Deep Masses: Thesis Report

Deep Masses

Immersive Social Complex

by Ho Cheuk Yiu Hardy

This thesis explores new ideas of a typology in an effort to cumulate atmospheric affects through depth. The thesis aims to undertake a detailed examination of a sports complex typology as one part, hybridized with other smaller modules of the same typology as the other.

The variegated mixtures are combined to form new complex wholes. These accreted masses mediate the loose fits among the envelope, the structure and the interior, while defying the distinctions between surface and depth; solidity and plasticity; ephemerality and monumentality; or apparentness and obscurity.

The thesis will be tested through an array of aggregate composition in massing configuration.

Department of Architecture The University of Hong Kong TEL (852) 2859 2133 FAX (852) 2559 6484 EMAIL dept@arch.hku.hk URL http://fac.arch.hku.hk

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INTRODUCTION

UTEC Campus (2011)

Colosseum (70 AD)

Architect: Grafton Architects

EXTRUSION

STACK

Concept Stadium

Bordeaux Stadium

Architect: DCA

Architect: Herzog & de Meuron

RAMP

SHAPE

(unbuilt)

(2015)

Braga Stadium (2003)

Architect: Eduardo Souto de Moura

HOLE

RDS Urban Arena (unbuilt)

Architect: Grafton Architects

SHEAR

Stamford Bridge (unbuilt)

Architect: Herzog & de Meuron

COHESIVE

STADIUM: 7 TYPES PRIVATE SPACE

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PUBLIC SPACE

CIRCULATION

Depth as a Spatial and Experiential Quality The proposition of this thesis is to challenge the ‘loose-fit’ relationship of the flat-horizontal envelope, the structure and the interior of a building, by inducing affects through depth in ways such as layering and figural performance in the tectonics of the section.

The word ‘deep’ in the architectural discipline can refer to (1) the extension from the top such as the roof, or a surface such as the envelope, from a point of reference or in layers, which in turn produces qualities of thickness and volume; (2) the qualities of obscurity, complexity, darkness, immersion, etc.

Depth in architecture is perceived as both a spatial and psychological quality experienced by the observer through a static position or by movement. Depth is usually related to the sequence of independent negative spaces of a mass, or the psychological feeling of mystery or delight through light and darkness.

The notion of depth can be involved in construction by choreographing the interplay of material affects with the medium of light and sound. Apart from material and physical properties of literal depth, conceptual depth of an architectural object can also be considered to engage with the flexibility and the sustainability of the socio-cultural realms through hybridization and customization. Interstitial spaces and voids in between the external and internal silhouette could leave traces of uncertainty, monumentality and various sorts of aesthetics and meanings, from the ancient Roman Coliseum or the Grand Bazaar in Tehran to the modern stadium or station concourses.

The simplest form of depth is one that is consistent and infinite. On one hand, depth could be framed and objectified

Hardy Ho, Surface Syntax of 7 Deep Envelopes 3

200m

200m

N

oor Sports Centre Program Breakdown

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Program Venue Matrix

40 20

13

11

15

19

91

5

50

30

29

24 6

Archery (Indoor)

25

100

Ancillary Arena

VIP Booths

Retail

Badminton

Tennis

Basketball

Volleyball

Swimming

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in relation to thresholds. On the other hand, the observer could also become the subject that induces the perception of depth through movement. Depth, therefore, could generate through both the passive and autonomous architectural object, and the active influence of various forces such as light and circulation.

This test case involves the uncertain and widely debated future of the infrastructural spectacle of a sports complex in Kai Tak, Hong Kong. After losing the competition for being the host of the Asian Games, issues of obsoleteness in the massive urban void began to pose questions with respect to how this area would be developed.

My primary method of analysis is to explore the architectonics that dissolve boundaries of the roof, wall, floor and envelope. Graphic media employs the use of parallel projection and worm’s eye axonometric drawings, augmented by colors and textures, in a way to demonstrate the two-fold qualities of depth and how they could produce an exemplary case of a social complex that is adaptive, flexible, sensitive and responsive to the typical podium typology in Hong Kong.

Ho Cheuk Yiu Hardy

Hardy Ho, Kai Tak Sports Complex Layout Masterplan 5

WHY? Deep Mass as a Projective Type Synopsis: The envelope has been considered to emerge from a mere wrapper to a more volumetric and projective mass. The function has evolved from shelter in the ‘primitive hut’ to induction of sentiments through changing human perception.

