipperfield] [Roberto Capucci] [WARP / WEFT / WEAVE] ^ BOTTOM left to right [Louis Kahn] [Issey Miyake]
^ left to right [Old Fruitmarket] [City Halls 2014 - British Symphony Orchestra]
^ bazaar [site 1850]
^ [site 2014]
T W O [A Visual Inventory]
13
CHAPTER THREE [Atmospheric Fashioning] < 1:20 ‘atmospheres’ model
‘There is an emotional aspect to architecture...The feeling of mass, or of weight, the sense of enclosure and what you think when you are in the space.. We are looking for the intensity of material, for suppression of the common language of construction to allow something that is much more about experience.’ [Stephen Bates]
> translating the weave [concept collage] Site as spatial weave to invite movement and public engagement with the foundation, created through a language of arches inspired by the immediate context.
T H R E E [Atmospheric Fashioning]
17
> exterior [1:20 model photograph] concealing
> interior [1:20 model photograph] revealing
T H R E E [Atmospheric Fashioning]
19
> translating the model[concept collage] Enclosing and framing the body: Interior atmospheric exploration. Movement, discovery and layers of space
T H R E E [Atmospheric Fashioning]
21
CHAPTER FOUR [Urban Stitching]
< ‘urban weave’ concept
‘like intermeshed structures of a woven textile, the system gains resiliency and strength by densely combining many small elements. Temperature, human occupation and environmental cycles all directly work on these sensitive components and the materials soak up that influence...’ [Herman Hertzberger]
^ site plan [Glasgow’s urban condition: ‘warping’ the grid]
F O U R [Urban Stitching]
25
^ 1:500 urban condition [design maquettes]
^ 1:500 maquette [Glasgow’s urban condition: ‘warping’ the grid]
F O U R [Urban Stitching]
27
> scale shifts [concept collage] adopting the same principles from 1:20 to 1:500
F O U R [Urban Stitching]
29
CHAPTER FIVE [An Evolving Fabrication] < development maquettes
‘material casts a shadow. And the shadow belongs to light. So light is really the source of all being.’ [Louis Kahn]
^ +0m
^ +3m
^ +4m
^ +6m
^ +10m
^ +14m
^ +16m
^ +18m
^ +19m
^ programme distribution [diagrammatic layout]
F I V E [An evolving fabrication]
33
^ 1:200 model [scale shifts and spatial grids. From the urban condition to an architectural approach]
F I V E [An evolving fabrication]
35
^ design development
^ 1:250 design development section [exhibition space]
F I V E [An evolving fabrication]
37
^ 1:500 maquettes [refining urban massing]
F I V E [An evolving fabrication]
39
CHAPTER SIX [Structural Spatiality] ^ concept collage
‘I feel it’s necessary to lay everything bare and so recover the value of making.’ [Issey Miyake]
^ arch geometry [1:250 section] [Load distribution in proportion to height of arch]
S I X [Structural Spatiality]
43
^ arch geometry [1:250]
^ arch geometry [1:500 ground floor plan] [Arch translation into plan: openings, spatial hierarchy]
S I X [Structural Spatiality]
45
^ structural model [1:100]
^ arch in plan and section [roof openings]
^ tectonic making [1:100 model]
^ structural model [1:100]
S I X [Structural Spatiality]
47
CHAPTER SEVEN [Composed Facade]
< facade section drawing
WARP ‘running vertically and kept under tension’ threaded through vertical threads, usually at 90 degrees ‘WEFT’ [Principles of Weaving]
^ elevation studies [1:500] brick / concrete - dressing / undressing
S E V E N [Composed Facade]
51
^ 1:20 section 13.03.2014 [scaled at 1:100]
^ 1:20 section 26.03.2014 [scaled at 1:100]
^ 1:20 section 02.04.2014 [scaled at 1:100]
^ 1:20 elevation [scaled at 1:100]
S E V E N [Composed Facade]
53
CHAPTER EIGHT [Retraced Atmospheres] < 1:100 structural model
‘I feel it’s necessary to lay everything bare and so recover the value of making.’ [Issey Miyake]
