2015/2016
STAGE 3 PORTFOLIO
FINLAY McGREGOR
BA ARCHITECTURE
NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY 1
CONTENTS
CHAMBER 4-39 PRIMER 4-11 GROUNDING 12-19 DEVELOPMENT 20-31 PLANS 32-37 SECTION & RENDER 38-39
SHOWSTORE 40-85 INCUBATOR 40-47 MASSING & FLOWS 48-51 INTERIM PROPOSAL 52-56 PROGRAMMING AND MASTERPLANNING 57-67 DEVELOPEMENT 68 -75 PLANS, SECTIONS & INTERNAL RENDERS 76 - 80 BEFORE & AFTER: EXTERNAL RENDERS 81-85
2
This project proposes the redevelopment of the lower East Pilgrim street area in Newcastle upon Tyne into an institute of Herbology and the associated traditional and holistic health practices and an institute of analogue sound sampling connected by a musical urban park in which indigenous plants are cultivated.
3
My dissertation compared Bernard Tschumi’s famous Parc de la Villette in Paris and the recently renovated Windrush Square in Brixton within the broad context of a rapidly changing public realm. This study has greatly informed my knowledge and opinions and bourn a particular interest in the polemical and functional aspects of urban design. The primer task for the ‘Variations’ Studio was to distil key phrases, words and concepts through the comparison of an architectural text and a musical text. From this drawings and models were to be developed, based on the processes and spatial qualities described in the text, that would inform the design of a public performance space (‘Chamber’) along with reflective / rehearsal spaces and accommodation for the performers.
4
From this point of departure, the whole graduation project has been a highly iterative process with a focus on translating found themes into a kit of parts and spatial configurations that can work towards the development and nexus of an architectural complex. In light of this scale and approach the final result is somewhat unresolved and very open to adaptation, however the strategic moves and decisions concerned have been refined over several researched repetitions and I would like to think that the scheme would provide a vibrant and realistic re-arrangement of a currently very dilapidated part of Newcastle’s public realm.
5
DISTILLING CONCEPTS
6
The two selected texts linked together better than expected, with the fruition of several spatial ideas. On a more sociological level Steven Quinn makes an interesting analogy between the origins of drum‘n’bass and the London Tube map: “Sites such as Peckham, Dalston, Hackney, and Lewisham, are in many ways “forsaken” because they exist in the blank spaces of the background. It is from areas such as these that drum’n’bass initially emerged, the invisible ghettos of the marginalised.”This has informed the overarching concept behind the design of the ‘Chamber’building, centered on the idea of creativity emerging from overlooked, ‘in-between’ spaces.
7
‘Bricolage’, ‘transition’ and ‘complexity’ were the most distilled concepts I was able to come up with at first, which translated into the line drawings and the model to the left. Rather than continuing to focus on these, I incorporated them into a structural analogy of the components of drum ‘n’ bass, as described in the text. The idea of a principle regular connecting structure connecting tactile spaces ripe for appropriation tied in with Tschumi’s ideas on universality, fragmentation, collision and event.
8
To the left is a grid of diagrammatic depictions showing the various modes of vibration of a rigid surface when resonating at different frequencies; regions form that vibrate in opposite directions, bounded by lines where no vibration occurs (nodal lines). On the flip side I’m interested in materials affecting sound; drum ‘n’ bass is centred on digital sampling of sounds, but goes further than say hip hop in generating sounds that are distinctly artificial. My friend who studies production has made me appreciate how satisfyingly the sounds of simple materials in our immediate environment can be sampled and manipulated in electronically produced music. It is on this premise of analogue sounds, that the idea of intensely tactile spaces that will affect and provide for visiting musicians, has further emerged.
9
BRICOLAGE UNIVERSALITY HOLISM
Harking back to that very first task concerning key words, ‘Bricolage’ has persisted as a theme throughout the year, however otherwise I have developed interests in broader more cultural concepts, namely ‘University/Situation’ and ‘Holism’. Across the page is the structural proposal as it was at the end of the primer project; a monumental performance space, in the form of a large conventional concrete box floats within a regular timber frame. It acts as a blank canvas on which ideas hopefully generated in the unconventional tactile, reflective spaces surrounding it can manifest themselves. It forms the booming heart of the building, insulated by these tactile spaces.