BUILDING SCALE 01

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Disproportion between Section and Plan: “The envelope operates also as a representational device in addition to its crucial environmental and territorial roles. “ [1] The envelope has been regarded both as the most apparent symbolic face and the performative skin of a building.

“The building envelope forms the border, the frontier, the edge, the enclosure and the joint: it is loaded with political content…The envelope is the surface and its attachments.”

[2] The envelope is considered as a whole with the structure, the massing and also closely related to the autonomy of the architect both politically and culturally.

The section reveals the internal and external silhouettes of a building. The parts of the section, or ‘poche’, vary greatly in terms of formal qualities as well as height and lighting, such that the whole appears as a mixture of differentiated elements. The volumetric quality of the section and the more unified compactness of the plan, together demonstrate a disproportion or loose fit that shows more than the sum of the parts. The disproportion results in the deviation or interstice between the envelope and the interior that produces perception of depth.

Envelope as a Manifesto of Visual Depth: During the Renaissance, Francesco Borromini (1599-1667) experimented with visual illusion on the façades of San [1] Zaera-Polo, The Politics of the Envelope, 3.

[2] Ibid, 4.

01. Francesco Borromini, Convento Dei Filippini (1720 engraving), Wiki Commons: https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Borromini_Drawing_01.jpg

02. Herbert Bayer, Extended Field of Perspective Vision, http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jC7NHM3G8r4/T_ SgHTXbJXI/AAAAAAAARE0/QvX31m95xsg/s640/7.jpg

03. Luigi Moretti, Corso Italia, http://www.themilanese.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/LuigiMoretti1.jpg 6

Carlo alle Quattro Fontane at Rome in 1646 and Oratorio dei Filippini at Rome in 1650, through the composition of various rhythmic coffered bays on a continuous wall surface that generates a forced perspective view. Borromini also employed perspectival visual distortion in the Galleria di Palazzo Spada at Rome in 1632 by diminishing the roof, the floor and the vertical colonnades towards the end of the gallery.

Contemporary discourse on Depth as Expression: Early International Style modernists, like Le Corbusier in his Five Points Towards a New Architecture, argued that ribbon windows and brise-soleils were most adaptive to the construction technology at that time. The undulation and sculptural play of depth on the envelope, beyond functionalistic and mass production terms, were considered as mannerist and ancient. However, Herbert Beyer (1900-1985), a pioneering Bauhaus architect, graphic designer and painter from Austria who later moved to America, looked at the spatial relations of perspective vision in 1935 and argued that the manipulation of full range of vision could enhance the spatial experience [3].

Depth as expression was emphasized again in Late Modernism or Critical Regionalism where the regional and climatic differences were responded with sun-shading considerations and the choice of materials; and in Post Modernism where styles collided and resulted with non-orthogonal surfaces and volumes.

Building identity is considered to be independent of its function, but established by ‘urban artifacts’ of significant monumental and referential values, as argued by Aldo Rossi in his book ‘Architecture and the City’ in 1966 [4]. The envelope and the massing are considered to contribute to the figural composition that induces collective memories. Through a typological change of the envelope in Luigi Moretti’s Corso Italia and Il Girasole both in 1949 at Milan, the deep volumetric push-pull effect which could directly confront the

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[3] Joan Ockman, “The Road Not Taken: Alexander Dorner’s Way Beyond Art” in R.E. Somol, ed. Autonomy and Ideology: Positioning an Avant-Garde in America (New York, New York: Monacelli Press, 1997), 102.

[4] Aldo Rossi, The Architecture of the City, MIT Press,1984.

04. Luigi Moretti, Il Girasole, in ArchDaily: http://images.adsttc.com/media/images/53e2/fef2/c07a/80bf/0200/034f/large_jpg/ml_GabrieleBasilico_02_960.jpg?1407385326 05. Diller + Scofidio, Slow House, https://classconnection.s3.amazonaws.com/1162/flashcards/701962/jpg/dillerscof_slowh1.jpg 06. Greg Lynn, Korean Presbyterian Church, in Designboom: http://www.designboom.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/01KPCNY.jpg 7

