1
IDEAS | BUILDINGS | PROJECTS
[1983 -1999]
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
IDEAS | BUILDINGS | PROJECTS
[1983 -1999]
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
Murali Ramaswami
The line that belongs to the table When I say, e.g., that the table is a yard long, it is extremely questionable what I mean by this. But I presumably mean that the distance between THESE two points is a yard, and that the points belong to the table. (italics: my emphasis). L. Wittgenstein
5 The Critical: architecture with a capital C 9 IDEAS | PROJECTS | BUILDINGS 10 TRUMAN LIBRARY ADDITION AND RENOVATION 14 5821 LOCUST 20 2 HOUSES: NEELANGARAI 28 DUBAI SEASIDE RESORT 34 LAWRENCE FREE STATE HIGH SCHOOL 40 CENTRAL NATIONAL BANK + DOUGLAS COUNTY TITLE CO. 48 SALEM HOUSE 52 B. ARCH THESIS: ART MUSEUM + SCHOOL OF ARTS
CONTENTS
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
There are those who want a text (an art, painting) without a shadow, without a “dominant ideology": but this is to want a text without fecundity, without productivity, a sterile text (see the myth of the woman without a shadow). The text needs its shadow: this shadow is a bit of ideology, a bit of translation, a bit of subject: ghosts, traces, necessary clouds: subversion must produce is own chiaroscuro. Roland Barthes
The Critical: architecture with a capital C
The painter is purer. He has less options John Hedjuk The proliferation of architectural publications has transformed our perceptions of meaning and architectural experience. The printed word has long superseded architecture as a primary from of communication. And, images, in the form of ubiquitous architectural photographs, are consumable and easily digested, leading to the visual, rather than the tactile are consumable and easily digested, leading to the visual rather than the tactile and spatial, sense of architectural reality. The crucial question then is, how does one experience architecture? Foreword Architecture and Abstraction Pratt Journal of architecture 1985 J.K: What is guiding your design in these six projects? P.J: In some of these projects I concentrate on the effects of colliding forms or breaking forms apart, in others I am interested in playing with new shapes and odd angles. J.K: How do you assess the current design environment? P.J: Well, it's clear enough we are in a mess. There are many directions to follow as there are architects. Until some new god completely captivates the architectural imagination as it did in modernism, things will not change. On the other hand, what an exciting mess it is! An interview with Philip Johnson by Jeffrey Kipnis Architecture+Urbanism April 1992
A critical pursuit of architecture is imperative. This is the responsibility of one possessing fluency over the medium; the fluency that Kahn distrusted. It is a fluency that is not merely possessed by the individual designer, but one that comprises the resource of the “entire catalogue of formal possibilities, from historical quotation, to the invention of new forms, in the service of aesthetic experience.”(Kipnis). Without critical exploration arbitrariness threatens to ensue. Should we follow Johnson's lead and focus on building essentially mono dimensional aesthetic skills to partake in this (as he calls it) “exciting mess,” or, accept his equally disturbing alternative and wait for a new architectural “God” to emancipate and reestablish a direction? Neither would appeal to those are who are not prone naturally to prolific production of visual excitement; of “fun”- which in itself not by any measure of morality wrong, but as an end-all implies a surrender of our minds overwhelmed and incapable to positively engage cultural complexities through architecture. Such engagement is possible without extremes of utopianism or fatalism. Critical thinking, following Cartesian trust in equanimous distribution of common sense, seems possible to be encouraged and sustained. 5
The Critical: architecture with a capital C
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
Peter Eisenman in a 1986 lecture makes a charged appeal for a critical approach to architecture and notes a contemporary condition wherein architects have “abdicated the responsibility of the debate in favor of being the decorators of power.” While his remarks are directed toward the ideological underpinnings of post modern vocabulary, Philip Johnson's University of Houston Law School, figuratively Deconstructive and yet patently dissociated from its ideological, theoretical agenda serves as an example of indiscriminate formalism, of “decoration of power”- a criticism that might delight Johnson. Stylistic and emptied of content, his design serves to substantiate his claim (as represented by Kipnis) that “however much spirituality, ideology or theory may act as motives for the investigation of the formal possibilities, in the end, none of these are ever actualized in the material form.” It is in this last, in its simplistic expectation of architecture as representational medium, that a critique of the aesthetic approach can be found. Can architecture be primarily a visual art tainted by function? And, if architecture must transcend this “mere” aesthetics of material form or the burden to re/present spiritual/ideological/theoretical notions, in what way can it then be critical? Ignoring ideological, spiritual, political substructures that are operative both at the levels of generation of new aesthetic paradigms and their subconscious influence upon new ones through cultural diffusion, is the fundamental fallacy of a “pure” aesthetic mode. Objectified and made mute, architecture is regarded a source for aesthetic consumption- one way transaction untainted by values, world-views and such. After the fact of a paradigmatic shift, an aesthetic does become “available” for consumption as well as for exploration. Even while consciously favoring the non-archetypal, nonuniversal forms, an a priori visual agenda is determinism at odds with the goal of particularities of place, portending a particularity based on the notion of aberration. One critical pursuit may be posited: a reflective non-representational mode deriving from an experiential perspective which does not naively ignore or disregard other modes (historic, scientific, theoretic, scientific, cultural/connotative etc.) of knowing but
