johan_haggqvist@hotmail.com
Matter Space Structure Semester 01 2010-2011
INDEX 02
Introduction: WOWEN CAVITIES - A train station derived from textile techniques
03-04
Final Project: The two conclusive boards used at the final presentation
05
TEXTILE WORKSHOPS
06-07
THE JELLYFISH: Description and the making of
08-20
CONCEPT PROJECT: Introduction of phase, methods used and results
21-22
SKETCH PROJECT: Description of work and direction for further development
23-27
DESIGN PROJECT: Thorough description regarding the final phase; Relation to surroundings, impact on site, interior schemes etc.
Matter Space Structure Semester 01 2010-2011
WOVEN CAVITIES A Train station derived from textile techniques During the past semester our focus has been on an alternative extension of the new train line proposed in the Gothenburg public transport plan K2020. The plan proposes a continuation of the present railway under the central city through a tunnel. The plan describe a loop that runs south under the present Haga park and then returns back east through the traffic junction Korsvägen to finally again connect with the existing tracks leading from south to the station. By working in different work shops we have examined how the suggested station could and should meet the city. Emphasis was put in how an underground station dealt with the connection to the urban space above functionally as well as topographically. When working with different sites this, off course, was differentiated according each sites specific settings. Though the focus has been very much on the train station itself, as a way of public transportation, we also examined, and included, other ways for public transportation. Allready in an early stage I included an alternative for the existing car park which I wanted to remove in advance for the pedestrians and people riding bicycles. As I mentioned we worked on differnt sites initially. Not only did it give us an oppurtunity to choose a site which was preferable it also resulted in a lot of different projects. The different sites were based on an alternative train route with an increased loop. The line was suggested to reach out as far as to Västra
02
Frölunda to eventually meet up with the existing tracks around Mölndal station. As the new line was intended to pass by Oskarsleden one of the sites was located here and was to be based on a proposal made by Riksbyggen. In this case the train station were meant to be incorporated into a large noise guard / park which in turn had to be resolved according to the ferry terminal. The first site to be examined was the Haga Station, found in a rather delicate setting; close to the Haga church, the park and along the canal. The second site was the so called Järnvågen station situated at the end of the train tunnel just north of the community centre Folkets Hus. This area is allready being thought of as an area with high rises, where offices and hotels are ment to stand together with mixed housing. The main challenge working on this site were to adapt the taller buildings to its surrounding meaning: keep it at a relatively transparent level and enable a descent climate on the public level with a minimum of turbulence. The last site suggested, the Masthugget station, had very much to do with the already mentioned proposal made by Riksbyggen meaning less urban functions and a focusing on the transition between housing and urbanity. During the studio we have also had several work shops dealing with the basics of textile techniques. But not only was it about textile as a fabric, on the contrary we have been exploring materiality, scale, transparency on further more.
N
Haga Station
Perspective from platform
Site: Haga Station
Magnets
prerequisites
Flow Shaping
Greenery
Urban Carpets
Greenery
Developed greenery
Siteplan
Perspective over station, platform invisible
Scale: 1:1000
Perspective over station, platform visible
03 Section B-B, Scale:1:300
N
5m
0
5
10 15
20 25m
B
(1:500
A
A B Plan: Platform Scale:1:500
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Section A-A, Scale:1:500
TEXTILE WORKSHOP During the textile workshop we were introduced to the fundamental techniques in working with textiles such as weaving, knitting etc. Starting of by making smaller samples, trying the different methods, we eventually changed both the scale and the materials ending up creating larger installations in both plastic film and brushwood. The different workshops where divided through the first 2 weeks. It all began when we were introduced to different approaches in using textiles made by other students or artists. Basically the film and the teachers urged us to experiment, cause also within the failures there can be succes. We got a large amount of willow twigs on the “ljusgården” and started working in groups. Pretty soon we came to the conclusion that we had to work using tension. Our group started using weaving techniques. At the end of the day the whole group assembled all the work into one huge organic shape. Further more during the week we learned how to knit, weave and crochet. The different methods were also applied when working with plastic sheets where the result from the first exercise was an 5m high air filled scare crow. Gathering all the experience from the exercises we continued the following week working once again with plastic sheets. This time we were supposed to create a space that could handle at least 5 persons. More about this on the following two pages.. 05
THE JELLYFISH The Jellyfish is a hybrid between a balloon and a flying kite consisting of 5 square meter thin plastic sheets, a pentagon wooden frame and strings. The idea was to create a space were people could interact with each other through the strings of the jellyfish. A minimum of 4 people were needed to manoeuvre the flying creature. Note. A force, an air cannon or warm air, is required to maintain it in the air. Please go ahead and check out our video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBJjgedgiDI Search for “jellyfish chalmers� on youtube 06
THE JELLYFISH
The making of.
