2014 Portfolio

EMMA UNCLES A R K I T E K T M A A C U R R I C U LU M V I TA E P O R T F O L I O

E M M A

U N C L E S

address: Wiedeweltsgade 12, 2100 København Ø Denmark email: emmauncles@hotmail.co.uk phone: +45 52618740 website: emmauncles.co.uk dob: 16th May 1990, UK

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Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture Copenhagen, Denmark MA Architecture 2012 - 2014 Grade: 12 (equivalent to distinction) Manchester School of Architecture United Kingdom BA (Hons) Architecture 2008 - 2011 Grade: First Class Honours The Angmering School West Sussex, United Kingdom A Levels 2006-2008 Art (A) Geography (A) General Studies: (A) English Literature (B) AS Physics (B) GCSES 2001-2006 11 GCSES all A & A*

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SELECTED WORKSHOPS

Methodic Practice, London Architectural Assistant 2011-2012 As a member of this small, enthusiastic and ambitious architecture, landscape and interior design practice, I was given the opportunity to be involved in all aspects of their diverse office. I worked on both small private residential proposals, and large scale public projects involving both landscape and building design. I was responsible for producing CAD drawings and models, physical model building, design work, public consultation, and producing schemes of work and drawings to submit to contractors.

Spaces In Between: The City Becoming Theatrum Mundi & Dome of Visions Copenhagen April 2013 theatrum-mundi.org

European Architecture Students Assembly Participant, Organiser, Tutor 2009 - 2012 I have been heavily involved in EASA, an annual event which brings together architecture students from across Europe for two weeks to participate in workshops (both theoretical and construction), lectures and discussion. EASA provides a platform for unconditional experimentation, which often can be restricted within the usual conventions of architectural education.

This workshop lead by the poet & architect duo, investigated the idea of Copenhagen as a series of overlapping systems, through the composing, shooting and editing of 7 documentary films using Digital Video. My work produced during this workshop was selected to feature on their website.

I was invited to participate in an ‘interdisciplinary design charette’ to discuss the potentials of ‘repairing’ leftover spaces in Copenhagen with physical, temporal, sonic, visual and political interventions.

Kreider O’Leary ‘Systems of Copenhagen’ Copenhagen April 2013 kreider-oleary.net

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S K I L L S

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Software: Vectorworks 2014 Rhino 5 (Mac & PC) Adobe Creative Suite CS6

A WA R D S iMovie VRay SketchUp Pro

Good knowledge of both PC & Mac OS, model making & hand drawing.

I am confident that I have sufficient software knowledge to learn any others swiftly.

Proficient in 3D printing with Makerbots and corresponding programmes (Makerwear & Meshlab).

Advance experience 3D scanning with Microsoft Kinect sensor and variety of programmes for the production of 3D models & 3D films (Skanect 2, RGBDToolkit and Grasshopper).

Language: English (native) Danish (beginner) Awards: Nominated for the national ‘Women in Property’ student awards in 2010 Finalist in BDP’s Rossant Award for draughtsmanship in 2010

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The influence of architecture, to possess the ability to enhance and define new ways of living is very appealing to my ambitious nature. Architecture has allowed me to satisfy my innate creativity, the diverse nature of the subject pushing me in new directions, and continuously developing my skills-set. A willingness to push both my own boundaries, and that of the role of architecture within a contemporary context is shown throughout my portfolio, which in its diversity demonstrates my eagerness to explore new definitions of architecture. My main aspiration and motivation, is to continue in a career that I am passionate and driven by, one which will ultimately result in a positive impact, be it on a large or small scale, to something or someone.

T H E V I R T U A L P R O B L E M A T I C

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RECONSTRUCTING DECONSTRUCTION

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URBAN REQUIEM ANGEL MEADOWS

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References available upon request.

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EUROPEAN ARCHITECTURE S T U D E N T S A S S E M B LY

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Unrolled section & plan of choreographed route throughout the Museum of Virtual Archaeology.

