PORTFOLIO MIKHAIL FRANTSUZOV 2020
PROLO
The focus of the following selection lies in revealin it is arranged on an architecture-to-film spectrum: throug short film, the spatial and social conditions are explored Through these visual mediums, one of architecture‘s most
Therefore, the current portfolio reflects my interest in establishing while simultaneously speculating on broader urban conditions a
OGUE
ng narrative structures within the projects portrayed; gh 3 architectural interventions, one graphic novel and a primarily through the means of drawings and images. intrinsic aspects is revealed - its relationship to the urban.
g a conversation between architectural and cinematic practices, and their theoretical implications.
INDEX
CdCC LIQUID BABEL BOROS 12 IDEAL CITIES HONG KONG APPÉTIT
I.
CdCC 4TH YEAR STUDIO PROJECT CUATRO CAMINOS MADRID, SPAIN 2018
MIXED-USE COLLECTIVE HOUSING MASS AND CONGESTION
The project deals with a renovation of the historically significant site: With the opening of the first metro depot in Madrid in the 1920s, the “Cocheras de Cuatro Caminos” began to symbolise the city’s technological leap - Madrid’s dive into modernity. Almost a century later, the site is mostly abandoned and the only two artefacts that remain are the train tracks and the perimeter wall. The wall, thus, delineates a gap in the city fabric. To inject the neighborhood with activity and give new life to the old site, the project proposes to fill the existing site up to the most extreme - to sculpt a mass in the new center of the residential quarter.
The site used to sit in a strategic location for the city’s mobility. However, with the evolution of technology and urbanistic models, the location and the the facility became outdated and, hence, created and urban edge- a hole in the fabric of Madrid. For the new intervention process the operations and consequences are interrelated:
1. Extrusion of the site boundary 2. Superblock - supermass is created 3. Circulation connecting the urban tissue is carved out from the mass 4. Programmatic fill of the mass 3. and 4. are repeated in a loop, sculpting the density 5. Points of de-compression are further added to the void 6. Megastructure
The wall that once was a delineation of an empty site, is transformed into the megastructure’s facade. However, this time its functions are expanded: not only to mark the territory and protect its inhabitants, but also, paradoxically, to invite the outsiders and interact with the city. The megastructure is a city in itself: Programatically autonomous, it houses its residents’ virtues and sins.
original railway tracks
existing walled condition
C’ C
+25m mid-level floor plan
west unrolled elevation
east unrolled elevation
section CC’
N
In the new agglomeration of programs, the city finds a place for productivity and retreat. Here, a theater can be expanded into a dance hall; an archivist’s spinning class is 5 meters above his workplace; a kid watches architects work from his bedroom window. In this labyrinth, the residents follow their favorite paths. while those coming for the first time, can enjoy the immersive drift.
an archivist’s spinning class is 5 meters above his workplace;
A’ A
However, private can remain private here.
critical portion plan
Those who dare diverge from the street and pass through the megastructure’s wall, find themselves in the residential
‘stripe’. A series of ascending courtyards lead to the quieter private area, while the way down reveals a
Once up on the 7th floor, the wonder of the vertical transportation gives way to the skyline of the city complimented by the roofscape of the neighborhood.
large sunken park. Soon the trees will surpass the remaining iron framework. section AA’
units types:
S
Density manifests itself in the residential units as well. However, the inhabitants value privacy and some change too, once in a while.
M
L
single family residential units eS
The internal partitions slide into each other on a set of axis. Therefore, depending on the size of a unit, it can be subdivided into 2, 5, even 9 private areas.
student residence units 2xS
Thus, each unit is in a constant phase of metamorphosis: the same unit can either be a single studio or a large family home.
2xL
communal units
furniture disposition
external walls
internal moveable partitions
single family residential unit L user occupancy
The megastructure gains its mass through multiplicity of residential units. All the untis follow the same principle suspension from the superstructure. Steel cables run vertically throughout the height of the building, passing through the structural walls of the units, which is where the connection is made. These thickened walls (2 per unit), also accomodate the MEP systems which are shared with the two adjacent side units. Kitchens and bathrooms are, therefore, located at these extremities, leaving the central area of the unit for flexible arrangements of inhabitation. The two longer facades (facing exterior street and interior passages) have windows and work with crossventilation.
residential unit S isometric. exploded representation of construction systems and components.