^ Model construction [1:20]
57
< exterior / concealing [1:20 plywood model]
> interior / revealing [1:20 plywood model]
E I G H T [Retraced Atmospheres]
59
CHAPTER NINE [Collection]
< Foundation Entrance
Final proposal for a fashion and textile foundation. Ingram Street, Glasgow. [5000 sqm]
^ site plan [Glasgow’s urban condition: ‘warping’ the grid]
N I N E [Collection]
63
FASHION FOUNDATION Area Schedule Reception / Office [30m2] Administration Hub [400m2] Design studios split over 4 year groups [1400m2] Crit areas [80m2 per studio area] 2 Lecture / Teaching Rooms [200m2 total] Exhibition Space [250m2] Gallery [150m2] Lecture Theatre of 80 seats [200m2] Computer / Printing Rooms [120m2] Toilets [100m2 total] Student Hub [200m2] Wardrobe Workshop [120m2] Textiles Workshop [120m2] Fabric Store [20m2] Dye Room [20m2] Laundry Room [25m2] Wardrobe / Storage [200m2] Hat Storage [15m2] Shoe Store [20m2] Fitting Rooms [50m2] Boutique Shop [50m2] Bar / Cafe [250m2] Plant Room [100m2] Cleaners Stores [20m2] Total built area approx [5000m2]
65
> Spatial and Structural grid [1:500] centered at 3000mm
> Ground Floor [1:500 arches}
1 Leture Theatre
8 Store
2 Retail
9 Male WC
3 Bar
10 Wardrobe / Fitting Room
4 Reception / Security
11 WC
5 Cafe
12 Market / Exhibition
6 Kitchen
13 Boutique Shop
7 Female WC
14 Core and Escape
> Ground Floor plan [scaled at 1:250]
67
> First Floor [1:500 arches]
1 Textile Workshop
8 Conference Space
2 Admin Hub
9 Gallery / Exhibition
3 Lecture / Teaching Room 1
10 Library
4 Lecture / Teaching Room 2
11 Fashion Workshop
5 Female WC
12 Fabric Store
6 Cleaners Store
13 Student Hub
7 Male WC
14 Core and Escape
> First Floor +4m plan [scaled at 1:250]
N I N E [Collection]
69
1 Studio One
8 Laundry
2 Studio Two
9 Dye Room
3 Dark Room / Store
10 Studio Three
4 Store
11 Studio Four
5 Female WC
12 Core and Escape
6 Cleaners Store 7 Male WC > Second Floor [1:500 arches]
> Second Floor +8m plan [scaled at 1:250]
N I N E [Collection]
71
1 Plant Room
8 Crit Space 3
2 Store
9 Computer Lab 1
3 Female WC
10 Computer Lab 2
4 Cleaners Store
11 Crit Space 4
5 Male WC
12 Core and Escape
6 Crit Space 1 7 Crit Space 2 >Third Floor [1:500 arches]
> Second Floor +8m plan [scaled at 1:250]
N I N E [Collection]
73
^ Public exhibition [concept collage]
N I N E [Collection]
75
> Cross Section [scaled at 1:250]
N I N E [Collection]
77
> Cross Section [scaled at 1:250]
N I N E [Collection]
79
> Long Section [scaled at 1:250]
N I N E [Collection]
81
> Cross Section [scaled at 1:250]
N I N E [Collection]
83
^ Public exhibition and spatial weave [interior view]
N I N E [Collection]
85
< West
< North
< East
^ Elevations [1:500]
N I N E [Collection]
87
^ Street View [Along Ingram Street]
N I N E [Collection]
89
^ Spatial Weave [tectonic integration]
N I N E [Collection]
91
^ Arch Geometry [1:250 section)
^ Arch Geometry
93
^ 1:20 part facade elevation [scaled at 1:100]
The tectonic ambition is achieved through cast concrete arches. The thin profile concrete achieves allows for both the maximum filtration of light and the greatest transparency of views and connections with the public. Views penetrate the full height of the building, inviting discovery and encouraging collaboration within the school. Much like theories of dressing, this frame becomes lined with brick slips on the interior and in the more private spaces, giving a rich hierarchy of space and enhancing the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience as a field of atmospheres. The concrete becomes the warp, and the brick becomes the weft. It is the weft that gives character to the architectural fabric.
^ 1:20 part facade section [scaled at 1:100]
N I N E [Collection]
95
^ tectonic spatiality
N I N E [Collection]
97
N I N E [Collection]
99
N I N E [Collection]
101