THE VIRTUAL PROBLEMATIC T H E S I S P R O J E C T This thesis acknowledges a major paradigm shift in the perception and creation of architecture in today’s contemporary society. Rapid advancements in technology are altering both attitudes towards the production of buildings, but more so the essence of what architecture is. The Virtual Problematic presents the task of designing a Virtual Architecture, as initially stimulated by the current progress of 3D scanning and printing technologies. The city of Istanbul provides the context in which this problematic is investigated, architecturally manifested in a Museum of Virtual Archaeology and Digital Preservation Archive.

The intention of the museum is to challenge how representations of the past can be exhibited and spatially perceived. Although new technologies such as 3D scanning and printing are an integral part to the narrative of my design process, many other ‘analogue’ strategies have also been employed to develop the concept of a virtual architecture.

Processed 3D scan the Great Palace

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taken from the of Constantinople,

ruins of Istanbul.

Screen shot from a 3D film produced by 3D scanning the same ruins. The viewer is able to orientate their own perspective as the 3D information is visually explored.

A 3D printed ‘Digitally Preserved’ fragment taken from the data collected whilst 3D scanning Istanbul’s ruins.

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S I T E

C O N T E X T

The chosen site is located in the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey. This is the oldest part of the city, and the nucleus of Constantinople in the Byzantine period. The site still contains many traces of Byzantine ruins, most notably the Great Palace of Constantinople and the Spendone of the Hippodrome.

The areas highlighted in blue are the visible remains of what was once the largest and wealthiest city in Europe.

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CONTES TED HIS TORIES

A selection of images demonstrating the brutal intersections of contemporary and ancient city, the ruins of the Great Palace of Constantinople a dismissed backdrop to the city. Although archaeologists have proclaimed their infuriation at the disregard for these ancient artefacts, very little has since been instigated by the Government to begin the preservation process.

These drawings highlight the contested territories of the ancient city of Constantinople. The suggested layouts of the buildings have been derived from various archaeological digs, interpretations from text, and the ruins which are still visible today. Each colour represents a different source, highlighting the clashes and voids of information regarding the location and extent of the Palace. These findings performed as a foundation on which to base the location of the proposal.

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ARCHAEOLOGICAL D I G S A N D L I T E R A T U R E CHALKOPRATEIA

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Byzantine church

HOSPITAL OF SAMSON

BASILICA CISTERN Largest in Istanbul, tourist hot-spot

HAGIA

Ruins found of Byzantine church

SOPHIA

Church, mosque, now museum

CISTERN OF PHILOXENOS Subterranean reservoir museum

PA L A C E O F L A U S U S

Hospital for the poor for 600 years

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Main thoroughfare of Constantinople

A U G U S T A I O N Ceremonial square, closed courtyard

D I H I P P I O N Ruins found of St. John at Dihippion

Ruins scattered through public park

BATHS OF ZEUXIPPUS

PALACE OF ANTIOCHOS

Ruins found of popular public baths

Ruins scattered through public park Originally joined to Palace of Lausus

H I P P O D R O M E Sporting centre of Constantinople

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Finishing line at Hippodrome

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S P E N D O N E Ruins of curved end of Hippodrome

MOSAIC-PERIST YLE Hall of Palace, now mosaic museum

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Seats at Hippodrome

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Church referred to in literature. No ruins have been discovered

PALACE-OF-BUCOLEON Vast remains of Byzantine Palace

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3D scanning provides a tool to analyse a ‘real’ object or environment, and collect digital data. This is compiled in the form of point clouds, the accumulated data used to construct a precise 3D model.

Site research in Istanbul was primarily instructed by 3D scanning. An excavated site of part of the Great Palace of Constantinople was chosen to be recorded digitally. The resulting data sets were used as samples with which to experiment with, and to explore the spatial and programmatic potentials.

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The Kinect, which was used as the 3D scanner, records with its depth sensor, infra-red and camera. The data recorded is combined to create a 3D movie, stills of which are shown on this page. These images contain distortions, extended virtual voids that only exist within the virtual dimension. When used with the correct software, the user is capable of orientating themselves within the scan, directing their own viewpoint instead of the camera controlling it.

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[RE]PRESENTATION OF SCANNED DATA The drawings to the right express the results from the completed fieldwork in Istanbul. They define three categories of virtuality. These begin with the bottom image, the ‘virtual ideal’, a drawing derived from a manual survey of part of the remains of the Great Palace of Constantinople, which is then digitally translated, resulting in an idealised representation. The middle image is composed of the ‘virtual reality’, the ‘pure’ scanned information with no user interference. The top drawing expresses the ‘true virtual’ a recalibrated data set, which has been digitally adjusted by the user.