0
m
2,5
5
10
The exterior facade is characterised by the sqaure punched windows that almost ironically mimic the surrounding buildings. The exterior skin of the residential units is composed of a series of modulated lightweight concrete panels with integrated insulation, easing the construction process.
The city within itself, the carved mass, the metamorphosing density, however exciting it may appear, it can also be overwhelming.
critical portion axonometric.
But there are solutions for those who are anxious: The megastructure is in a constant relationship with the city. It concentrates and processes the urban activity. It invites residents but also passers-by to experience it. However, it is never forceful. The voids are just as valuable as the mass. Without the void, there is no mass.
critical portion axonometric. north entrance + sunken gardens and the existing iron structure.
II.
LIQUID BABEL UNDERGRADUATE THESIS PROJECT HARBOUR OF VALENCIA, SPAIN 2020
A SPECULATION ON BIGNESS, COEXISTENCE AND TEMPORALITY INTENSIFYING THE VOID
1. The industrial horizons of the harbour are soaked with potential. Yet, nobody is able to claim it. The territory injected with architectures of a different kind keeps rejecting them, leaving them to slowly decay into non-existence. There is a great paradox to this - maximum usable surface area produces minimum usable architecture. 2. The industrial horizons of the harbour are a completely fabricated phenomena. A thick synthetic layer of concrete crust that has absorbed everything on its way, rivers and towns. By now it is quite clear that a traditional architectural scale does not have the capacity to work rigorously with the potential of the harbour. Wouldn’t it then be liberating to play an architectural game without scale on this infinite field? To deprive the discipline of its most essential tool, sure, yet what could be the result of such mischief? The ambition of the project is to take the paradoxical notion of scale, and tackle the territorial problems by playing the game with no restrictions. Quite possibly, a different way of defining which scale does architecture belong to will be born. The project, therefore, is a Big building. Its program - to intensify the void, beyond a certain scale enters the domain of Sisypus’ efforts. Hence, to cheat the original paradox of scale, a time variable is introduced: ‘intensity in a void through temporality’ becomes the tongue-twisting motto. The project is, therefore, speculating on the conditions of intensity, mass, temporality and use while questioning the limits of what is considered to be a building.
hypothesis: any singular program too small for the area - accelerating fragmentation and temporality. A big intervention needed.
Situation 1: See Garden
Situation 2: Roof Cafe 6 AM time
9 AM
12 PM
The project, therefore, intensifyies the most problematic point in the harbour of Valencia with an agglomeration of temporary programs. Some programs with fixed uses take place in the rigid tectonic Volumes, while Fluidspace acts as the interconnecting tissue provoking more immediate activity. This way, the proposal can be seen as a continuous procession through fluidspace with uses activating different parts of the building at various times. Activity from the volumes occasionally spills out into the fluidspace, activating it and triggering new uses and hybrid situations. In the end, this continuous surface can be accessed quickly and easily to bring you to the destination or it can also be wandered around for hours, discovering new views, events and situations.
3 PM
6 PM
Situation 4: Car Show + Cocktail Party
Situation 3: Manifestation
9 PM
12 AM
3 AM fluidspace procession map with situations (one day timespan)
6 AM
perspective view 1 - access from the Turia Park
Coming from the Turia Park, you enter the Linear Forest from which hills a view opens on the building, morning light exposing its tectonics.