merely holds them at a critical distance. As Kahn said “Knowing is one thing, Knowledge is another.” This distancing of institutionalized knowledge (and yet within its context) should occur concurrently with a subjective process of (re)search to seek personal interpretations that will still evince traces of inter-subjectivity. Even as the term poetic suggests a deeply personal expression filtered through individualities, poetry does not threaten us with a condition of severance; of disjunct/alienated individualities. Evidenced, too obvious it may be to add, by the fact that poetry connects with many a reader. Conventional modes of analysis and synthesis, while of irrefutable value, can be held in suspect in a manner that Goethe distrusted tools of science. Empirical/experiential understanding resists description and defies visualization and therefore seems impossible to engender so long as architecture is seen as a medium of representation instead of as a continuing attempt to realize spatial embodiment of experiences. The mechanical, predominantly visual practice of design attempts implies prefigured, predicted emotional reactions. The admission of temporal and existential (full gamut of senses) dimensions does not have to reject the guidance of formal and tectonic traditions, but can instead offer a coherence in the usage of the visual medium and reduce “catalog shopping.” With changing perceivers and their perceptual frame of reference, “reality” (or knowledge) is in a constant state of flux and seems often contradictory. Validation of singular, exclusive, and unchanging reality is the objective when one mode of knowledge dominates. Subjective emphasis as a relativist approach (self justified by contemporary pluralism) creates another form of disjunct reality. A reflective approach that employs subjectivity to examine experience can begin to search for a poetic existence of architecture in the intersection of cultural (conventional) and personal realities. The pre-reflective process of experiencing architecture, the unconscious process of transcribing architecture onto ourselves and vice-versa is the core of humanplace relationship. The interest here is to recover and apply this mode of “personal” knowledge in the critical production of architecture.
7
The Critical: architecture with a capital C
Murali Ramaswami
9801 Ensley Lane, Leawood Kansas 66206: (913) 648-1372: mramaswami@primary.net
One conception: As I can infer my spirit (character, will) from my physiognomy, so I can infer the spirit (will) of each thing from its physiognomy. Now is it true (following the psycho-physical conception) that my character is expressed only in the build of my body or brain and not equally in the build of the whole of the rest of the world? L. Wittgenstein M A T E R I A L I T Y
M A K E S
O U R
T H E O R E T I C A L
B R O O D I N G S
O F
O P P O S I T I O N S
F U T I L E .
T H E
I D E A L I Z I N G
A N D
U N I V E
IDEAS | PROJECTS | BUILDINGS > ARCHITECTURE OF MATERIALIZED LINES The act of a line could be (poetically) interpreted not only as connecting two (or infinite number of) points, but drawing together of realms that were previously unrecognized. Singularity and dualism become both defined in an instance. The act of the line could also be the act of oppression, division and cutting. The duality of potential is what makes the phenomenon of line a spring-well for architectural exploration. Projects deal with dualities as oppositions or even absurdities that require architecture as the apparatus to hold them in a sort of dialectic suspension rather than be resolved. There is an attempt here to engage inherent contradictions through an architecture that neither represents, nor hides them in its physiognomy. Architecture begins through the intersection of the given brief (the universal presented as true) and the interpretive program (the particular as an agent of critique). There is an interest here in an overlay of readings of the program to create a place of substantial depth to engage everyday life with more poetic possibilities than what a static program suggests. R S A L I Z I N G
T E N D E N C I E S
O F
O R D E R
I S
B A L A N C E D
B Y
T H E
N A T U R A L
9
IDEAS | PROJECTS | BUILDINGS
D E T E R I O R A T I O N
O F
M A T E R I A L S ,
T H E I R
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
HISTORY PRESENCE
N A T U R A L
D E A T H .
I T
I S
I N
T H I S
A L L O W I N G
O F
D E A T H
A N D
A C C E P T I N G
TRUMAN LIBRARY ADDITION and RENOVATION indepence missouri 1999
[gould evans goodman associates]
O U R
I N A B I L I T Y
T O
I M P A R T
I M M O R T A
A L I T Y,
night-view with eternal flame
The insertion of a new Presidential exhibition into the existing library necessitates the addition to encroach on a fully enclosed existing courtyard. The new space, The Legacy Exhibit will display a life-size sculpture of President Truman and will be confronted by two conditions: as the terminus of the museum experience and as a transition within an internal circulation loop. Unlike the two previous substantial additions that are subsumed into a questionable totality of the present building, the addition, conceptually a “loop through the garden�, clarifies the new versus the old, the claimed exterior space vs. the existing interior. At the conclusion of a completely choreographed, artificially lit, presidential exhibition that objectifies history, this new space offers contemplative resting. Contrasting an experience of focused attention and predetermination, the Legacy exhibition space is open-ended allowing free movement of the body and a gaze into the light of nature. As a place located in a complex that assumes a limited narrow view of history, the defined space is an inbetween inside and outside has the subversive intention of defining the existential moment as a ever shifting line between past and future.