To complete this iterative cycle, the ‘true virtual’ data, or the ‘distorted reality’ is constructed physically, by a 3D printer for example. The physical construction of the distorted 3D data creates a new reality.

“Tools of representation are never neutral.

They underlie the conceptual elaboration of architectural projects and the whole process of the generation of form.”

-Alberto Pérez-Gómez

A hand measured plan with the 3D scanned information layered above, taken from ruins of The Great Palace of Constantinople.

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DIGITAL DISTORTION The innate flexibility of a single scan, or a single data set, is highlighted by the top image, which presents variations of an individual scan.

Similar to an analogue form of representation, it is possible to distort or re-calibrate an original image to inform a new method of architectural production.

These scans examine the distortion of data sets as a tool of spatial production, by changing various parameters. Although they look similar they hold many different properties and information sets. The extended structures that are produced are examples of the beginning of a new definition of virtual space.

The only ‘true’ information is the surface condition which was scanned, the resulting ‘depth’ apparent in some of the models is entirely virtual.

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3D SCANNING AS A TOOL OF PRODUCTION How can 3D scanning technology transcend the reconstruction of a reality, and become a tool of architectural research and speculative design?

These distortions were created manually by the non-calibration of the 3D scanning device. This model distorts its own axis, with ‘real’ space information becoming scattered. The result is the production of new spatial information, the design of a virtual space.

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The following images on the left, examine the data collected by both camera (green line diagrams) and 3D scanner (pink line diagrams) when recording different materials and levels of detail. The flat, 2D reproductions of the model are analysed based upon their visual information.

The more the two individual images correspond to each other, the more accurate the scan. Subsequently, the materials were categorised by the extent of their distortions, and the material qualities that resulted in the warping of information (bottom diagram).

The first physical model produced completed the initial cycle of recording, distorting and then re-producing a scan.

This was designed to introduce a manual distortion, the model capable of being physically extended (bottom image). This was to be scanned in both iterations, to investigate further the production of ‘virtual’ space produced by the scanner.

The scanner has a specific tolerance, if the changes within a surface condition are too slight they will not be registered.

The scanner will interpret the data it can collect, therefore leading to the production of a new type of ‘virtual space’.

However, the materiality of the model, a shiny, reflective acrylic resulted in the failure of a precise scan, as the reflections created too much feedback. Despite this, it created fascinating new forms, the distorted scan emerging in a totally virtual space, (top right image).

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MUSEUM PROPOSAL Completing the tourist triangle of the Hagia Sophia in the north, and Blue Mosque in the south, the Museum’s location reacts to the large tourist industry in the immediate area. The open squares of the Hippodrome and Sultan Ahmet Park are where groups convene to soak up the last of the evening sun.

Mehmet Akif Ersoy Parki, on the other hand, is a space of transition. It operates as an access route to the Blue Mosque from the tram station, or a place to pick up a quick bite to eat, as small portable kiosks litter its periphery. The topography of the site slopes down towards the Blue Mosque, tourists grabbing a photo opportunity at the elevated seating of the open air auditorium, which is unceremoniously clamped on top of more Byzantine ruins.

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Along the seemingly nondescript remains of the Byzantine Palaces of Lausus and Antiochos which intersect the site, shrubbery camouflages locals having a nap on the dilapidated benches.

It is these ruins which are most interesting at this site. They are a prime example of the overall attitude towards the Byzantine remains of Istanbul, to leave them exposed and unacknowledged, barely registered by members of the public walking through the park.

Images above: Photos of 1:500 site model of the chosen site, highlighting the Blue Mosque & Hagia Sophia. Image to the right: Exploded axonometric drawing locating the museum proposal.

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I N I T I A L P R O P O S A L S Initial models O Osketch L O F Pexplored R O how D UtheCbuilding T I Ocould N relate to the ruins, in the middle image, paths follow the outline of the remaining ruins on-site. Aspects of anamorphic projection were introduced, and long a path was employed to ensure access through the site continued. The existing auditorium is reinstated as a hologram theatre suspended above the ruins it currently intercepts.