Once you exit the forest, to underneath the tinglado ske - to discover a controlled n installations spraying mist in t
perspective view 2 - underneath the Tinglado
access the building you pass eleton - second compression nature garden with building the hot air.
perspective view 3 - view from the first level
From the hall, a first glimpse of the port is witnessed as seen from above.
perspective view 1
Sport activities grow around this Linear Forest strip like mushrooms after the rain and cyclists enjoy the cool of the tunnels under the forest.
access to first level
The sunken carved garden cools down - an escape from heat in the belly of the tinglado. Its columns have been substituted with lush trees, their crowns providing shadow.
perspective view 2
The escalator on the side leads up showcasing glimpses of views as the ascent happens. Soon you access the first level of the building, 20 m up.
media information cylinder, flexible
main auditorium, fixed
public archives, flexible
harbour administration, fixed
event tube, flexible
conference hall, fixed
dark box- double auditorium, flexible
restaurant, fixed
port administration, fixed
sphere auditorium, flexible
The Volumes house the majority of the programs. The uses housed in these Volumes are categorized into 2 types: 1) the fixed type houses a program that does not change through time and has a more permanent presence, such as the Main Auditorium. 2) the flexible type are those volumes that change their use and can accommodate less formal and more immediate activities, such as the double auditorium Dark Box.
hotel, fixed
Structurally autonomous, hermetic and thermally insulated, the volumes act as programmatic anchors in the building, ensuring their capacity to hold different types of activities, from small to extra large throughout the year.
The dark box is an example of a flexible volume. Its location within the structure and its interior installations are adjusted to adapt to a variety of uses faster than the fixed types.
modulation 1: live jazz with musicians practicing backstage
modulation 2: film screening with ticket hall behind
modulation 3: both auditoriums are used for a fashion show. The side gates are opened up to expand outwards
In preparation for the next re-configuration of the Dark Box, the maintenance team accesses the thickened structural layer to draw some power from the electrical racks in this part of the volume. Structural steel elements play a major role in the project and compose all of the 11 volumes. The internal structure of each volume is built with hollow structural steel members (HSS). The HSS 280 x 280 x 12mm stainless steel profiles are then welded together in a workshop and form lattice truss frames that follow the geometries of the individual volumes. The prefabricated frames are then bolted together on site, allowing for easier transportation and assembly. The assembly results in a structural ‘nest’- an autonomous structural unit- that is lifted up in place and connected to the superstructure with steel box beam support ‘legs’. The typical layout of the volumes structure composed of the HSS truss frames has a spacing of 4m. When these trusses meet the ‘leg’ connection, the truss adapts to a shape that distributes the loads more efficiently with the vertical members spaced more frequently. The facades of the volumes utilize two techniques to protect the interior from exterior noise pollution. First, the exterior façade protective layer (such as corrugated aluminum panel) has an incorporated mass loaded vinyl bonded to the underside of the panel for acoustic insulation. And second, the thickness of the structural layer (2m) has a multiplicity of materials that reduce the noise , such as the rockwool insulation and double layers of the plywood panels. Further explanation can be seen in the detail to the left.
Dark Box Volume interior
Fluidspcase exterior
‘TUBE’ EVENT HANGAR
HOTEL
CONFERENCE HALL SPHERE AUDITORIUM
MAIN AUDITORIUM
RESTAURANT PORT ADMINISTRATION
HARBOUR ADMINISTRATION
CURTAIN HALL
DOUBLE AUDITORIUM ‘DARK BOX’
INFORMATION CYLINDER
MEDIATHEQUE & ARCHIVES
volumes axonometric
Levitation is achieved through attaching these structurally independent ‘boxes’ to the superstructure columns that follow the 30 x 30 m extended grid of tinglado 5. Regarding the general disposition, the logic follows the pleasure to utility spectrum as it proceeds in sections but gains complexity in plan when the layers are superimposed creating something of a field condition.
Fluidspace is the fabric between the volumes terms of pragmatic means of connectivity and game. It defines the third type of use, the open use. Activities are most spontaneous and liquid in
Through a series of ramps, platforms and cur surface of the project which is seen as a n escalators facilitate the access and connectio South-West facade.