M A T E R I A L L Y,
O N E
C A N
F I N D
A N O T H E R
N O T I O N
O F
T H E
N A T U R A L
>
A R C H I T E C T U R E
model views
11
TRUMAN LIBRARY ADDITION and RENOVATION indepence missouri 1999
O F
T H E
M A T E R -
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
interior view/early version
I A L I Z E D
L I N E .
T H E
R E A L I Z E D
L I N E .
T H E
L I N E
T H A T
I S
D R A W N
view of the addition
n 24
building floor plan
48 ft
C A N
D R A W
T O G E T H E R .
>
I F
I M A G I N A T I V E
0
3
6 ft
enlarged plan
cultured court straddling inside/outside
The curved defining wall of this space, clad in large truly
eternal flame on black floor
curved limestone panels intended to be experienced as an object and therefore as an element in the court. It is a line that thickens (or tapers, depending on one's perception) from over 3' thick on one end to a mere 4” on the other; an aspect that will be grasped only after visitors walk all the way around the many points of interest. Few carefully articulated “tears” and incisions on the wall help to illuminate this aspect and the wall's spatiality at night. Not fully defined and allowed to bleed, the new space (separated from the existing walls by a continuous sky-light) is inherently in-between. From the most naturally advantageous location it looks inside (past) and outside (future), holding these two entities together in a current moment of relative resting. S E E I N G
O F
T H E
B U I L T
W O R L D
=
S E L F - H A L L U C I N A T I O N ,
T H E N
A R E
C O N S T R U C T E D
I L L U S I O N S
B E T T E R ?
stone panels/steel framng at flying end
conceptual sketches
13
TRUMAN LIBRARY ADDITION and RENOVATION indepence missouri 1999
I T
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
PROFIT ARCHITECTURE
I S
T H R O U G H
L I T E R A L
C O N S T R U C T S
O F
C O N C E P T S ,
5821 LOCUST kansas city missouri
[independent work]
1999
T H E
D E S I R E
T O
R E A L I Z E
I N
V I S U A L
T E R M S
T H A T
T H E
P
P H Y S I C A L
Precise insertions into a “settled” old house of “untrue” planes paralleled the idealism of approach against the monetary realities. A 3-1/2 month design-build project, this was an experiment to
kitchen
understand the conflicts between the profit motives and architectural motives. The architectural motives exceeded the visible aspects of design and extended well into what the house needed: more than superficial fixes with the roof, roof framing, plumbing, electrical, painting, and the elimination of unnecessary concrete in lieu of grass and such. An exploration in extending the space of the house out was achieved through the flow of the new kitchen through a lantern-like utility room on to a deck. A screen wall of red stained plywood offers privacy and expresses the linear extensions Cabinets were conceived as interlocking puzzle boxes free of hardware: a composition of lines yield finger slots and holes. End grains of baltic birch ply are brought flush to the face to reveal lines of striations. A continuous flow of aligned lines guided the composition instead of modular repetition.
W O R L D
B E
R E D U C E D
T O
R E A L
M E A N I N G L E S S N E S S . I T
I S
O U R
P E N C H A N T
T O
deck/lantern 15
5821 LOCUST kansas city missouri
1999
M A K E
V I S I B L E ,
P H E N O
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
cabinet elevations
M E N A
T H A T
N E V E R
W I L L
T O
B E ,
T H A T
W E
E X H I B I T
A N
A R I S T O T L E A N
M I M E S I S .
looking into kitchen
>
kitchen
I N
T H E
E D G E ,
T H E
L I N
bathroom + bedroom 2
laundry room
E ,
T H E
D E F I N I T I O N ,
T H A T
U N - D E F I N A B L E
N O N - S P A C E
O F
T R A N S A C T I O N
17
bathroom sink + mirror
5821 LOCUST kansas city missouri
1999
A N D
E X C H A N G E ,
T H E
N E I T H E R
H E R
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
screen wall + laundry room
N O R
T H E R E
A N D
T H E
N O T
B E T W E E N
screen wall
( A )
U N I F I C A T I O N
I S
P O S S I B L E .
N O T
A
U N I F I C A T I O N
T O
B E
M I S T A K E N
south elevation
A S
A N
A R R I V E D
F O R M / S T A S I S
( T H A T
I S
east elevation
F O R M - B U I L D I N G ) .