The bottom image introduces the idea of an enclosed corridor, allowing for the detachment from the real world, and immersion into the virtual. Apertures express transitions from the virtual into the real, orientating the visitor towards key vistas across Sultanahmet. Additionally, the notion of a simple box-like structure, with complex internal passages is introduced. The intention of this is that the inner complexities of the building are only revealed through experience. Referring to Or Ettlinger’s Factors of Virtual Space, the buildings structure acts as the ‘setting’ and ‘frame’ in which the virtual can be perceived.

Investigations into the virtual reconstruction of the palaces were also considered. Anamorphic projection, virtually activated when viewed at the correct angle, provided an alternative to the physical reconstruction of the buildings on-site. Appearing like scattered, fragmented pieces, suggestions of the past are only made clear as visitors walk through the site.

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E N G A G E M E N T W I T H T H E P A S T

During the design process, examples of how the display of artefacts could be virtually animated were explored. Anamorphic projection was investigated, as a technique that could be applied both to individual pieces and large displays. The bottom images highlight how individual elements, when observed from the correct angle, are unified into a single image.

Ancient statues, found as incomplete objects, could be completed by 3D printing the missing parts. Displayed using anamorphic projection, the original statue would be presented both as a separate entity,

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yet virtually completed with the inclusion of missing elements. This is a reaction to the changing museum philosophies over the last 200 years. During the 19th century, it was common for museums to present damaged statues in a ‘restored’ state. Many Greek and Roman statues acquired new noses to complete their original aesthetic. During the 20th century, ‘de-restoration’ took place to return the statues back to their authentic state. By employing the anamorphic technique it is suggested that both the restored and original image can be experienced.

ENGAGEMENT WITH E X I S T I N G R U I N S

The following strategies have been employed regarding the key responses to the site and the Virtual Problematic. Engagement with the existing ruins: The ruins are digitally preserved and left untouched, as a reference to the current response of Istanbul in the preservation of its Byzantine Past. The aim of this proposal is not necessarily to ‘preserve’ in the archetypal museum sense of cutting them off to the public, allowing only visual inspection of them, but to provide an additional virtual context in which they can be experienced in, subsequently revealing their story.

VIRTUAL IMMERSION

Engagement with the past: The structure of the underside of the building expresses the Byzantine Palaces, suggesting the void of the volumes of where they used to stand. It is proposed that within this design the virtual space of the imagination is also considered. Virtual Immersion: The internal configuration of the museum takes visitors on a choreographed route around the exhibitions. The dislocating and disorientating nature of these spaces provides for a fully immersive virtual experience.

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L AT E S T

I T E R AT I O N

Conceived as a large, rational box, hovering above the ruined remains of the Byzantine Palaces, the external appearance of the Museum masks the intricate maze of the spaces inside. The large roof-like structure of the box ensures that public access is still available across the site, acknowledging the current use of the park. The delicate steel columns provide an illusion of weightlessness, and an uninterrupted view as members of the public walk towards the Blue Mosque.

The large steel truss structure, expressed behind the ornate lattice facade, provides the framework to which all internal spaces are suspended.

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The circulation of the museum is based upon a single flow, with the more flexible and open area of the floor underneath the suspended corridors providing the breakout space, where offices, services and a cafe is located. The smooth flow ensures that the transition from one ‘virtual world’ to another is continuous and uninterrupted. A series of ramps gently directs visitors up vertically throughout the building, the final corridor leading to the roof garden, presenting views of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia.

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Exploded building plan, demonstrating the fluctuating spatial properties of the internal corridors. The drawing locates the museum in relation to the Digital Preservation Archive, which is located within an existing subterranean cistern, dating back to the Byzantine era.

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3 D C O R R I D O R SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS

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Upon entry to the Museum, the visitor is lead towards a tight aperture, which when walked through, the body is immersed in a dually physical and virtual world. The 3D corridor is a reproduced collection of 3D scans taken from the remains of part of the Great Palace of Constantinople. These have been 3D printed at 1:1 scale, the physical facade constructed as an virtual interface. The constructed scans act as a canvas on which digital information can be projected on.