10
11
SITE ANALYSIS
12
The project brief envisions the redevelopment of the lower East Pilgrim Street area, adjacent to the Swan House roundabout. Despite it’s abandoned appearance, the site sits between several key centres within the wider core of Newcastle, including Manors and Northumbria University campus to the East and Grainger Town to the West. It is due to it’s “poor quality and legibility of some of the pedestrian linkages” that it cannot capitalize on this prime location ; planning guidance advises the emphasis of an east-west axis of flows through the area. ‘Sideways Urbanism’ diverges from historical top-down approach to planning and the reactionary sweeping socialist approach of the 60s, in its authoritative attempted to be bottom-up. “reversing the spiral of place deficit disorder begins with taking the first step of personal prospecting with others. No matter how small, taking that first step is also taking responsibility for making a positive difference.” In an effort to address this notion I hung around some of the sites unappealing and sometimes intimidating passages and asked people who lived and worked in the area for their opinions on the site. Most notably I was told “no more student accommodation”, “no more corporate businesses and retail”, “a rival to the sage”, “better pedestrian access from manors car park” and “a place to better enjoy lunch breaks”. ‘East Pilgrim Street Interim Planning Guidance’, Newcastle City Council Imperfect Health, The Medicalization of Architecture, ed. by Giovanna Borasi and Mirko Zardini (Canada: Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2012).
13
SITE CONTEXT
The isolation of the site can be largely attributed to the local icons of the 60s planning, erected under the influence of T Dan Smith. The site is essentially pushed up against an urban motorway and roundabout and towered over by the colossal ‘55 degrees north’. These idealistic constructions have carved up the urban fabric indiscriminately, obliterating public heritage, such as the Royal Arcade, and replacing it with autonomous inhuman-scaled structures and an overwhelming priority for motor-vehicles.
14
“public interior streets and open streets in the air deployed as community building post war often backfired and are now associated with vandalism insecurity and anonymity rather than identity” Architecture and the Welfare State, ed. by Mark Swenarton, Tom Avermaete, and Dirk van den Heuvel (Routledge, 2014).
15
GROUNDING A KIT OF PARTS
16
How to incorporate the kit of parts from the primer into this site was the first major decision; how should they respond to its complicated topography and existing structures? Would the performance space at their core still remain held up in the air or become part of the topography or perhaps a cantilevered combination of the two?
17
THE OLD BANK OF ENGLAND BUILDING
The surgical pattern of insensitive obliteration was unfortunately continued in the summer of 2012 with the demolition of Basil Spence’s Bank of England Building. It’s lower to levels, however, remain in tact and these present a perfect opportunity to begin an attempt at the increasingly popular and relevant “medical metaphor of tissue regeneration” focusing on an “aesthetic and therapeutic treatment” of this existing “normal tissue” of the site. As you can see from the original building plans on the opposite page, the bank’s old gold vaults present a sizeable subterranean space with thick cavity walls within which the concrete performance box would stand neatly and be relatively acoustically isolated from the street above. Imperfect Health, The Medicalization of Architecture, ed. by Giovanna Borasi and Mirko Zardini (Canada: Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2012).
18
BASEMENT
LOWER BASEMENT
19
VAULTS
VAULTS
20
The aesthetic of this partially found space would echo that of the warehouse clubs famously associated with drum ‘n’ bass and other electronic music sub cultures. Rather than just a simple box the performance space would comprise various smaller adjoining spaces, similar to the renowned club ‘Tresor’ in Berlin (bottom far left) ; adding to atmosphere and allowing for varied events to take place. St. Peter’s seminary near Glasgow (directly left), designed by Gillespie Kidd and Coia and opened in 1966, only performed its desired role for 14 years before becoming a drugs rehabilitation center and then falling into disrepair. Visited by people from all over the world, It is a remarkable ruin, also hinged on this industrial brutalist aesthetic and one can easily admire its ethereal manipulation of light with form, something which the Chamber’s performance space could also harness to make it more than just a box. Interestingly Angus Farquhar as leader of the NVA arts organization intends to renovate it as an “international venue for public art and knowledge exchange”. He became famous as a member of the band Test Debt. who played instruments made of scrap materials. The concrete cleared to open up the vaults could be mixed in as aggregate for the newly cast elements, further adding to the sustainability of the space’s construction. http://nva.org.uk/artwork/kilmahew-st-peters/
21
STRUCTURAL & ENVIRONMEANTAL STRATEGIES
The conceptual kit of parts from the primer translates easily into a modular system. The conventional spaces would slot into the frame as prefabricated pods and the frame itself could also be a composite structure of four by four meter cubic frames. Marco Casagrande’s modular paracity for Habitare in Helsinki envisions a system similar to this working on a civic scale where an “open framework allows for occupation and fit-out by its inhabitants, becoming a bottom-up community produced by its citizens.” In the long term an organic system such as this allows for growth and adaptation with ease, addressing issues that will inevitably arise from the design will be comparatively straightforward. Short term, occupants may even be able to make small adjustments for certain events. Construction and also deconstruction would also be a relatively short process with a minimization of waste and pollution.