B U T
screen wall
19
5821 LOCUST kansas city missouri
1999
A N
E V E N T - U N I F I C AT I O N
>
I N
T H I N K I N G
A
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
SHARING IDENTITY
O U T
T H E
S E V E R I T Y
O F
P H Y S I C A L I T Y
S T I L L
P R E S E N T
NEELANGARAI HOUSE madras india 1998
[independent work]
I N
T H I R D
W O R L D
P L A C E S
( E V E N
W H I L E
T H E Y
B E C O M
Within an extruded load bearing masonry culture of construction, the plan-lines are very important. Various forces dynamically act in “drawing” the foot-prints of the two houses: A complex perimeter of the site maps the chaotic parceling of the periphery of the city, and simultaneously bears imprints of its non-gridded structure; The adherence to “Vasthu” principles, the Indian equivalent to Feng-Shui as required by the two owners. Within these limits, the notional focus of the project was the interplay of sharing (two families own this site), and identity (independent houses). Two almost similar houses, through spatial extensions and translations of their own generative lines (which is first determined by their relative site location and Vasthu) influence each other, and in the process, appropriate the site as common: the most significant physical manifestation of their sharing. roof: house B
model views: roof
Each house becomes an apparatus to absorb, extend and record archeologically the city's influence. This, not intended for a future “reading”(fact-finding), but to engender a particularity: subtle and subsumed and realized through lived experience.
E
P I C T U R I S E D
B Y
T H E
M E D I A )
A N D
T H E
S E V E R I T Y
O F
S E P A R A T I O N
O F
P L A C E S
F R O M
21 plan study
NEELANGARAI HOUSE madras india 1998
P H Y S I C A L I T Y
I N
T H E
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
view of house A
F I R S T
W O R L D ,
I
B E L I E V E
T H E R E
I S
A N
I N B E T W E E N N E S S
T H A T
M A R K S
A R C H I T E C T U R E / P L A C E .
conceptual sketch
T H E R E
I S
A
0
16
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
32 ft
first floor plan
house A
5
up 2
4
9
10
Living Room Dining Room Pooja Kitchen Service Toilet Bedroom Master Bedroom Master Bath Laundry East Court Garage Multipurpose Balcony Light "Scoop"
7 3 6 1
7
7
9
5
4
10 11
2 3 up 1
6 7
house B 12
F I N E
L I N E
T H A T
H O L D S
T H E
I M P E R C E P T I B L E
S P A C E
O F
D I A L O G U E ,
Lines/Traces
23
NEELANGARAI HOUSE madras india 1998
I N T E R A C T I O N ,
GROUND/figure
W H E R E
D U A L I T I E S
ground/FIGURE
M E E T
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
conceptual sketches
W I T H O U T
M E R G I N G .
>
T H E
L I N E
Y O U
P A S S
A T
6 5
M I L E S
A N
H O U R
W H E R E
T H E
R A D I O
W A V E S
O F
S T A T I O N
N
unraveling line
volume studies
D I E S .
T H E
L I N E
T H A T
B E C O M E S / M O V E S
A S
T H E
H E A D L I G H T
25
NEELANGARAI HOUSE madras india 1998
O F
A
C A R
I L L U M I N A T E S
A
C U R B
F R O M
T H E
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
PROJECT DESCRIPTION The two houses have been designed to be similar in many aspects without being identical. While duplication was consciously rejected, so too was any attempt to " custom tailor " each house to any perceived uniqueness of the families. The latter seems to portend artificial differences and a sense of severance. Differences in each house arise largely through relative location of each house to the site; this, even while maintaining common programmatic requirements which includes broad principles of Vasthu: 1. Both houses are placed to be most open to the east and north directions and to reject the inauspicious influences from the west and south. 2. Both houses areentered attheir north-east corner. 3. Kitchens in both houses assume the south-east corners 4. The Master bed rooms assumethe south-west corners 5. The massing of each house increase inheight towardthe south-west corner As the two families choose their house based on its uniqueness they innately choose a relative location within the site. THE PROGRAM Although exact square footages of individual spaces vary between the houses they are provided with the same set of spaces (refer plans). Essentially they are each a three bed room house with an additional multi-functional room that accesses the terrace and can be used for sleeping. A common two-car portico is set away at the Southeast corner of the lot preventing an unwanted encumbrance to the two residences.