It is the intention that these ruins can be virtually reconstructed back into their former glory by projecting images of the gold gilded finishes and mosaics that used to grace the walls of the lost palace. This space allows both past and present spatial informa-

tion to be experienced at the same time, in physical format: the present, and digital: the past. The scans are initially located within a sealed corridor, where the projections can take place. The constructed scans gradually become part of the corridor structure itself, and apertures out towards the internal open space are made evident. Initial investigations into these spatial projections used light to contract and expand the perceived spaces, allocating a layer of digital information to juxtapose the constructed reality. A fragment was constructed of one of the scans taken in Istanbul, and projection mapping was used to animate it (see next page). The perception of the physical construction of the model alters with the digital projections.

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P E P P E R ’ S G H O S T GA L L E RY SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS This space leads to the Pepper’s Ghost gallery. Unlike prior virtual strategies, this employs a technique which has been in use since 1862. Illusions are created using simple reflection. Chambers which hold archeological artifacts, found from across Constantinople are scattered along a path, which is intercepted with rotating glass screens. When the screens are at a 45 degree angle to the chamber, and with the correct lighting conditions, the artifact in the chamber is reflected onto the glass, with a hologram-like appearance. When all glass panels are at the correct angle, a curated communal image of all the artifacts on

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display is created, the virtual exhibition. As the user walks through the space and turns the glass screens, they are able to access each individual artifact on display, the ‘physically real’ exhibition. This corridor allows the presentation of the exhibition both virtually, as a whole, and physically as individual objects. Visitors are able to interact with these glass screens to curate their own virtual exhibition. Studies into the technique of Pepper’s Ghost were explored to develop this design. The images to the right demonstrate how each chamber operates, the glass at a 45 degree angle to the object, and the resulting image.

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T H E D O M E SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS The dome is the final part of the journey. The path leading from the exhibition hall first navigates around the periphery of the dome, then cuts into its internal structure, gradually winding to the top of the roof. This dome recreates a famous Byzantine typology, found throughout Constantinople. The journey into the structure of the dome, with the ribbed internal surface on one side of the path, and the inverted surface of the external facade on the other, provides the viewer with an experience of these famous Byzantine structures which is not usually accessible. By

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occupying the notional ‘void’ between internal and external surface, the viewer is placed within a virtual world, in a situation that could never usually be experienced at the same time. The path leads to the roof garden, orientating the user towards the Hagia Sofia upon release into the open air. As public space is at such a premium in Istanbul, it was important to conserve the open space of the park, and with the elevated view, visitors are provided with an impressive vista of Sultanahmet.

The section above highlights the right highlights how the maze of corridors interact with each other, and expresses the open space surrounding these suspended volumes. The drawing expresses the layers of the dome structure, and how the path intersects its two shells of external and internal condition. The staircase which leads down from the roof garden into the open space can also be seen here. This journey, descending back down into the building, allows the visitor the external experience of the route, walking beneath the suspended corridors. The visitor is provided with an understanding of the spaces they have just passed through. Further interaction with the roof volumes of the palace is also granted.

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D I G I TA L P R E S E RVAT I O N A R C H I V E The Digital Preservation Archive within the Binbirderk Cisterns operates both individually and as part of the Museum’s complex. The cisterns are both a physical exhibition of one of the few preserved Byzantine structures in the area, and a place of digital storage, production and exhibition.

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The layout of the cisterns remains unchanged, with small interventions scattered throughout the forest of columns. Suspended walkways traverse the maze of columns, delineating spaces of storage, production and representation. The servers which store the digital data are partly submerged in water which is reintroduced. A watertight skin surrounds the computers, and the data accessed from above. The servers additionally operate as the structure to which the walkways are suspended from.

Opportunities to view the data stored are provided along the route. Booths with 3D projectors allow a full spatial immersion, and holograms and screens are suspended between the columns. 3D printers

are located within the cisterns to provide services for both the museum and visitors, who want a souvenir of their time in Istanbul, in the form of an artefact seen in the museum or their own 3d scan.

The design of the archive takes advantage of the Cistern’s past use as a storage of water, and uses it as a natural cooling mechanism for the servers.

Additionally, the use of water in the cisterns acts as a mirror, producing reflections of the columns. The optical illusions created seem to suspend the user in an infinite space. This returns us back to the original definition of the virtual, ‘a means of seeing space where in fact there is none’.