2D - Perforated Depth

1D - Punched Depth

2D - Focused Depth

1D - Extended Depth

2D - Layered Depth

3D - Type 1a

3D - Type 1b

3D - Sh

1D-2D - Obvious Depth

1D - Overhung Depth

3D - Co

3D - Ambiguous Depth

3D - Gu

3D - Type 2

3D - Type 3

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07. Hardy Ho, ‘Obvious to Ambiguous Depth’ in Studies on Depth Composition 8

fragmented urban context with autonomy. However, Reynar Banham argued in his 1969 book ‘The Architecture of the Well-tempered Environment’ [5] that space could be ‘defined by functional demands, whose external boundaries are rather vague and therefore seldom regular’. The distance and discrepancy of the envelope and interior would become immaterial without physical depth.

Deep Tectonics as Visual & Social Mediator: In his 1978 essay “Figures, Doors and Passages”, Robin Evans commented on the evolution of corridors that was based on views and spatial layering that dissolve the boundaries between rooms or programs [6]. The discourse of the deep envelope is augmented by Diller Scofidio in their Slow House project in 1991 at North Haven NY, where perspective vision is distorted with the element of the wall as a continuation of the exterior.

In Greg Lynn’s Korean Presbyterian Church in 1991 at New York, the undulation of the envelope could enhance not only visual effects, but also the identity of the structure between interiority and exteriority with the performance of light. The envelope as a projective instrument through movement has been diagnostic in identifying the new visual perceptions from the city and projecting new grounds for architectural experimentation on human circulation and traffic flows.

Politics of the Loosely Fitted Envelope: In FOA’s Yokohama Port Terminal in 2002 and sHoP Architect’s FIT New Academic Building proposal in 2006 at New York, the rhythmic play of the sectional object produces mixed aggregates of surfaces that incorporates the program layout with the structure, with the intention to enhance the performativity of surfaces and facades which contribute to a diverse field of spatial experiences and atmospheric effects.

Alejandro Zaera-Polo in his 2008 essay ‘The Politics of the Envelope’ argued that the manipulation of depth can enhance existing programs as well as inducing mediating

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[5] Reynar Banham, The Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment, UChi Press,1984.

[6] Robin Evans, Figures, Doors and Passages, in Translations From Drawing to Building , MIT, 70-79.

08. FOA, Yokohama Port Terminal, http://www.arcspace.com/CropUp/-/media/30543/Photo-16.gif 09. SHoP Architects, FIT New Academic Building, in sHoP Architects: http://www.shoparc.com/projects/fit-c2/ 10. O.M. Ungers, Berlin: A Green Archipelago, in AA Projective Cities: http://projectivecities.aaschool.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Stadt-in-der-Stadt.jpg 9

affects. “The envelope has become the last realm of architectural power, despite the discipline’s inability to articulate a theoretical framework capable of structuring its renewed importance.” [7] Zaera-Polo argued for the role of architecture as a mediator among human relationships, politics and nature, and that the architect enjoys the greatest design freedom in envelopes and should develop rigorous approaches and discourses towards the envelope.

Depth, at first as a visual effect resulted from formal compositions, could be reconsidered also as being a political, social and psychological typology that establishes autonomy for architects to resist purely representational or merely utopian architecture.

URBAN SCALE Depth on an urban scale, considered more as a typological understanding rather than a visual quality, has been approached with the exploration of the underlying typological reasoning of urban ‘types’ and ‘typicalities’, and how they develop against time.

‘Type’ usually refers to the use of the building, while ‘typicality’ refers to the situations or typical qualities related to the ‘type’, such as natural/artificial forces and sentiments. In order to produce more depth and breadth in the understanding of urban types, the discipline requires more detailed examination beyond classification by use.

Typological Field of Depth as the Urban Archipelago: ‘The word type presents less the image of a thing to copy or imitate completely than the idea of an element which ought itself to serve as a rule for the model.’ – Quatremere de Quincy (1755-1849), “Type” in ‘Encyclopedie Methodique’ (1825) [8] The conditions to reconfigure an urban type can be con[7] Zaera-Polo, 6.

[8] Quatremère de Quincy, “Type” in Encyclopédie Méthodique, vol. 3, trans. Samir Younés, reprinted in The Historical Dictionary of Architecture of Quatremère de Quincy, London: Papadakis Publisher, 2000.