Similarly to Casagrande’s paracity, this design decision is also intended to encourage the reuse of waste materials in the construction process, sourced from North East Reclamation Supplies Ltd and other such companies, but perhaps also as small additions by occupants through-out the building’s life span, so they can leave more than just a musical mark. ‘Marco Casagrande Presents Modular Paracity for Habitare in Helsinki’,Architecture (designboom | architecture & design magazine, 2014)
22
The frame would be made of timber due to it’s relatively low levels of resonance, thus carrying less sound throughout the extensive framework structure. It is also easily the most sustainable major construction material, with steel requiring 10 times the amount of energy for production and having a lower strength to weight ratio. Sustainability of the design could be furthered with locally sourced timber from Kielder Forest and local craftsmen could be employed from an early stage for their input towards an inventive system. Tamedia Office Building in Zurich by Shigeru Ban Architects is a testament to such an approach. The first, multi-storey office building of its kind, it shows an innovative use of timber pushing the material to its limits (to the extent of using no metal structural fixings) and generating a truly striking product. http://www.archdaily.com/478633/tamedia-office-building-shigeru-ban-architects
The building would incorporate an open plan along with porosity both vertically and horizontally. This arrangement can be fine tuned to optimize the use of passive solar configurations, greatly reducing energy demands. A predomennantly glazed outer shell façade will allow for maximum solar penetration. This outer skin would act as a ‘twin face system’ maximising natural ventilation and as a buffer zone to maximizing the insulation and daylighting of the conventional and more intimate spaces. As a semi public space housing busy performers this cellular and low thermal mass structure will suite intermittent and point specific heat requirements well. The concrete core structure is positioned so as to exploit its capabilities for storing solar energy – under a central larger atrium space, from which heat can spread to other spaces and in which the effect of stack ventilation will be significantly increased. In addition to the concrete core thermally heavier tactile spaces can be incorporated in the southern areas. Sandy Halliday, Sustainable Construction (Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2008).
A green roof could reduce energy consumption by up to 10% in the winter months, while on hotter summer days it will be up to 15 degrees cooler than a conventional roof. Its vegetation could double or even triple the lifespan of the waterproof membranes they cover and retain up to 80% of rainfall. The green roofs will be incorporated into a wider planting scheme in and around the site to promote bio-diversity and improve the overwhelmingly grey current environment. 1. Wall cap flashing 2. Drain rock, paving slab or other buffer equivalent 3. Wood, steel or concrete curb/edging (optional) 4. Planting 5. Growing medium 6. Filter layer 7. Drainage Layer 8. Protection layer and root barrier 1. Wall cap flashing 2. Drain rock, paving slab or other buffer equivalent 3. Wood, steel or concrete curb/edging (optional) 4. Planting 5. Growing medium 6. Filter layer 7. Drainage Layer 8. Protection layer and root barrier
‘Green Roof Centre’ http://www.thegreenroofcentre.co.uk
23
MODELLING Prototyping the cubic frames and attempting to find a comprehensive system for their interlocking proved more difficult than expected. Creating smaller 1:100 cubes with a similar five-faced folded net makeup was also quite tricky, but allowed the testing out of various configurations at a larger scale. To the far left (top) are some foam board models at 1:50 where the four interlocking frames at the bottom produce a third cubic space in-between them; this organisation could potentially help in minimizing the materials needed and simplifying erection at 1:1. A 1:100 model of the existing structures on the site was carved from foam, using a Computerized Numerical Control (CNC) Router, onto which the concrete box and ground floor surfaces were modelled, followed by the cubes. Ideas about how the cubes might scatter into the rest of the site and affect it began to form during this process and the CNC Router was used again to generate a 1:500 model of the whole site (below), so as to begin testing out massing for the general master-plan.
24
25
CASTING
26
The Office for Metropolitan Architecture are inspirational in how easy effortless and modest they make they make the resolution of abstract concepts with relevant sociological issues and spatial configurations seem. There is an often ideal balance of form and function in their work which I aspire towards. Their competition proposal for the French National Library in 1989 has struck a chord with my ideas for the Chamber. The program of the building requires a curation of vast amounts of very varied information: “The library is imagined as a solid block of information, a dense repository for the past, from which voids are carved to create public spaces – absence floating in memory.” This toying with notions of mass and void, inspired my own more literal exploration in the form of casting concrete, a very thought provoking and satisfying exercise. It also further informed a clearer definition of the various components of the building in terms of its function as a semi-public institute.