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Collage in plan of the site. The image highlights the frictions between characters on site and the overlap of re-instated programmes.

R E CO N S T RU C T I N G D E C O N S T R U C T I O N The extensive array of Plattenbauten, or panel buildings, which still stand throughout former East Berlin are falling into disrepair. The increasing levels of low flat occupancy within these buildings, estimated at around a million vacant units, are rendering them redundant. Demolition sites of the Plattenbauten are a constant presence as one explores the former GDR. The modular form of these constructions provides the potential for the option of deconstruction rather than demolition.

This project seeks to explore the potentials of the deconstruction of a Plattenbau, and what social, political and physical constructs can evolve from this process. It proposes an alternative option for the recycling of buildings, instead of architecture existing as ‘waste in transit’.

1:100 model suggesting possible inhabitation of the de-constructed components on site.

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“The city of the future lies in its ruins”

Rubble mountains in Berlin from WW2: new landforms constructed from the destruction of war.

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S I T E C O N T E X T F I N A L M O D E L The project seeks to explore the potentials of the deconstruction of a specific Plattenbau, located on Wilhelmstrasse, a major thoroughfare through Berlin’s Mitte & Kreuzberg districts. Pre-1945 the road was acknowledged as the centre of the German Government. During World War Two, most of the public buildings along Wilhelmstrasse were destroyed by Allied bombing. This site has seen continual deconstruction and reconstruction, be it physically, politically or socially. The image above provides the immediate site context of the Plattenbau in central Berlin, highlighting the political, social and historical context as a stimulus for the proposed programme. The adjoining images are of the detailed 1:200 model of the potential layout of the de-constructed building components, centred around a public auditorium space.

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Master-plan for the general operation of the chosen site.

This initial design will evolve organically over time, dependent upon the programmes which consume the site.

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Historically there has been a persistent battle between Berlin’s commercial ventures and it’s underground creative scene, spurred by cheap rents in East Berlin after reunification. Now rents are increasing, and the creative industries are battling against commercial developments. This proposal is to be conceived as a new public space, providing a space for cultural exchange, urban activism and the reuse and recycling of spaces and materials.

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The components are moved and arranged by gantry crane to provide evolving spaces for new programmes, which are introduced over time into the site, either spontaneously, or as part of an initiated master plan.

The reconfigured site is conceived as a market place, where members of the public can buy reclaimed components to build new structures. Workshops throughout the site provide consumers with the skills required to assemble the components, and a show home projects the potentials of the recycled components. As compo-

nents are sold, the proposal will continue to evolve, with new spaces and programmes created by the consumption and addition of new components, brought from other sites of demolition across Berlin, to be stored and reused. The site aims to promote itself as a site of cultural and political exchange. The design endeavours to become a ‘self made’ public space, promoting social justice, and providing an arena for free speech and open political discussion.

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Dismantling a drawing, short film and hand drawing. Animating the process of deconstruction. The drawing itself is in a continual state of deconstruction and reconstruction as its layers are slowly revealed.

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Series demonstrates the process of deconstruction/reconstruction across the site.

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01 Existing Site

07 First Stage of External Facade Deconstruction External concrete panels are carefully removed from the facade. These are processed, cut to size where necessary, and archived.

02 Clearance & Construction The landscape is cleared and construction of the gantry crane begins. Later iterations show the crane sequentially constructed in unison with the deconstruction of the Plattenbau.

03 Furniture & Fittings The Plattenbau is ‘soft stripped’ of all furniture and fittings, which are relocated into a new permanent market hall structure on-site to be ‘up-cycled’ and resold.

04 Windows & Doors Windows and doors from the Plattenbau are removed and relocated. The windows create a new, detachable facade for the market hall structure, and the doors are complied into a huge revolving door, marking the entrance to the site.

05 Removal of Roof Tiles Roof tiles are sorted through and archived, stored either as facade components within the market hall, or within gabions which provide structure for new programmes.

06 Deconstruction of Roof

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The roof structure is deconstructed, and stored within the archive and sorting areas of the gantry crane framework. The wood, among other uses, is used as additional structural supports when the building slabs are relocated.