Step 01.
Step 02.
Step 03.
A wooden frame was assembled by five identical sticks. From each corner of the pentagon a string was attached to the second framework composed by an elastic ribbon that was streched out during the assembly. Finally each corner of the outer frame gets a long string attached enabling steering of the Jellyfish.
Once the frame work was established the thin plastic sheets could be fitted out. Learning by failing we realised that we had to slip in an extra bit of plastic sheet so that each “bubble� could be filled with moore air.
The Jellyfish was now completed. A minimum of four people hade to get it up in the air since we had to make sure no strings were getting in to the fan/air cannon. The dotted line represents the ribbon frame which because of its elasticity could change shape according to the amount of air or according to the pulling or releasing of the strings - acheiving very similar movements of a real jellyfish.
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CONCEPT PROJECT The main purpose with the concept project was to reach a spatial understanding of a few different sites and to realise possible solutions for further conceptual development. By working with paraffin we were meant to dissect the different sites focusing on the relation and connection between the underground station and the urban space on the surface above. For each site we were intended to create 3 different spatial proposals giving us the oppurtunity and the demands to learn the specific prerequisites regarding each given area. The introduction to paraffin and the possibility to work with it for two weeks was really inspiring. It all started really slow as we had no idea how to “attack” the problem. Personally I started sketching which was just so wrong! After a couple of days we just started “getting our hands dirty”. At this moment we had equipped ourselves with various tools with which we were about to have a go with. carving, scraping, cutting, molding etc. All the different techniques resulted in different outcomes but not until we combined heating and carving we had something really interesting going on. Experimenting not only with the “final products” but also with the “misstakes” we had som really surprising results. Taking everything further and further we got some amazing concept material. Please go ahead and check out a short movie from some of our experiments: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy8bA82EZBE (search for “the city of light chalmers” on youtube.com)
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METHODS
Method 01.
Method 02.
Method 03.
Using knives or any similar tools carving the paraffin seemed as a natural start to begin with. However it was easier said than done. eventually I realized that a pair of scissors worked fine. With the scissors I could scrape and carve different shapes and as a final result I got beautiful sculptures which were even more beautiful when lit.
Warming and melting the paraffine resulted in some really interesting outcomes. One of my favourites was when using oval shaped egg cups. By dipping a pillar shaped net-tejp in a mold we acheived some amazing semi translucant pillars.
One of the most inspiring methods was carried out by combining melting and carving. We started melting the top of a whole paraffin lump. When it had cooled of for just a few seconds we could carve out thin slices of paraffin and reshape them during a few seconds before they got rigid.
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Block of paraffin
10
Carving tools
Prisms
Block of paraffin
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Melted paraffin in different moulds
Moulded shapes and forms
Block of paraffin
14
Heating + slicing
Slices of paraffin
Slices of paraffin
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Crushing and crumbling
Flakes and crumbs
Slices of paraffin
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Splitting and cracking
Flakes and scrapings
SKETCH PROJECT The aim with the sketch project was to rearticulate the conceptual project - a spatial and functional complexity - into a architectural whole. The first thing to be done was to choose one concept, within the three different sites, and transform it further into a sketch project. In this part I struggled with translating my concept. I was very happy with my work from the concept stage but narrowing them all down and choosing one was easier said then done. Finally I decided to go on with the slices. The slices were not connected to any specific site. Depending on how they were shaped and scaled they could be used in any site. So the next step, therefore, was to choose a site. I saw a lot of potentials within the Haga site and therefore I choosed that one. I left the area just next to the Haga church and focused instead on the larger site next to the canal. The site is definitely considered as a part of the inner city yet in my opinion it looses a lot of its potential just being a vast area serving as a car parking. The next step in the sketch phase for us was to create a model over the choosen area in the scale 1:1000. Working with the model we could elaborate with different shapes and scales etc to realise the impact they would have in a larger perspective and its relation to the Haga church and Feskekyrkan for example. 20
I continued investigating the possibilities with the curved shaped slices, in different ways and scales. I settled with having one slice as a cover “a roof� and the other one as the ground. The idea was to have a continous space just as much above as underneath. The new proposed spaces had to be shaped according to the needs of pedestrians and cyclists. The roads around the Haga site spits up the site and devides it into several smaller ones which i choosed to see as urban carpets. The urban carpets are derived from the paraffin slices. The idea is to create spaces by reshaping the slices. At the intersection just south east from the Haga church several urban carpets are lifted up in a corner - creating spaces underneath aswell as exterior urban furniture.