Shown above are these three spatial concepts. To the right is the existing floor plan, from which the original bank building’s stairwell has been re-instated as well as the conventional box spaces. In the center is a depiction of the nebulous, tactile and contrasting creative spaces that fill the void between the conventional boxes. Another admirable quality of much of OMAs work is their care for the integration of circulation as a fundamental element in a scheme’s connectivity and vitality, the ‘unconventional’ route that circulates up through the Chamber wrapping around the central box would invite occupants and visitors to explore the buildings various nooks and crannies and take a truly narrative journey through it. http://oma.eu/projects/tres-grande-bibliotheque
27
CONCRETE Incorporating Phase Change Materials into the building structure could substantially decrease energy consumption and increase thermal comfort. Micro-encapsulated latent wax within the concrete structure could add up to 12% of its volume and along with the ‘BubbleDeack’ system, which would reduce requirement of concrete in flooring by up to 35% and it’s weight by up to 50% , would allow for a greater ratio of recycled aggregate, along with higher levels of sound insulation.
1.
2.
Heat generated by high levels of occupancy and gain from appliances used in performance space could be carried up to the higher levels via latent materials, imbedded steel fibers, rods or a more complex gas cylinder system. M Hunger and others, ‘The Behavior of Self-Compacting Concrete Containing Micro-Encapsulated Phase Change Materials’, Cement and Concrete Composites, 31 (2009),
3.
A growing interest in ‘brutalism’ personally but also in wider society led to a search for various concrete precedents, concerning their manipulation of mass and light. Here is a selection of those that would have the most influence on the form of the performance space: 1. Hillock of Fraternity, 1974, Polvidiv, Bulgaria 2. Sunset Chapel by BNKR Arquitectura 2011, Acapulco, Mexico 3. A World War II monument by Vojin Bakić, 1981 in Petrova Gora, Croatia 4. n/a (information has been sought after unsucsessfully. 5. St James’ Park crisscross structure, 1993, Newcastle, England 6. Pilgrimage Church by Gottfried Böhm, Hardenberg-Neviges, Germany, 1968. Inspired by these precedents the concrete casts were set up in different configurations, producing some atmospheric possibilities for the form of the performance space (far right). 5.
28
4.
6.
29
SUPERIMPOSITION
With the frame, main circulatory routes and conventional boxes laid out, the bricolage of tactile in-between spaces was superimposed onto the arrangement through sketches, indicating the various material areas through colour co-ordination and positioning them with environmental factors in mind. Ground Floor
2nd Floor
30
1st Floor
South Facing Section
DEVELOPING STRCUTURE
This is a refined proposal for the general structural arrangement of the upper levels, which essentially operates as a Structurally Insulated Panel (SIP) system, with latent materials also encased in some of the panels, so as to channel heat from the warmer Southern spaces to the cooler Northern spaces. The cubic frames are made of glulam elements that are 200mm in depth and width and that frame a square opening of 3600mm which matches the dimensions for most universal panel construction systems. This was inspired by Walter Segal’s self build method (left) which explicitly uses a system “derived from the width of building panels, commonly 600mm or 1200mm, and
from the structural thickness, commonly 50mm”, maximising the use of “simple hand powered tools”, “dry joints” and “ easily handled size and weight”. Serviced areas such as bathrooms and the kitchen have been strategically positioned as far as possible to allow for stacking and use of the old bank building’s existing servicing layout. All services run exposed along structural frame, often concealed within voids of ceilings walls or floors, but always easy to access, maintain and reposition. THE SEGAL METHOD http://www.ianwhite.info/THE_SEGAL_METHOD.pdf
31
GROUND FLOOR
32
FIRST FLOOR
33
SECOND FLOOR
34
THIRD FLOOR
35
BASEMENT
36
LOWER BASEMENT
37
SOUTH FACING CROSS SECTION
38
NIGHT TIME APPROACH
39
HERB SEARCH
The second phase of the graduation project imagines the addition of a ‘show-store’ within in which a collection or compendium of our choosing would be displayed to the public. To begin with my chosen options were a compendium of bathing culture or a collection of herbs and spices. From their combination came the idea of uses of herbs, specifically in the form of diffusion. I decided to attempt a diffusion of my own to try and treat an ache in my shoulder. In doing so I discovered the medical properties of several common herbs
40
that I had previously been oblivious to, for example how rosemary is a neurological enhancer and protector. On my long search in Newcastle for more specific and potent pain relievers such as St. John’s Wart and Eucalyptus I ended up finding my-self in, Eldon Gardens, the boutique up-market end of Eldon Square. Even in here my search was unsuccessful. The best thing I could find there was a Chinese doctor who sold me a handful of bark for a hefty price.