08 Second Stage of External Facade Deconstruction Construction of public space begins, with concrete components rearranged on site to provide new flexible space for a variety of programmes

09 Third Stage of External Facade & Internal Wall Deconstruction.

Construction of public space continues, and processing facilities evolve.

010 Fourth Stage of External Facade & Internal Wall Deconstrction Construction of public space continues, and processing facilities evolve.

011 Final Stage of External Facade & Internal Wall Deconstruction Construction of public space continues, and processing facilities evolve.

012 Future Development of Programme Scenarios Site continues to evolve and rearrange to facilitate new programmes, with the absorption and addition of components.

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A catalogue of the components of the Plattenbau was complied to acknowledge the materials that would be available to be removed.

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Exploration into the potentials of the occupation of the concrete components in creating a workshop environment.

Initial Programme Proposal: Evening Events. The space transforms into an arena of performance and display.

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Initial Programme Proposal: Day Events. The outdoor public space provides an open platform for freedom of speech & protests, performance & display.

Initial Programme Proposal: ‘Morning after the night before’.

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conflict IMPRISONMENT

escape

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IMPRISONMENT

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FILMLIC CONSTRUCTIONS_ARCHIVING L'Année dernière à Marienbad

CONFLICT

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MEMORIES

imprisonment

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RESISTANCE

SCENE MOTIFS FROZEN

memories

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FROZEN

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OSCILLATION OF KEY THEMES OVER DURATION OF FILM

PERSUASION

STATEMENTS

persuasion

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SURRENDER

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MAN & WOMAN MOTIFS

WOMAN PARTNER PARTNER

ESCAPE

ESCAPE MAN WOMAN

WOMAN &

MAN & WOMAN

As a participant of a workshop entitled ‘Filmic Constructions’, at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and in relation to the project ‘Reconstructing Deconstruction’, Last Year at Marienbad, a film famous for its enigmatic narrative structure, was de-constructed and reconstructed. Key repetitive themes were highlighted, with 9 new movies and scripts then created by compiling each of these themes individually.

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MAN

MAN & PARTNER

WOMAN

WOMAN & PARTNER

PARTNER

SCENE

MAN & WOMAN

MAN, WOMAN & PARTNER

MAN & PARTNER

MAN. MAN & PARTNER. MAN, WOMAN & PARTNER MOTIFS

WOMAN & PARTNER

surrender

TIME

CHARACTERS OF EACH SCENE

statements

PARTNER

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U R BA N R E Q U I E M BACHELORS PROJECT Render of external facade of complex from the cemetery park.

The Victorian slums of Manchester, and the vast graves that lie beneath St. Michael’s flags, are long forgotten remnants of the past. This project proposes to reinstate the site’s history into the public realm, providing a sense of continuity between past and the proposed programme. The design proposal is influenced by the narrative of death and the many processes that occur after the passing of life, leading to a journey of memorial.

The complex of buildings includes a towering vertical cemetery, and chapel for funeral services. A hybrid of a crematorium and pottery workshop recycles the heat produced during the crematory process, and uses it to power the kiln. Mourners are able to make their own urn to hold the remains of their loved one, which can then be stored in the vertical cemetery.

Final 1:200 model.

Before there were public parks, cemeteries were the primary manicured spaces within cities. Urban Requiem seeks to reinstate cemeteries as public space, and change public perceptions. The design promotes the respectful use of facilities and instils a sense of pride within the local community.

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Key design strategies.

Ground floor plan of cemetery complex.

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T H E

J O U R N E Y

The consideration of approach, arrival & circulation throughout the building are precursors to the metaphorical journey of the mourners throughout the building. Distinct circulation routes have been created to ensure the privacy of funeral parties, whilst maintaining the use of spaces open to the general public. Mourners, when approaching the complex through the park, descent down a subtle hill, easing their journey. Walking down the arterial route of the park, an avenue is formed between the monolithic forms of the vertical cemetery, & the chapel, thrusting towards the heavens. On arrival,

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the room volume is small & intimate, as the journey continues through the building this heightens, & an exchange of scale occurs. The towering ceiling of the chapel is intercepted with shafts of light dictating the experience of the space through shadows. The mourners continue their journey through to the light, an open corridor of floral tributes. Views to the private garden of reflection provide an area of rest. The journey is completed once the ashes have been collected, & placed of a shelf in the vertical cemetery. Each shelf impacts upon the facades appearance, & the experience of the space inside.