Hardy Ho, ‘Ambiguous Depth’ in Studies on Depth Composition 10

3D - Shifted Depth 3D - Shifted Depth

3D - Ambiguous 3D -Depth Ambiguous Depth - Consistent Radii - Consistent Vault Radii Vault

3D - Contracted 3D Depth - Contracted Depth

3D - Ambiguous 3D -Depth Ambiguous Depth - Inconsistent-Consistent Inconsistent Radii Consistent Vault Radii Vault

3D - Guided Depth 3D - Guided Depth

3D - Ambiguous 3D -Depth Ambiguous Depth - Various Morphologies - Various Morphologies

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sidered upon a deeper understanding of its tectonics and essential elements.

In O.M. Ungers’ Berlin Archipelago in 1977 [9] and Pier Vittorio Aureli’s ‘Toward the Archipelago’ in 2008 [10], typological mapping of urban situations could reflect the individuality of the urban artifact as an urban archipelago, which tackles the issues of infinite expansion of urbanization and the lack of ubiquity in the urban block.

Serial Operation on Urban Types of Deep Typicalities Dominated urban types, are considered as the most typical and common elements that establish the distinctive qualities of the city. Christopher CM Lee has been looking at the serial operation on political urban types like the city wall, in his teaching and works, where typological reasoning could allow the emergence of ‘deeper and richer structure of typicalities’. [11] Civic or institutional buildings, is explored beyond its use or stereotypical form, in order to produce unique qualities and definitions for the city.

Values from the Perception and the Understanding of Depth Depth is closely associated with lightness, clarity, and unity within an architectural object on one hand. On the other hand, depth is generative in the combination with such ‘positive’ qualities. In fact, depth is an ambiguous field that engages both tangible (visual, spatial) and intangible (psychological, social) forces.

These forces and qualities can be categorized under four types in the following: 1. Interactivity Various continuous forces present from lighting, users, movement interact with architecture rapidly to produce various perceptions of depth. Massing should be reconfigured by allowing these forces to generate effects. Such forces shall [9] Florian Herweck and Sebastian Marot, The City in the City - Berlin: A Green Archipelago, Lars Muller, 2013.

[10] Pier Vittorio Aureli, ‘Toward the Archipelago’ in Log, No. 11 (Winter 2008), Anyone Corporation, 91-120 [11] Christopher C.M. Lee, Type in The City as a Project: A Research Collective, 2011.

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compose a heterogeneous mix of elements that goes beyond the standard orthodox perception of aesthetics.

2. Cohesiveness Tectonic elements of walls, roofs, extrusions, cantilevers, arches and vaults are arrayed or transformed into aggregated mixtures that dissolve the thresholds and boundaries between figure & ground, and the designated program ‘boxes’.

For example, a wall is no longer a vertical surface alone, but a volumetric space mixed with the roof and the floor.

3. Performativity The envelope is no longer a fixated screen or mask, rather, a porous entirety in combination with the structure and interior. Program is flexible enough such that the Deep Mass is an intertwined matrix of urban scenarios.

4. Typicality Conceptual depth of an architectural object involves the social expansion which embrace engagement and participation through not just affects alone, on the other hand, the rich typicalities of the dominant type allows for autonomy for the profession and discipline.

The envelope as a deep mass, as a projective type, could be redefined upon its coupling of part/whole, tiered levels, place of arriving/gathering, interiority/exteriority, wall/entry, etc. In this way, the notion of depth could be utilized fully and opportunistically by mediating between the human and nonhuman boundaries.

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WHAT? Deep Masses: Immersive Social Complex Synopsis: The case for testing out the mixture of typologies that produce deep affects should contain different categories or degrees of depth induced. The test case of sports complex shall benefit from the deep structural spans and heights as well as the social interaction that can produce maximum effects of depth. The sports complex, serving a maximum of 10,000 users, is better than the stadium, serving a maximum of 50,000 users, due to a more manageable scale and an easier grasp of professional and technical expertise, as well as a more flexible program & circulation layout due to the smaller size, and a site within walking distance to various public transportation stations and the residential community.