MY INFUSION
Olive Oil
Peppermint
Basil
Sage
Rosemary
甘草
白芍藥
木瓜
Licorice Root
White Peony Root
Wood Melon
Marjoram
Olive Oil
41
THINKING THROUGH MAKING
Styrofoam Cup Sculpture by artist Tara Donovan
The ‘Politics of Materials’ workshop run by Magnus Casselbrant and Sebastian Kite was particularly interesting. It involved carving and positioning huge blocks of polystyrene to create a living space and, due to an absence of furnishings and appliances, careful consideration about layout, form and hierarchy of the composite spaces. Over 66% of plastics go to landfill in the UK and will take thousands of years to decompose. Polysty rene and Styrofoam are among the most toxic, having been the fifth highest source of toxic waste globally in past years. At 95% air, their reuse would be ideal for some of the sculptural spaces in the ‘Chamber’ building providing thermal and acoustic insulation. It would also be a polemical and versatile material to use for the construction of a shelter for the displaying of a specific member of our collection in the streets of Newcastle as outlined in our ‘Incubator’ task for the second stage of our project. ‘Earth Resource Foundation’ http://www.earthresource.org/ campaigns/capp/capp-styrofoam.html
42
43
INCUBATOR
The explicitly anti-surgical approach and attempt at the increasingly popular “medical metaphor of tissue regeneration” focusing on an “aesthetic and therapeutic treatment” of the site’s existing and overlooked “normal tissue” and a “salve-like surface application” was majorly influenced by the studio’s ‘incubator’ task. This involved taking a portion of a chosen collection, in this instance a collection of herbs, to be displayed in and interact with an appropriate location in central Newcastle. Imperfect Health, The Medicalization of Architecture, ed. by Giovanna Borasi and Mirko Zardini (Canada: Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2012).
44
Basil was chosen for its little-known therapeutic qualities along with Bigg Market due to it’s strategic position and its current and historical context. The name ‘Bigg’ comes from a type of barley which was sold there in historic times as a vital resource for the local population; they used it to make week home brewed beer as a safe alternative to often contaminated water. Ironically it now has an ‘intoxicated’ reputation, at the centre of Newcastle’s nightlife and drinking agenda.
A fitting foundation from which to ‘purify’ Bigg Market was already present, in the form of it’s neglected public toilets, also providing a setting within which to display and cultivate various species of basil in their appropriate microclimates.
45
MICROCLIMATES
The powerful contrast at play in Olafur Eliasson’s transformation of Peter Zumthor’s Kunsthaus in Bregenz is a major influence. ‘The mediated motion’ injects natural senses into a rigorously orthogonal space where pure massing and light play off against the pure beauty of natural environments. For my ‘incubator’ display I would seek to treat the Bigg Market toilets in a similar manor, taking their geometric greenhouse-like form and dividing it into a diffused, enclosed forest-like space and a bright and exposed mountain-like space where the corresponding species would be displayed.
46
47
MASSING
The first response to the brief for the ‘shows-store’ building involved selecting an appropriate location on site and using the suggested spatial requirements to gage the relationship between different functions and how the possible layouts for the overall massing of the building. would sit on the site. Thinking about the building more as a fluid space rather than an arrangement of masses would be more beneficial for its public function and accessibility. Foreign Office Architects’ Yokohama International Passenger Terminal (far right) is a thought provoking example where, through the use of computer aided design, architecture is generated as complex topography and naturally flowing space of multidimensional circulation that despite its apparent randomness directs people on routes that generate spontaneous encounters and allow a spread out field of movement rather than a mere gateway.
48
49
FLOWS
Applying this philosophy to the site, I used the local planning guidance along with my own observations to gain a deeper understanding of it’s flows and how I could manipulate them for the master-plan. At first I emphasized the east west route down the slope through the center of the site – it follows the footprint of the original medieval alley that ran the same way, but, as the planning guidance indicates, would become somewhat redundant if the bus shelter was opened up as people only really use it to head down from the west of the site (Pilgrim Street) and then up
50
northwards towards John Dobson Street, Newcastle Library and The Laing Art Gallery. These major cultural institutes were reconnected by Heather wick Studio in 2002 with the designing of their ‘Blue Carpet Square’ (far right, top). The swathe of blue tiles stretches over part of New Bridge Street with interesting seats that seem like they have been cut out of it and pried back to reveal glowing light. The roof of the ‘show-store’ will have a similar function as a plaza but with openings and public amenities linked more directly with the institute underneath it, in order to instigate interest in passers by.