D A R K N E S S
O F
T H E
N I G H T
THE PARTI The two houses are pushed to the west and south extremities of the site, as much as building set back lines would permit. This allows the two houses to cooperatively form a series of three exterior spaces that traverse the site diagonally. The Court of East Light A large frontal East court to which both houses are most open to is the most critical element through which the two houses set themselves apart as well as formally relate to each other. It is from this court that the independence of each house is most apparent. The Court of Formed Space An intimately sized mid court, protected from harsh and hot sun by the high volumes, is the most physical connection between the houses and is the most shared space. The Court of Trees/Formed Volume A discernable court in the north-west corner of the lot is defined through a filling of the space with trees. The filter and mass of the trees symbolically and practically protect the two houses and the connecting tissue of their outdoor spaces. T H E W O R L D O F W H O L E S A N D F R A G M E N T S . T H E O P E N T R U N K O F A B M W : MASSING Volumetrically the house simply responds to the cardinal directions and with respect to Vastu Sasthra. Each house rises toward the west and the South in symbolic act of defense and protection and decrease toward south and East in receptive gesture. Aside: The roof isnot a FIGURATIVE elementbut inhabited space under the divine vault The act of roofing in the gravity bound construction-culture is a process of Plan extrusion and capping. This project begins with adherence to this convention and then deviates in selectively claiming some portions of the roof as habitable spaces. The forming of terraces is intended to not only create a certain hierarchy and rhythm but also act to "trace" and emphasize the spatial organization of the houses. At its most deviant and inventive form a terrace is found embedded and protected within the hold of the sweeping curve roof of each house. MATERIALS/ ARTICULATION Each house is composed of two discernable volumes. The protecting/silent mass to the south and the west back the lower more articulate frontal volumes in each house. The intention is to clad the primary volume in some dark masonry: Large blocks (24" x12" w/staggered joints) of stone of bluish hue or stained pre-cast concrete panels used like veneer stone. The lower masses are intended to be plastered and painted in light color. Screen walls in the front of each house begin a layering of spaces between outside and inside. The protective west face of House-B and south face of House-A are seen as hard shells, akin to the relatively mute but hard crust of an amethyst rock that belies the vibrant crystalline innards that it holds and protects. Thus each house embodies a condition of duality that it attempts to dynamically resolve: a condition that characterizes the whole project.
(project description presented to client)
A
U N I V E
(conceptual notes presented to client)
Two families that will to share a site a location, and create one common shared place that will be the domain of two houses. This is the essential beginning of this project, which prompts us to consider the notions of sharing and of identity. OPTIONS (FORMAL Two identical entities that are objects Two non-identical objects that are objects Two identical entities that are non objects Two non-identical entities that are non objects (Objects are of a self- referential spirit while non-objects are of self effacing spirit) The site, the common pre-existing beginning will transform the house(s) and will be itself transformed. The process then is not to create the two houses (exercising any one of options above) on the (mute) site or even for the site but rather with the site. (The topography of this site is its edges and its relation to the sun) STRATEGY An attempt to physically tie the houses to the site and therefore, by implication to each other, alleviates the anxieties of having to make a formalist choice founded on imagery (viz. a viz. Options above) as the point of departure. Two strategies are concurrently employed in this attempt.
R S A L
B O D Y
O F
P E R F E C T I O N
C O M I N G
A P A R T
First is the process of tracing edges and boundaries of each house based on its relative location within the site and extending its influence to the other house. This two dimensional, yet dynamic process, treats the site as palimpsest upon which is found a trace of lines seemingly drawn in one continuous motion of a pen. Contextual aside: A culture limited to masonry means of construction wherein delimiting lines/ and walls are extruded upwards; Traditional walls contain space Shared (common) lines = Shared walls. Party walls are shared walls that separate space. Here the sharing of the walls is through extension. Lines of influence extend from one to the other and back in continuous and seemingly endless way. Space inS this ( T E M P O R A(common/Exterior) R I L Y ) A T is "held" T H E (rather L I Nthan E Sbe. contained) > U Bprocess. S U M These E D O R D E R extensions, tracing and projecting of lines begin at the boundaries of the site. Tracing differences underlying superficial similarities (and vice-versa)=tracing as process of discovery through lived experience. Tracing the contours of one entity on to another.
The second process, the adherence to broad principles to Vastu, informs the first. Consideration of the cardinal directions and the Sun prevents the process from becoming a merely two-dimensional exercise. Each house becomes an instrument, a reference for the other to trace and establish its own identity. Differences and similarities found in both houses are not resulted from conscious design application, but instead through the natural influence of the site. To immediate observation the two houses seem almost identical. But closer inspection (inhabitation) would reveal subtle as well as substantial difference that are present. Furthermore there could also be a discovery of lodged relationships between the houses: Walls extend from one house to other enclosing spaces and establishing continuity that leaps across. 27
NEELANGARAI HOUSE madras india 1998
I N S T E A D
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
DESERT RETREAT
O F
V I S U A L I Z E D
O R D E R .
O R D E R
A S
T H E
N A T U R E
O F
DUBAI SEASIDE RESORT dubai united arab emirates
[broll gerstner architecture]
T H E
1997
T H I N G
R A T H E R
T H A N
I T S
D E T E R M I N A N T .
>
P R E O
model: aerial view
C C U P I E D
W I T H O U R R E A C T I O N T O T H E H I S T O R I C Architectural images, evincing an Islamic character, were sought by the investor that was in the process of attracting an International Hotelier. The site is an undistinguishable stretch of desert lying on the outskirts of the city and defined only by the edge of the highway and the ocean (the two narrow sides were easily negotiable since the budget was undefined).
D O M I N A N C E
O F
Drawing a line in the sand, delimiting became the programmatic imperative in effecting+erasing the line of continuity between the tradition (Islamic architecture) and the present: the “real world” and the “retreat”. As in the caravansaries and other human interventions in the desert that assertively occupy the barren desert, the new complex is geometry driven.
29
one cluster
DUBAI SEASIDE RESORT dubai unites arab emirates
1997
F O R M
W I T H
T H E
I N F O R M E
W E
F A L L
I N T O
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
site plan
T H E
S A M E
P I T F A L L
O F
A N O T H E R
F O R M A L I S M .