Scope: The sports complex is historically traced back to the typologies of a theatre, atria or public ground that incorporated tectonics of corridors, walls, enclosures that produce effects of depth due to the social presence and urban monumentality. The sports building industry of today focus on a technologically and functionally driven nature with a shallow degree of customization on the envelope. Dense urban centers sports complex usually lack sensitivity due to its under-occupation at most times of the year. The test case shall scrutinize whether an exemplary mix of spaces within a sports complex could on one hand demonstrate a wide spectrum of formal affects, on the other hand, could optimize and justify the relevancy and flexibility of the architectural object. Whether in the ancient gathering typologies of public squares and colonnades, or in the perspectival meandering loggias of the Renaissance, or in the connected networks of the modern atrium, these deep types could be both commercial and social through revealing and concealing views in public programs like sports ground to private

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programs like galleries. Mixed spatial typologies depending on the scale of depth could include balconies, terraces, verandahs, corridors, courtyards, plazas, etc. Professional expertise of the arrangement of spectators’ seats, view angles, distance to various amenities, are considered from technical manuals on sports buildings. Typological mixtures of public programs with sports complexes could be studied from seminal related projects not limited to sports buildings, but also typologies that incorporate huge spans/depth such as museums, train stations; or that incorporate the juxtaposition and mixing of tectonics in houses.

Scale: The site shall be at the Multi-purpose Sports Complex (MPSC) in the East Kowloon Kai Tak Development. The site is within a 500x200m square area comprising of an Indoor Sports Centre and an Outdoor Sports Ground, with the urban cultural, social and commercial context (the Harbour, MTR, and Artists’ Village) so the forces that drive typological changes can be studied through projective differentiation of the type.

The length of the site (~500m) could accommodate 6 urban tower blocks & corridors across the road. The width of the site (~200m) could only just fit the Indoor or Outdoor Sports Ground with all the amenities around the field making up most of the bulk. Rather than treating the sports grounds as one that could be built at the outskirts of the city, the urban sports complex by combining the 2 sports grounds and the Deck could be exemplary in dealing with huge urban voids that are precious enough to provide recreational spaces.

The relatively self-contained ‘bowl’ (180mx150m) and ‘mound’ (200mx150m) designs of the Outdoor Sports Ground and Indoor Sports Arena respectively proposed by the government are not flexible, and also leave out unmediated, narrow and irregularly shaped public spaces around and between the site and its boundaries. The massive self-contained objects could be replaced by an autonomous urban

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01. Hardy Ho, Kai Tak Multi-purpose Sports Complex location 02. Architectural Services Department, MPSC impression, http://www.chinadailyasia.com/attachement/jpg/site441/20150703/1435885239176_52.jpg 03. Architectural Services Department, MPSC layout plan, http://www.hfc.org.hk/filemanager/files/TFKT_03_2014.pdf 15

100m 100m

04

Indoor Sports Centre Program Breakdown Ancillary Arena

VIP Booths

Bowling Hall

Main Arena + Seats

Retail

Fitness Ctr.

Tickets

Outdoor Sports Ground Program Breakdown Pitch

Seats

Track & Field

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1. View Corridors as Framing Parameter

04. Hardy Ho, Site layout axonometrics 05. Hardy Ho, Program breakdown of Indoor & Outdoor Sports Complex 16

Media Ctr.

Changing Rooms

Retail

VIP Booths

2. Massing Voids allowable by regulations

field/complex infrastructure could perform and mediate better. A multi-scaled approach to produce mixed programs & spaces shall be developed.

The 13m high Podium Deck proposed by the government is considered as a monotonous slab over the driveway which resulted with dark and unmediated service areas underneath. The separated sports stadiums and the podium deck shall be treated as a whole urban entity that mediates between the various urban forces.

The Height Restriction under the Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) from the Planning Department is of 55m, while height restriction could be relaxed in the test case within a certain range. The consistent height of the government’s proposal disrupts the urban visual connectivity and atmosphere. The proposed design shall demonstrate a variegated treatment of height and depth dependent on ground context and height restraints.

Program: The architecture is a hybrid complex of sports complex and urban agriculture social ground, though the typological configuration could allow change in size, form, material. This could allow a more flexible programmatic hybrid juxtaposition to merge with the deep volumetric mass of the envelope.

Programs shall be aimed to resolve new political, social and urban demands, e.g. gathering spaces, learning institutions, recreational facilities, etc. Construction phasing shall be considered to explore new typologies of form and use.

The government-proposed Multi-purpose Sports Complex (MPSC) at Kai Tak Development includes a Northern Sector with (a) 5000-seat Public Sports Ground oriented along the N-S axis, (b) 4400-seat Indoor Sports Centre and (c) Green Open Spaces; a Southern Sector with (d) 50,000-seat Main Stadium oriented along N-S axis, (d) Office/Commercial Tower, and (f) Landscaped Deck.