On larger timescale the scheme will take inspiration from the traditional and historic flows of urbanism as exemplified by the center of Newcastle. This street-scape has been praised as one of the best in the UK many times and is a prime example of the unusual superimposition of orthogonal neo-classical architecture onto an ecological medieval street plan. As you can see from this overview of the scheme, it has barely altered the topography of the site, but instead seeks to enhance it. It attempts to rekindle an approach that was “ largely unplanned” and “developed by residents in direct city-building process” that “evolved and adapted over hundreds of years” and that has fueled the postmodernist fascination with the medieval city center. . Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space (2011) by Jahn Gehl
51
COURTYARDS
In their 2014 design for ‘8 Gardens’ House in Cuernavaca, Mexico Goko MX have worked under the premise of “Smart Living” focusing on experience over luxury in an urban setting. I have adopted their strategy for internal, open, naturally lit spaces, where courtyard spaces break up the floor plan and priorities interaction with nature, in a modest yet articulated landscaping of an indoor environment. For the interim proposal the ‘show-store’ combines these ideas within an efficient grid which like the ‘chamber’ building is based on universal panel dimensions i.e. multiples of 1200mm. The climactic spaces initiated in the incubator have been incorporated in the form of a mountain room (open shallow and south-facing) and a rainforest room that rises from the existing structure all the way up to a canopy space at plaza level). http://www.archdaily.com/596600/8-gardenshouse-goko-mx
52
PLAZA LEVEL
WEST FACING SECTION
MAIN FLOOR
SOUTH FACING SECTION
53
LIGTH EXPERIMENT
Inspired by the manipulation of daylight in ‘8 Gardens House’, I came up with a kit of parts in order to test out different configurations for the various courtyard spaces in the ‘show-store’. Through the use of various grating and filters for the skylight opening and different arrangements of reflective partitions I was able to make considerable changes to light conditions around the modelled courtyard for morning and evening conditions. This exercise initiated questions for how universality and situation would play off within the ‘show-store’ ; would these configuration remain permanent geared towards very specific climates for different species of plant or would they be adaptable so that the occupants could respond to the very varied lighting conditions of Newcastle through-out the year and optimize the environment for an array of plants?
54
E1o
E3i
E1v
E4iv
W1v
W3ii
55
W4i
W3ii
POLLUTION
56
The first proposal for the plaza-east-west-thoroughfare was shaped by a need for defence against the high levels of traffic nearby and the desire to display of plats to public passers-by. It was directly inspired by a visit to Jean Nouvelle’s fantastic Cartier institute in Paris; sketching out ideas of a micro-climactic and ambiguity between inside and outside. These photographs of a sooty Newcastle in the 30s are striking and lead to the notion of how pollution is perceived. David Gissen has pointed out how the shift in representation of pollution from romantic smog
obscured industrial cities to modernist vectors and diagrams could repeat again so that we can monumentalise pollution in architecture. There is an opportunity here for the scheme to filter and harness pollution, working towards a balance rather than a contrast. Interacting with pollution and making a visual statement moral or not is a new and increasingly relevant idea. While Kayt Brumder’s ‘Breathing Room’ absorbs urban dust, Francois Roche’s ‘Dustyrelief’ goes further building up and evolving through accumulation of pollution’s fine particles. Imperfect Health, The Medicalization of Architecture, ed. by Giovanna Borasi and Mirko Zardini (Canada: Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2012).
57
ENHANCING THE BRIEF
The incubator task lead to further interest in herbs and their asSimilarly to the polemical ideas for treatment of pollution, the ‘show-store’ itself needed a proper program and more relevance to society than a mere collection of herbs. The esoteric tendencies of Western Herbalists and the idea of ‘a herb for every ailment’ as a direct alternative to ‘a pill for every ill’ has relegated the reputation of their practices to an idea of ‘over-the-counter’ boutique remedies .
58
Likewise, in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) symptoms are treated as part of a wider pattern of disharmony with particular concern for their origin. Treatments are derived from established formulas that have been adapted over millennia and are adjusted according to the specific patient and their condition as it changes throughout the healing process.
This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, as opposed to relative pathological and empirical isolation of symptoms and treatments in modern biomedical practices, in herbal and traditional medicine in general there is more interest in the person than the disease. More literally herbs are combined, with synergism as a central premise.
This practice ties in with the iterative approach of our ‘Variations’ studio and on a wider level it can be seen to suit the general shift from infectious to chronic diseases in our more complex and ‘civilized’ current society, reflecting a more individualized notion of health that “exceeds a medical paradigm, engaging issues of lifestyle, which require a holistic approach to be comprehensively addressed”
Catherine O’Sullivan, Reshaping Herbal Medicine: Knowledge, Education and Professional Culture (New York: Elsevier Health Sciences, 2005)
Imperfect Health, The Medicalization of Architecture, ed. by Giovanna Borasi and Mirko Zardini (Canada: Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2012).