1. North East facade (Port)
3. South West facade (City)
2. North West facade
fluidspace axonometric
exterior skin axonometric
s, the interconnecting tissue that acts both in d is also a crucial element in the programming
The final layer of the building’s anatomy is the envelope. It acts simply as an exterior skin and not a hermetic layer :
this realm.
rved slabs, it creates a continuous horizontal new urban ground floor. Ramps, stairs and ons, with the vertical cores placed along the
- the North-East facade relates to the port scale and responds to the prevailing winds to channel them inside the interior of the deep building. It is composed of large scale industrial fabric - a sail. - the North-West facade acts as a large screen housing the circulation and installations cores; revealing their silhouette at night. - the South-West facade relates to the smaller city scale and works as a shading device to mitigate the heat gain. It is composed with perforated steel screens that are pierced whenever a Volume cantilevers passes beyond the facade limit.
5
4
1
6
The elements come together to form an assemblage that anchors itself in the aforementioned problematic area of the port. (1) the Linear Forest comes underneath Tinglado 4, where the main pedestrian access happens as a culmination of the Turia Park procession. (2) the new transportation hub houses a metro station that brings the visitors up on the square plaza in front of the building. ventilation shafts play with the rhythm of the superstructure and organize the plaza.
3
(3) the South-West facade works with the city scale by acting as a large perforated screen with holes (4) volumes and fluidspace make up the integral interior of the building, programming it and experimenting with hybrid scenarios (5) the North-East facade responds to the port scale and exposes large portions of the building
2
(6) finally, the bridge over to the port side provides the crucial maritime connection. It also facilitates the exchange in touristic and local traffic, opening up the new port zone to be explored by public.
full axonometric of the project - synthesis.
III.
BOROS 2ND YEAR STUDIO PROJECT BERLIN, GERMANY 2016
BUNKER GALLERY EXTENSION Boros Bunker (known as Berlin Reichsbahnbunker) was built during the second World War as a shelter from air raids. With 2m thick walls and a perfect sqaure plan, the bunker is seen as an impenetrable object on an architectural scale, with history brutally and literally inscribed onto its concrete skin. The bunker goes through a series of metamorphoses: a soviet prison, a fruit storage, techno raves haven and finally - the art gallery. Christian and Karen Boros populate the bunker with their art collection and construct their penthouse on top of it, symbolically dominating the concrete fortress by drilling through its most impenetrable surface - the roof. Then, there is a need of the bunker gallery to expand. The project proposes that the only way for the new gallery extension to break from its predecessor’s strong identity is through a complete material, structural and formal disengagement. The courtyard next to the existing bunker is chosen as the site of a new structure. One major feature is, however, maintained and emphasized, becoming the vital tie between the two polar architectonic artefacts: the original mass volume. The main gesture of the proposal, therefore, becomes to take that original volume, subtract it from the new site, and dismantle it carefully into four pieces.
The proposal relies on a sequence of three simple operations:
1- the volume of the bunker is dug out from the site 2- infill of the new volume is split into four smaller light volumes 3- the four volumes are raised up in the air to metaphorically counter-balance the mass of the bunker
proposed extension
suspended volumes
G.A NEW BUILDING.
LIGHT T
OFPROCESS ESS EUENCE DESIGN RELIED ON A SEQUENCE RELIED ON OFA SEQUENCE OF MPLE RFULBUT OPERATIONS: POWERFUL OPERATIONS: THE FOUR VOLUMES VS THE BOROS FOUR BUNKER VOLUMES THE VS FOUR BOROS VOLUMES BUNKER VS BOROS BUNKER
OUT THE THE FROM VOLUME BUNKER IS OFDUG THE OUT BUNKER FROM IS DUG OUT FROM E SITE
W TOVOLUME FOUR IS NEW SPLITVOLUME INTO FOUR NFILL OF THE IS SPLIT INTO FOUR UMES LIGHT VOLUMES ALLER
THEARE AIR RAISED TOVOLUMES MES UP INARE THERAISED AIR TOUP IN THE AIR TO THE FOUR COUNTER-BALANCE E MASS OF THE MASS OF TAPHORICALLY COUNTER-BALANCE THE MASS OF E BUNKER
circulation CIRCULATION
STRUCTURE CIRCULATION
structure CIRCULATION BALANCE STRUCTURE
balance BALANCE
STRUCTURE BALANCE
boros bunker
boros bunker
boros bunker
Boros bunker
suspended volumes
vertical acc
(suspended r
main access underground tunnel
LONGITUDINAL SECTION
main access undergroundmain access underground tunnel
LONGITUDINAL SECTION LONGITUDINAL SECTION
tunnel
vertic
(concr
main access through underground tunnel
longitudinal section
PLAN
PLAN
mid-level plan
PLAN
LIGHT TRANSLUCENT SKIN
STRUCTURAL EQUILIBRIUM
BALANCING ON THE SUPPORTS
SUSPENDED VOLUME
The strucutral puzzle of equilibrium is solved through two pairs of counter-balanced members resting on a larger vertical steel truss supports. The light volumes are either suspended from, or rest on top of the girders, which transfer the loads to the truss shafts. The last element in the equilibrium game becomes a large solid concrete block suspended in the midst of the light volumes. It serves simultaneously as the final balancing act and as an ode to the bunker.