The Northern Sector is the test case of the thesis. The

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06. Architectural Services Department, Site Section & Height Limits, http://www.hfc.org.hk/filemanager/files/TFKT_03_2014.pdf 07. Peter Cook & CRAB Studio, Abedian School of Architecture, in Archdaily: http://www.archdaily.com/465030/abedian-school-of-architecture-crab-studio 08. Grafton Architects, University UTEC Lima, in Grafton Architects: http://payload103.cargocollective.com/1/4/159426/4366323/C_UTEC_Lima_Night_Detail.jpg 17

proposed Indoor Sports Centre provided a Main Indoor Arena with spectator seats on two tiers, VIP booths, 10 pin bowling hall, a fitness centre and retail shops. The Indoor Arena shall be designed to allow a flexible change of programs to suit different sports and recreational events, e.g. basketball, volleyball, badminton, table tennis, netball, gymnastics, handball, Chinese martial arts with respect to the optimal view angle and distance.

The proposed Public Sports Ground provided a pitch, track & field, tiered spectator seats, changing rooms, VIP booths and retail shops.

Sensitivity to the context of the test case is rethought in terms of the provision of open public social spaces, examined through the adaptability of the sports complex in the Kai Tak new town and surrounding context in a way to resolve obsoleteness. The performative and materialistic expression in the formal figuration of the deep plan and structure shall produce an entirety that is well-suited within a mixture of programs. The test case attempts to evaluate the incorporation of various typicalities through inducing situations on circulation pathways within the structure. Both the massing and technical level shall these measures be involved. The deep mass of the complex shall allow for further expansion, contraction and renovation of programs within in time. The complex shall also provide the flexibility of expanding the retail, curatorial or collective public spaces depending on site conditions reflected upon on the deep envelope.

Context: The site of the test case is strategically situated between the dense residential and commercial neighborhood to the north, and the vast green public spaces and terminal to the south. The site could address the problem of the lack of public recreational and communal social spaces, as well as urban regeneration of industrial buildings within the district.

Connectivity of the site includes NW to Sung Wong Tai Park and To Kwa Wan MTR Station; SW to Kowloon City Ferry

Hardy Ho, Kai Tak Site Analysis 18

200m

200m

19

s

s

Indoor Sports Centre Program Breakdown

Indoor Sports Centre Program Breakdown

Main Arena + Seats

Ancillary Arena

VIP Booths

Ancillary Arena

Main Arena + Seats

Retail

Bowling Hall

VIP Booths Fitness Ctr.

Bowling Hall

Fitness Ctr.

Retail

Tickets

Tickets

Outdoor Sports Ground Program Breakdown Pitch Outdoor Sports Ground Program Breakdown

Media Ctr.

Seats

Pitch

Media Ctr. VIP Booths

Seats Track & Field

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1. View Corridors as Framing Parameter

Retail

Retail

Changing Rooms

VIP Changing Rooms 2. Massing Voids allowable by regulations Booths

Track & Field

3. Program Massing Breakdown

4. Program Massing Rearranged

3. Program Massing Breakdown

4. Program Massing Rearranged

5. Framing Depth in parallel to View Corridor

6. Framing Depth along View Corridor

5. Framing Depth in parallel to View Corridor

6. Framing Depth along View Corridor

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09. Hardy Ho, ‘Urban Mass & Voids’ in Depth Framing Studies 10. Hardy Ho, ‘Program Reconfiguration’ in Depth Framing Studies 11. Hardy Ho, ‘Approaches to Framing’ in Depth Framing Studies 20

5. Fram

SHAPE (2011)

Architect: Grafton Architects

STACK

edefine The performaTive envelope ThaT merges The sTrucTure and archiTecTure inTo a

e, which Transforms passive evenT-spaces inTo beTween vibranT projecTive manfiolds depTh plores The juxTaposiTion of inTerlacing spaces The envelope and ThewiTh inTerior ..

& graphical media represenTaTions as insTrumenTal Tools, The Thesis aims - Kai Tak Multi-purpose Sports Complex (MPSC) - Site Analysis

geomeTries

edefine The performaTive envelope ThaT merges The sTrucTure and archiTecTure inTo a

e, which Transforms passive evenT-spaces inTo vibranT projecTive manfiolds wiTh depTh.