I N
M E N T I O N I N G
F O R M A L I S M
I
I M M E D I A T E L Y
D R A W
T O
T H E
F
F O R E ,
model views - single cluster
F U N C T I O N
T H E
O T H E R .
T H E
N O N - F O R M A L ,
N O T
D E F I N E D ,
A L M O S T
Two diagonals drawn through the site organize the elements as well as increase the potential exposure to the sea. The act of the lines eliminates any pretentious organic merger between the unmappable, ever-shifting desert and the building. The notion of the Arabesque became the evocation in merging these imposed lines with the previously determined edges (site boundaries) to create a geometric foundation for 8 clusters that contain individual rooms and suites. Islamic roots were seen as underlying rather than overlaying as imagery. The infinitely expandable geometry of the arabesque can be related to the notion of the Divine. 31
DUBAI SEASIDE RESORT dubai unites arab emirates
1997
A
T H I N G ,
H A S
A L W A Y S
E X I S T E D
I N
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
CULTURE AND PLACE: ARABESQUE: A design of interlacing lines (forming figures of foliage flowers and sometimes animals) Abstract and geometric and infinitely expandable More contextual (Islamic) in plan than facades Caravanseries/Palaces/Markets/Complexes Stark human presences in the desert: the view from the sky SITE AND PLACE: The edge condition: Between Sand and Sea. “Engaging” the sand: A line through the Sand The Narrow site: the given frontage and the “Potential“ frontage (of the diagonal) The Diagonals: Line on the sand between the cultured and the natural/the city and the sea The gesture of the diagonal: simultaneous receding from and advancing to the sea THE RESORT PLACE: A place to “slow down” time: therefore the (kitschy) conventions: Getting to point B without being in a hurry: (snaky sidewalks) Changing perspectives and views (arbitrary building mis alignments) Building blocks instead of independent bungalows Three overlapping squares -- two aligned to the diagonal and one to the site's edge with the city (creating new edges of influence to guide the geometry) Blocks overlaid by interpenetrating multiple paths Objects that cross the line change in character: Dhows in the sea Piers into the sea Guest rooms readable as individual buildings grouped by the influence of the squares Interstitial spaces formed as courts Glimpses of the sea....invitation to the sea....paths to the sea from the contained courts across the line H U M A N
A R C H I T E C T U R A L
C U L T U R E
A S
T H E
O T H E R ,
lines of arabesque
sea-facing cluster
N O M A D I C ,
A S
T H E
B A C K G R O U N D
T O
T H E
S E L E C T E D ,
E M
aerial view of resort
P H A S I Z E D
A N D
T H E
I D E A L .
T H I S ,
O F T E N
R E F E R R E D
33
T O
A S
T H E
V E R N A C U L A R
model of individual unit
DUBAI SEASIDE RESORT dubai unites arab emirates
1997
A N D
S T U D I E D
“ F O R M A L L Y ”
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
BUILDING BODY
W O U L D
N E V E R
R E V E A L
A L L
I T S
S E C R E T S
P R E C I S E L Y
B E C A U S E
LAWRENCE FREE STATE HIGH SCHOOL lawrence kansas 1995
[glenn livingood penzler architects]
O U R
T O O L S
O F
F O R M A L I S M
I M P E D E .
T H E
F O
O R M A L
Open fields at the western edge of town, soon to be displaced by suburban growth of isolated buildings that neither relate to each other nor the landscape, was the context. It became imperative to avoid the precedents of introverted and incoherent suburban schools and seek clarity of formal articulation.
library: concrete half
Three differentiated zones of activities of the school can be viewed in a parallel interpretation: Academic (Science technology dominated: the mind), Arts (heart), athletic (body). It was the intention of the project to admit this separation for function/articulation and seek a simultaneous connection through the means of architecture. As the central hinge the commons more than symbolically connect the parts as circulation is reestablished as a necessity beyond function. In correlation to our ability to hold parts of our own body (without a tool or mirror) in our vision, there is an interest here in the ability to look through the exterior space at another extended part of the building. This interest in visual connectivity, beyond formalistic impulse, as a means to “self- understanding” guided the formal manipulations and spatial extensions library: concrete/steel
Graphic striations on the body of the building became a
library: white skin
visual means enhance a bold territorialization of the site. Even a thin line (2 2/3” thick, single brick course) becomes strongly visible from the main road, 600' feet away. Articulated as sub-bodies against the primary building, the library, the art wing, the entry to the gymnasiums, and a stair at the East End balance the threat to take over the site and create places of focus. E I D E T I C
Y I E L D S
T Y P E S ,
C L A S S I F I C A T I O N S ,
35
M O D E L S
W H I C H
T H E N
axonometric view of framing
LAWRENCE FREE STATE HIGH SCHOOL lawrence kansas 1996
B E C O M E
T H E
E X A C T
T O O L S
I N
T H E
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
small gymnasium
lockers
main gymnasium
kitchen
administration
general classrooms
commons
auditorium
library
performing arts
lower floor plan
n 0
S U P P R E S S I O N
O F
colliding planes
A
N E W
P L A C E .