elevator shaft
vertical access
LIGHT TRANSLUCENT SKIN
STRUCTURAL EQUILIBRIUM
BALANCING ON THE SUPPORTS
SUSPENDED VOLUME
concrete block truss shaft elevator shaft elevator shaft
vetical access, suspended ramp vertical access
(suspended ramp)
TRANSVERSE SECTION
transverse section
vetical access, vertical access concrete ramp
(concrete ramp)
LED screen
main access main access
through the tunnel
beginning of the led screen
extension gallery
IV.
12 IDEAL CITIES 4TH YEAR ELECTIVE PROJECT - PRINTED ZINE HONG KONG 2019
GRAPHIC NOVEL SPECULATION ON ARCHITECT’S MINDS A quest for utopias in the realm of architecture has produced a wide spectrum of both realized and conceptual projects that have greatly contributed to the fast-paced development of our built environment, and to the architectural theory. For me, the spread of ideas, surprising connections and their unquestionable richness are some of the most exciting factors to explore. They construct the worlds that are unbuilt, yet very much real. The zine dives into these worlds, learning from them, interpreting them and, hopefully, connecting them in another, meaningful way.
5. THE CITY OF ORDER LIFE AS A STAGE
The city is a continuous reinforced concrete platform separated in three zones stretching in the longitudinal direction. The platform measures 15 hectares in the transverse direction. The first zone, 5 hectares wide, contains residential buildings for sleeping and parks for breathing. The second and central stripe, 5 hectares wide, houses mega-high-rise office towers for work and leisure, containing the metropolitan life. Lastly, the third stripe, 5 hectares wide, is designed for maximum productivity of the industries located there. One could write outside on a bench in the park in the first zone, draw up business and construction plans in the second zone and build his creations in the industrial zone. To enable such perfect synchronized and proportional urbanity, a space as tall as the factory buildings is left underneath the concrete slab to house all the modern machinery needed to ventilate, heat, cool and connect the city. A central artery of metro, train, highway and communication infrastructures lies under the central stripe and provides the most efficient way of transportation, connecting the city in all its great length.
Pillars that support the reinforced concrete platform land on the base made of solid stone. Like the steps of a Greek temple, it elevates the city from the countryside. Between the sea and the end of the city, hidden between the eucalyptus trees and barely noticeable by anybody, there is a small wooden cabin.
By no means can it compare to the size or productivity or the aesthetic of the city, but its location in relation to the city completes the composition just perfectly.
7. THE CITY OF SEQUENCE EVENT NOTATIONS
The city is a sequence of architectural mutations. A strict order of elements is gradually disorganized similarly to the way the objective representation and perception evolves into a more ambiguous state.
One discovers new uses of the architectural forms, elements and compositions as one moves through the city. The results one obtains can never be repeated in the same order and have the same meaning and impact.
As more people flow in and discover the sequential city, some prefer certain parts of it to others. This accumulation results in events taking place all over the city. As no complete structure can be recognized as something the residents are familiar with, new ways of using architecture are born and are constantly evolving.