Slices of paraffin
21
Slices considered as a base and a cover
Investigated on the site
DESIGN PROJECT The final stage, the design project, took over from where the sketch phase ended. This meaning that in my case a few things needed to be further elaborated or changed before taking it further. The station, the underground station, was not very far gone in the end of my sketch project so I had to work pretty intense with this to start with. My idea of working with the slices, the different sheets, had to be driven even further and for me it meant a few obstacles. When trying to achieve an accessible space it had to be done on the cost of the desired shape - meaning rather drastic changes. The shape representing the interior ground was no longer a single curved one but instead devided into stairs intersected by a winding ramp. The other slice, the cover, likewise had a few changes resulting in another landscape above.
22
Site: Haga Station Situated just along the canal the site I choosed has a lot of potential. Even though it´s located so centrally the space is not considered as an asset because of its usage - a large parking area. By further population of the are, a consequence of the trainstation, the site could and should be resolved in a way that enhances the conditions for pedestrians and cyclist.
prerequisites The Haga site has some characterizing or rather distinguishing properties. Being a neighbour to the church, the park, the canal and the city it allready has some prominent features and to me also a great potential as being a public hub. However today the prerequisites do look a little different when a vast area of the site is dedicated to the cars - being a parking lot
Greenery The surrounding neighbourhoods offers pretty much greenery. Pretty early I had the idea of extending some of the greenery into the site I´ve choosen making it even more attractive. Not only should people come here for comuting, this should also be an attractive place to hang out during any time of the year.
Urban Carpets The idea of the urban carpets derived from the concept with the paraffin slices. By imagining the whole site covered by an enormous carpet my intention was to create spaces by changes in the “carpets”. Some of the edges gets tilted up creating openings on one side and urban furniture slopes on the other.
Magnets
Flow Shaping
Public Islands
Developed greenery
By pointing out the most important places, streets or institutions etc (the magnets) I tried to attain some major directions over the site. A couple of hundred meters north of the site the Gothenburg School of Economics is situated, and eastof the site lies Järntorget and south of the area lies the innercity of Gothenburg.
Having distinguished the larger directions over the site I started to carve tracks into the urban carpets leaving paths where the flow could follow. The areas not being paths will instead become like public islands. Two additional bridges will make ease for travelling by bicycle or by foot and also connect to important nodes such as Fiskekyrkan.
The park gets extended into the new site by letting the greenery continue over the public islands. The islands gets a terrassed character enabling public seating. The area dedicated to the cars, parking and gas station, gets limited to the smaller area (the cirlcle just above the green parts in the diagram).
The last changes made to the site are the openings to the station, including a ramp for bicycles leading to a bicycle pool and an introduction to a underground garage. The openings to the train stations are the tipped edges, the remains of the urban carpets, which also gives a hint of the inclination to the platform.
23
N
24
25
Perspective over station, platform visible
Perspective over station, platform invisible
The whole station space resembles a ravine, a valley, where the train tracks are located in the middle of it. The shape is the left overs from the curved slice founded during the concept phase. To make it accesable the curve was translated into a large staircase which has been intersected by a ramp. The platform is devided by the train tracks, one in each direction. The platform supplies comuters with facilities such as a waiting room and a smaller ticket shop. In addition the platform is also connected to a bicycle ramp and the new garage.
The platform is accesable in every direction. Beneath the train tracks, through a continuation of the curve, you can easily reach the other side.
N
5m
5
10 15
20 25m (1:500
B
A
A B
26
0