C A N
20'
W E
H A V E
T H E
C O U R A G E
T O
S A Y
T H A T
T H E S E
E X A M P L E S
A R E
U N D E R P
P I N N E D
small gym below
multipurpose athletic
main gym below
detail science general classrooms
auditorium below
commons below
upper floor plan
B Y
A N A T H E M A
T O
n 0
20'
A R C H I T E C T U R E :
T H E
D I S R E G A R D
O F
A R C H I T E C T U R E ?
east stair wall
37
LAWRENCE FREE STATE HIGH SCHOOL lawrence kansas 1996
( A S
W E
K N O W
I T ) .
>
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
commons
T H R E A T S
T O
P L A C E :
1 .T H E
south elevation/lines
U B I Q U I T Y
F R O M
T H E
D O M I N A N C E
T H E
media center facade 0
skylight over classroom wing stairway
O F
20'
U N I V E R S A L
( T H E
I D E A L
F O R M /
E N D L
curved roof of the commons/entry after and during construction
E S S
R E P E T I T I O N )
2 .T H E
U B I Q U I T Y
F R O M
T H E
D O M I N A N C E
entry/window
O F
T H E
P A R T I C U L A R
commons/dining
39
LAWRENCE FREE STATE HIGH SCHOOL lawrence kansas 1996
( T H E
I N F O R M E /
R E L E N T L E S S
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
SUBURB NATURE
V A R I A T I O N .
>
E I T H E R / O R ,
B O T H
A N D
‌ . N E I T H E R .
I S
I T
A
R E A L L Y
L I N E ,
CENTRAL NATIONAL BANK + DOUGLAS COUNTY TITLE CO. lawrence kansas 1994
[glenn livingood penzler architects]
O R
T H E
E D G E
O F
O N E
D O M I N A
Lying at the shifty edge of the city and waiting for the engulfing by suburbia within months, the site became valuable to the bank/office buildings and more importantly nature. The existing creek that cuts through site and most of mature trees were therefore to be preserved. The conflicting ideals of the “brick and mortar” image of the bank/ institution and the commercial reality of speed of service via the drive thru create dilemmas with regard to visual typology was the focus of the initial moments of investigation. Casting aside typological concerns (the client felt this strongly) there was a reformulation of the problem to respond to two “other” aspects of the program: The interaction of the sited building and the transient space of the car The internal power structure and its spatial implications. There is an attempt here to seek an open/dynamic resolution of the tension between the stasis of the building and the transience of the car. A flat north wall echoes and parallels the linear motion of the car, only to be interrupted by the intrusion of the arching canopy under which machines mediate the monetary transactions. Most announced on this side (architecturally and commercially), the overall volumetric and object like nature of the building was intended/expected to be tempered through the filtering and layering of the trees. A subversive assertion of the “open office”, the space of the work force, was achieved through its location in a high generous space most in contact with preserved/modified nature. The underlying premises of the bank became the generative structure for design of the office building that followed in a few weeks. In the Office building, the “back of the house” employees occupy the spine of the building and enjoy a high volume flooded with clear-storey north light.
T I N G
T H E
O T H E R ,
O R
T H E
T W O
E D G E S
M E E T I N G ?
I N
B E I N G
O P E N
41
CENTRAL NATIONAL BANK lawrence kansas 1994
T O
A L L
I N T E R P R E T A T I O N S
I T
B E C O M E S
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
P O E T I C .
C A N
A R C H I T E C T U R E
B E
A
P O E T I C
A C T ?
C A N
P O E T R Y
B E
A N
A C T ?
T O
S A Y
Y E S
I S
T O
west elevation
east elevation
R E D U C E
T O
main floor plan
I T
M E R E
W R I T I N G / R E C O R D I N G .
I T
I S
N O T
A
T H O U G H T
E I T H E R
south elevation
43 section
CENTRAL NATIONAL BANK lawrence kansas 1994
I N
S T R I C T
D E F I N I T I O N .
T H A T
W O U L D
U N I V
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
interior view
interior view of vaulted roof
E R S A L I Z E
I T
W I T H
A L L
O T H E R
T H I N K I N G
A N D
R E D U C E
I T .
I N
A S
M U C H
A S
T H A T
A
P O E T I C
E X P E R I E N C E
C A
A N
A F F E C T
O U R
R E L A T I O N
W I T H
T H E
W O R L D
W E
L I V E
I N
I T
A S S U M E S
A N
I N B E T W E E N N E S S .