As residents proceed along the axis of the narrative that the city unfolds in front of them, the linearity becomes less evident and eventually is dispersed into a field rather than a sequence.
3. THE RHYTHMIC CITY KINO-GOROD
The city is crossing the lands with enormous speed. It is composed of individual units, 2m in width, 5m in length and 6m tall. Each unit is equipped with a mechanical rotor engine located at the base of the unit, as if a small locomotive. Every occupant of the unit is responsible for the power output it generates. The combined power of all the units provide the thrust necessary to move the city forward. A steel framework rising over the city allows for maintenance and substitution of the units. As the city evolves, the positions of the units are edited to construct the most powerful state of functionality and productivity of the city. The inhabitants are inspired by these repeated rhythmic movements and are all contributing to new ways of the city’s arrangements.
At the front of the city, cranes with long mechanical arms (apparatus serving as an extension of men at their will) are used to construct new units. At the rear end, a series of shovel arms are dug into the soil to provide constant supply of coal that is fed to the individual locomotive engines of the units.
The engines are pumping heat with a series of rhythmic explosions making up a mechanical symphony that along with enthusiastic and dedicated workers keep the city moving, evolving and reorganizing itself.
V.
HONG KONG APPÉTIT BACK ALLEY SHORT FILM HONG KONG 2019
GREENAWAY + VERTOV URBAN COMMENTARY AND PARTICIPATION
Starting from refilming a scene from Peter Greenaway’s ‘The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover’, the short film evolves to explore the strengths of a film medium through visual language. Spaces, activities, and characters are bound by symbolically assigned colours, while food acts as the allegory for Hong Kong’s built space. The film, therefore, comments on the greedy urban metabolism, taking Greenawaynian allegorical fiction and merging it with Vertovian documentary about a city. From raw blue static to steaming green preparation, greedy red consumption and finally white aftermath, the film is also reflecting rapid development and devouring capacities of dense urban areas, while maintaining interest in such density offsprings as the back alley. Finally, the project develops into a short-lived participatory practice. The process of filming is an act in itself: arguably the busiest Hong Kong back alley is suddenly occupied by actors and staff, breaking deals with barely legal street restaurant owners for filming permissions. In a situationist manner, the back alley is transformed into a spontaneous event - the city is used as a backdrop with accidental passers-by becoming the extras, resonating the French New Wave.
A
B
“The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and Her Lover� spatial analysis top: dinner table location bottom: color-coded spaces
A
B
“Hong Kong Appetit� spatial layout top: dinner table location bottom: color-coded spaces
blue: static, raw
green: steamy preparation, construction
red: greedy consumption, stage, use
white: aftermath, digestion, post-occupancy
link to the fu
ull film here
BI
Born in Moscow and trained as an architect in Spain with a backgr architectural theory, speculative and avant garde practices. Curren of spatiovisual arts while maintaining a focus in architecture. I belie of power: whether intellectual, creative, political, cultural, economi enterprise. This intersection is what makes it, for me, a very exciting realm to w
In July 2020 I have graduated from IE University with a BSc in Archit and having the highest class grade of 9,3.
Over the years of my studies, I have completed three internships competitions with one honourable mention for Switch Competit and art exhibitions in Hong Kong and Spain and had a screening o
Furthermore, earlier this year I have presented my research on the Annual Research Colloquium at IE University. Currently, I am the Crea exploring the possibilities of typographic design and building up the
IO
round in fine arts, I have developed a strong fascination with film, ntly, my work revolves around a rigorous exploration and synthesis eve that on the one hand, architecture is a physical manifestation ic or other; and on the other hand it is a deeply personal
work in.
tecture and Design, receiving the «Best Thesis Project Award»
in different parts of the world, participated in architectural tion and a distinction in XI BIAU, have featured in photography of my short film «Hong Kong Appetit»
relationship between cinema, city and architecture for the Second eative Director and a board member of Prologue Magazine, e magazine’s visual identity.
THANK YOU.
MIKHAIL FRANTSUZOV 2020