In eastern societies herbal and traditional medicine is often practiced alongside conventional medicine. The herbal practitioner community in the UK requires a similar state regulated system in order gain respect and help more people. This issue can give the compendium a more rigorous and relevant programme, rather than a mere display of herbs, as an institute that allows these practices to be made fully transparent and available to the public and the authorities concerned with clinically testing them and allowing their integration into the NHS. Catherine O’Sullivan, Reshaping Herbal Medicine: Knowledge, Education and Professional Culture (New York: Elsevier Health Sciences, 2005)
In a more literal and fundamental sense these notions of holistic health began to manifest in the program for the master-plan as well. The five elements have been used as analogies for the body’s processes for millenea e.g. air with circulation, fire to metabolism or water with growth. Sym Van der Ryn is an elder in ecological design who maintains that in our society public buildings must mimic and express all the 5 fundamental elements in order to really be ecological and empathetic. .
59
CULTIVATION
Filtering air .
Diffusing light .
Circulating water
Allwing movement
.
At a more personal level, in his lecture for TED talks, William Li praises the blood vessel as a universal part of the body that is able to adapt to a miriad of functions and conditions. He goes on to reveal how several major diseases such as cancer upset the controls of angiogenesis in the body; essentially unbalancing the growth-rate of new blood vessels. Through eating certain easily accessible foods we can support this balance and combat and even prevent these diseases; ‘Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food’ Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Aldi account for two thirds of the grocery market in the UK. Half of these products are shipped in from abroad, 77% for vegetable specifically. This is completely mismatched with the fact that the food and drink industry is our largest manufacturing sector. 14HM Government, Food Statistics Pocketbook 2015 in Year Update Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 2016 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/512112/foodpocketbook-2015report31mar16.pdf
60
Beetroot, garlic, kale and strawberries are indigenous to the UK and are some of the most potent of these ‘super’ foods. They could be grown with relative ease in one’s allotment or even back garden and and their cultivation throughout the site by staff and affiliates of the compendium is proposed as a comprehensive demonstration to counter the distant aspects of mostly foreign established traditional medicines. Above is a structural conceptual analogy of the different forms of blood vessels in the body, showing how a universal frame could aid cultivation of the site. William Li, ‘Can We Eat to Starve Cancer?’ (Google+, 2010) http://www.ted.com/talks/william_li#t-158120
.
Initial ideas for a frame enclosing the site were on a monumental scale, inspired by (left, top to bottom) Sheffield Winter Garden on in the aspect of cultivation specifically, The Herne further education centre as a pioneering example of ecological design and Basil Spence’s Coventry Cathedral as a place of gathering. Like a cathedral the frame could help direct people visually down the central slope and into the compendium. Building on the analogy of angiogenesis the roundabout can be seen as a tumorous result of over-circulation and its cutting back as a healing process and re-balancing of the area. Many roundabouts in the UK are currently being reverted back to one way systems such as Cowgate roundabout in Newcastle (top right) and the much larger Archway roundabout in London.
61
PLANT ESTABLISH GROW
62
“Anything worth doing is worth doing slow” Despite it’s polemic vision for the future, in the long term the scheme would adopt the principles of incremental urbanism; ‘Slow, Flow, Low and Local’ , steering clear of the mistakes of the 60s and allowing for adjustments according to the changing condition of people and place during this ‘healing’ process. Envisioned in three key phase, first the main elements or nodes are ‘planted’ in the seedbed that is the existing topography and subterranean structures, next the scheme establish itself with the addition of a larger partially enclosing structure and finally the roundabout is cut back and the nodes are allowed grow and interact and feed one another, spreading physically and socially. . Imperfect Health, The Medicalization of Architecture, ed. by Giovanna Borasi and Mirko Zardini (Canada: Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2012).
63
SHADOW PATTERNS
8 40
64
9 40
10 40
11 40
12 40
13 40
14 40
65
A series of shadow diagrams of the site was produced for each hour of the day for a day in June, April/September and January. These were combined to produce shadow diagrams for each of these months, which were combined in turn to produce a shadow diagram indicating light spots and dark spots for the the whole year. From this process a more accurate idea of where cultivation could be carried out most successfully was obtained.