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The permeable nature of the building allows it to weather, merging into its landscape as a gravestone would.

The shelving to hold the urns (made within the pottery workshop), lock into the facade of the Vertical Cemetery. These can be detached & reattached, catering for the changing requirements of the building (as it fills the shelving pattern becomes more regimented), enhancing the evolving nature of the facade. The louvres cast vast geometric patterns across the interior, supplementing the spiritual nature of the building. The building is able to remain permeable, whilst maintaining a monolithic, heavy presence upon the urban landscape.

Internal details of shelving concept and lighting.

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Long Section

South West Elevation

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South East Elevation

North East Elevation

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Long Section

Reception Entrance.

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Chapel.

Lighting conditions & shelving within the Vertical Cemetery.

Burial Tombs for those who have religious beliefs which restrict them from cremation.

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R U N & B I R D

H I D E H I D E

The design of this bird hide was inspired by the intricate structure of teasel heads. This natural construction was used as a ‘camouflage’ for the facade. Instead of a large, fixed window to view out of, which results in restricted views, the entire structure was enveloped by ‘spikes’, mimicking those of the teasel. The bird hide is primarily two transparent pavilions, with a textured lattice hiding those inside, thus not disrupting the surrounding wildlife, and not restricting views for the building’s users.

CHORLTON, MANCHESTER

W A I T & W A T C H WILDLIFE OBSERVATORY

GRIZEDALE, LAKE DISTRICT

The project’s brief was to design an observatory and education space in the forest at Grizedale in the Lake District. It was required that the building instilled a sense of immersion within the surrounding landscape via a viewing platform, and that the structure was sustainable, robust and have minimal environmental impact.

Top Image: Collage of proposition. Bottom Image: Final model.

The building is a celebration of the local resource, wood. It follows a programmatic journey through the building via the history and stories of trees.

The journey is envisaged from the bottom of the hill as the start of the journey, through the forests of larch, to the top where the building is located, as a landmarked at the end.

Processed timber is intercepted by organic bark shingles, a celebration of the versatility of the material.

Top Image: Hand drawn floor and roof plan. Middle Images: Final Model constructed from wood, cork and cardboard. Bottom Images: Conceptual construction detail model. Hand drawn concept drawings expressing the journey through the forest to reach the proposal.

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EUROPEAN ARCHITECTURE STUDENTS ASSEMBLY Every year since 1981, architecture students have gathered each summer for the opportunity to discuss and produce work with other students of architecture from across Europe. The summer-school is organised by students, for students, a gathering of keen, young minds producing new visions for two weeks. It has been highly influential to my own opinions of what architecture can, and should be, having had the opportunity to both participate, tutor a workshop, and spend an entire year organising the summer assembly in Manchester 2010. The scope is far beyond that of the participants, a key impetus is that of engaging within the immediate context of the changing locations, exploring new territories, cultures and personalities each year. In Manchester our office was also employed as a gallery, with local artists invited to exhibit their work. The smoke-house which was constructed during a workshop at easa012 in Helsinki was used by a local restaurant after the assembly had completed.

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Structure completed as a participant in the workshop Re.Pose, EASA 2009 Italy. Conceived as a large viewing platform to the vast valley and lake below.

Top Image: View from the stage of the final presentations of workshops at easa010 Manchester. This took place in Victoria Baths, a Victorian swimming pool complex which had been left empty for years. Bottom Image: Smoke house built, and in operation whilst tutoring a workshop at easa012, Helsinki.

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Refurbished easa010 Manchester office and gallery space.

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Completed workshop tutored by Wendy Adams & Leanne Martin as part of easa010.

Exhibitions of completed workshops at easa010. Galleries across Manchester hosted the work complied during the two weeks, and temporary pavilions appeared across the city.

Open doors at an easa Gallery opening, 2010. The external facade, as seen in the top image, was part of an international competition as initiated by easa010, to gain wide-spread coverage of both the gallery and the assembly. The chosen design was painstakingly hand-painted on over a succession of wintry weekends!

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