45
CENTRAL NATIONAL BANK + DOUGLAS COUNTY TITLE CO. lawrence kansas 1994
I T
I S
I N
T H E
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
interior view of work stations
C O C E P T U A L
R E A L M
O F
A R C H I T E C T U R E
W H E N
A R C H I T E C T U R E
I S
P O N D E R E D
view of courtyard
E I T H E R
W I T H / T H R O U G H
T H E
M E
aerial view of building/courtyard
floor plan
A N S
O F
A
P R O J E C T / B U I L D I N G
O R
W I T H O U T
T H I S
M E A N S
T H A T
T H E
north elevation
47
east elevation
DOUGLAS COUNTY TITLE CO. lawrence kansas 1994
P O E T I C
B E C O M E S
P O S S I B L E .
T H I S
P O N D
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
LOCAL HYBRID
E R I N G
F A L S E L Y
S U G G E S T S
U S
A S
T H E
A C T I V E
SALEM HOUSE salem india
1986
[independent work]
S U B J E C T
P O N D E R I N G
A N
O B J E C T .
I T
I S
I N S T E A D
T H O S E
F L
Configured as U in plan, the center of the house is drawn into the courtyard by the sacred east sun. Here is where the family will eat together, on the floor, without a table. From here the floor steps down to become the seating and leads into the main bedroom held under a protective vaulting roof. Salem house elaborates the concerns of the single-family residence in the contemporary contexts in India marked by eclectic influences ranging from colonial to early modernist influences. Expensive, heat trapping concrete roof slabs hovering at 9' above the floor was (is) the norm and the context. The house became a means to question two conventions: expensive and climatically unresponsive construction methods that offer no sense of participation to the builders and hybrid stylistic impositions. Built with very little drawings (the skilled older masons could not read drawings), the house employed unusual techniques: vaulted brick roofs using wooden formwork made by cartwheel builders; brick domes built without formwork using counterweights. Experiments in construction techniques, and exploring their spatial implications afforded a significantly cheaper, spatially more exciting and thermally more responsive house. Also important was that the result was met with reactions that regarded it as unusual and strange. stone column
E E T I N G
Y E T
D E N S E
A N D
I N T E N S E
M O M E N T S
O F
A B S O R P T I O N
T H A T
B R I N G S
T H E
A S S U M E D
floor plan/conceptual drawings
49
SALEM HOUSE salem india 1986
P O L A R I T I E S
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work house under construction
I N T O
A
M I N G L I N G .
T H E
L I N E
brick dome
B E T W E E N
P L A C E
A N D
A R C H I T E C T U R E .
T O
R E C O G N I Z E
T H E
T O T A L I T Y
O F
P L A C
C E
A S
A
C O N C E P T
C O U L D
I M P L Y
A
D E F E A T I S M
A N D
L E A D
view from court
51 west face
SALEM HOUSE salem india 1986
T O
N E V E R
E N D I N G
L A M E N T A T I O N .
M Y
I N T E R E S T
I S
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
MEDIA CULTURE
I N
S E E K I N G
A
D I A L E C T I C
A N D
D Y N A M I C
R E L A T I O N
B E T W E E N
T H E
T W O
B.ARCH THESIS: ART MUSEUM + SCHOOL OF ARTS mettur india 1984
[madras university india]
C O N C E P T S
O F
A R C H I T E C T U R E
A N D
Even with the debunking of the myth of its social power, architecture still forms the realm of active and bodily engagement with cultural conditions as opposed to its mere representations. The premise of this project in proposing a complex, nearly impossible to realize in the site plan
small industrial town, was to posit that culture/language/arts were being eroded by the mass media of Indian commercial cinema, which can be defined in a manner as virtual reality. Re-building, resistance was seen as possible through the insertion of the program of architecture where necessary: those very places that dominant forces of society have deemed as unsuitable and marginal. In the manner of the numerous temples that top the rocky hillocks of the town, the museum occupies the high ground of the site. At the base are buildings for work and living. Nearly all the building foot- prints trace existing contours and the lines of a perennial channel flowing from the adjoining reservoir. This mode of secondary approximation (building lines) upon the primary approximation (contours, water's edge) relates to the prevalent construction of the town that uses rough granite blocks to build at nearly right angle relationships. White washed several times over the years these walls begin to feel like crushed paper: heavy and light at once. P L A C E
T H R O U G H
T H E
M E A N S
O F
A R C H I T E C T U R E
A C C E P T I N G
T H E
L I M I T A T I O N
53
B.ARCH THESIS: ART MUSEUM + SCHOOL OF ARTS mettur india 1984
O F
S C O P E
A S
W E L L
A S
O F
P R E
Murali Ramaswami | Selected Work
studios across the channel from dorm
D I C T A B I L I T Y .
I T
W O U L D
B E
C O N T R A D I C T O R Y
T O
F E E L
F R U S T R A T E D
B Y
A R C H I T E C T S
first sketch
I N A B I L I T Y
T O
D E T E R M
M I N E
administration/library
museum: third floor
P L A C E
A N D
Y E T
A C C E P T
P L A C E ' S
I N - D E T E R M I N A N T
studios/dorm rooms
N A T U R E . > A R C H I T E C T U R E
55
B.ARCH THESIS: ART MUSEUM + SCHOOL OF ARTS mettur india 1984
O F
T H E
M A T E R I A L I Z E D
L