66
SCAFFOLDS
After some discussion it was decided that a frame large enough to rival 55 degrees north wasn’t feasible. In aiming to be more realistic and building on the connection between the ‘Chamber’ and the ‘Show-store’ the cubic frames were the ideal solution. As a universal scaffold that could be built on for various situations and climates a series of configurations was developed to match the different areas and requirements of the site and to marry the two institutes in a synergic layout for the site. Scattered around the site. The structures are inspired by Tschumi’s folie’s at le Parc de la Villette, (permutations of a kit of parts) however I would like to think that they would go further in terms of appropriation by the public as they would already suggest and exhibit a function, rather than acting as mere visual points of intensity. They would also be much more adaptable, perhaps stacking up and eventually reaching the monumental result intended with the larger frame. “Synergy is the behaviour of whole systems unpredicted by the separately observed behaviours of any of the system’s separate parts or any sub-assembly of the system’s parts.” (Buckminster Fuller)
67
HORIZONTALITY
68
With their 1963 design for the Free University in Berlin, Candilis, Josic, Woods and Schiedhelm pioneered the spatial approach to a new “radical rethinking of the educational system with particular focus on flexibility and evolutivity of space as well as a literal spatial translation of the idea of horizontal communication among students and teachers.” In a similar light the ‘Show-store’ now as a Insititute of Herbology and associated medical practices must be forward thinking and dynamic in its layout, so as to allow a variety of interactions between plants, practitioners and the public. The initial idea for the newly programmed layout consisted of a large fluid public space, bordered by more private spaces and containing cellular practitioner offices with adjoining courtyards that used retractable partitions so as to be able to open out into this larger public space. http://socks-studio.com/2015/10/29/the-free-university-of-berlin-candilis-josic-woods-and-schiedhelm-1963/
69
HIERARCHY & NARRATIVE
In attempting to keep the floor plan decentralized and open I was struggling to come up with a satisfactory output, with issues about how public and private spaces would actually be and worries that this undefined central space would become somewhat stagnant when put to use. Some hierarchy was needed Sanaa Architect’s design for De Kunsteline Theater in Almere uses a series of simple rooms directly next to one another with no corridors, so that every space is circulatory, more field of movement rather than channels. A circulatory interface between public and private areas in the ‘show-store’ could perhaps work with similar success.
70
Providing a proper journey through the building was the next objective as demonstrated in the straightforward layout of the American pavilion at the Milan Food Expo of 2015..
Above is a proposal for the Austrian pavilion at the Milan Food Expo where visitors are intended, to plant, harvest and eventually eat plants all within the same structure. To the right are images of Pasona Urban Farm by Kono Designs, an office in Japan that integrates cultivation within its workspace and ethic, with apparently beneficial results for the staff. The public route in the ‘show-store’ would comprise similar spaces connecting the plaza above with the institute below and drawing people in. .
71
STRUCTURE
72
ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGIES
On the previous page the structural frame was indicated as steel, despite the choice of timber as the main structural material for the scheme, with its obvious ecological benefits. This was because, upon professional advice, I was told a glu-laminated frame simply would not be able to hold up the large concrete slab forming the plaza plus the additional load of heavy footfall. As the centre piece of the scheme, the ‘show-store’ had to display the concepts of holism and reuse in its structure and it was thanks to the original building’s structure that this ended up being achievable. A seven story office block had previously sat on the remaining lower level and the dense grid of struct ural pressure points that remained proved ideal for the laying out of a corresponding glu-laminated frame above. The result was a dense forest like structure growing between and out of two concrete plains, with a degree of interdependence and mimicking roots growing through a ruin. Large water tanks would form the majority of the walls in the building, acting as an extensive grey water system from the run off of the plaza and the internal courtyards and used for the large demands of the plants as well as the stacked toilets. The rainforest greenhouse, the archives and the labs would require active climate control, however the rest of the building would be naturally ventilated through a stack system generated by the protruding archive stairwell. Energy exchange mechanism would be used to extract excess heat from the workshop and the labs and heat the larger spaces and an area specific underfloor heating system would be incorporated into the design. All the services would converge at a central axis running along the line of the labs and up through the service core.
73
PARTITIONS Large shelved partitions on wheels would act as portable office storage, house plants and function as reflective surfaces, forming a universal component capable of adapting the interface space for various functions and conditions. The key holistic principle of traditional medicine means symptoms are regarded as resulting from an in-balance within a larger interdependent pattern - so changing one part affects all the others. This translated into the idea of a track system for the partitions that followed the timber structural grid, so that although flexible, changes to their arrangement would have to be thought through and reflect this central ideal.
74
Having constructed a 1:20 model of the interface space with simple light-wells as opposed to glazed courtyards it seemed the interface space still lacked the rigour that would truly make it ‘interface’. There needed to be more of a gradient between the private office spaces and the public route through the space. In order to achieve this inspiration was taken from Nishi Zawa’s ‘Weekend House’ and the courtyards were literally used as partitions in a more rigid sense than ever before. This generated an almost cellular layout and finally a satisfactory result.
75
MAIN FLOOR
76
RAINFOREST & MOUNTAIN NURSERIES
77
LOWER FLOOR
78
ARCHIVE STAIRWELL
79
DETAILED SECTION
CAST IN SITU CONCRETE PLAZA SLAB INSULATION CLT PANEL WITH SUSPENDED CONCRETE CEILING FINISH GLULAM STRUCTURAL FRAME
CONCRETE SCREED EXISTING STRUCTURE
80
OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE SPACE
81
SURFACE PARKED TO SURFACE FARMED
82
CARPARK APPROACH
83
BEFORE
84
AFTER
85
86