3D - Type 1a

(unbuilt)

(2015)

3D - Ambiguous Depth

3D - Ambiguous Depth

Stamford Bridge

1DStadium - Extended Depth 1D - Extended Depth 1D - Extended Depth Architect: Herzog & de Meuron

RDS Urban Arena (unbuilt) SHAPE UTEC Campus Architect: (2011) Grafton Architects Architect: Grafton Architects

SHEAR STACK

3D - Type 2

3D - Ambiguous Depth

(70 AD)

3D - Type 2

3D - Type 2

1D - Punched Depth 1D - Punched Depth 1D - Punched Depth

2D - Focused Depth 2D - Focused Depth 2D - Focused Depth

3D - Type 1b

3D - Type 1b 3D - Type 1b

2D - Perforated Depth 2D - Perforated2D Depth - Perforated Depth

2D - Layered Depth 2D - Layered Depth 2D - Layered Depth

3D - Type 3

3D - Type 3

3D - Ambiguous Depth 3D - Ambiguous 3DDepth - Ambiguous Depth - Consistent Radii-Vault Consistent Radii Vault - Consistent Radii Vault 3D 3D Depth 3D -- Ambiguous Ambiguous Depth Depth 3D -- Ambiguous Ambiguous 3D -- Ambiguous 3DDepth Ambiguous Depth Depth -- Various Morphologies -- Various Morphologies Inconsistent Consistent Inconsistent Radii Vault Consistent Radii Vault -- Various Morphologies Inconsistent Consistent Radii Vault

3D - Type 3

2D - Focused Depth 2D - Focused Depth 2D - Focused Depth

1D-2D - Obvious Depth

1D-2D - Obvious Depth

STADIUM: SECTIONAL GEOMETRY Braga Stadium

GEOMETRY

(2003)

HOLE

3D - Type 1a HABITABLE

1. Visual Syntax of 7 Deep Envelopes (Drawing by Hardy Ho)

3D - Type 1a

3D - Type 1a

(2015)

Stamford Bridge (unbuilt)

Architect: Herzog & de Meuron

SHAPE

RDS Urban Arena (unbuilt)

Architect: Grafton Architects

SHEAR

3D - Type 2

3D - Type 1b

3D - Type 1b 3D - Type 1b

2. Categories of Depth Composition

Bordeaux

1DStadium - Extended Depth 1D - Extended Depth 1D - Extended Depth

(unbuilt)

Architect: DCA

RAMP

3D - Ambiguous Depth

Architect: Eduardo Souto de Moura

1D-2D - Obvious Depth

COHESIVE

Concept Stadium

2D - Layered Depth 2D - Layered Depth 2D - Layered Depth

(Drawing by Hardy Ho)

3D - Type 2

3D - Type 2

3D - Type 1a

3D - Type 1a

3D - Type 3

3D - Type 3

3D - Type 1b

3D - Type 1b 3D - Type 1b

3. Studies on Depth Composition 3D - Contracted Depth 3D - Contracted3D Depth - Contracted Depth 3D - Guided Depth 3D - Guided Depth 3D - Guided Depth

(Drawing by Hardy Ho) Depth 3D - Ambiguous 3D - Ambiguous 3DDepth - Ambiguous Depth

3D - Ambiguous Depth 3D - Ambiguous 3DDepth - Ambiguous Depth - Inconsistent Consistent - Inconsistent Radii Vault Consistent Radii Vault - Inconsistent Consistent Radii Vault - Various Morphologies - Various Morphologies - Various Morphologies

4. Atelier Bow Wow, Sectional perspective

(https://www.safaribooksonline.com/library/view/cad-fundamentals-for/9781780672823/08_chapter-title-1.html)

3D - Type 3

Architect: Herzog & de Meuron

COHESIVE

STADIUM: SECTIONAL GEOMETRY 3D - Type 1a Braga Stadium (2003)

Architect: Eduardo Souto de Moura

HOLE

GEOMETRY

HABITABLE

1. Visual Syntax of 7 Deep Envelopes

2. Categories of Depth Composition

(Drawing by Hardy Ho)

Stamford Bridge (unbuilt)

RDS Urban Arena (unbuilt)

Architect: Grafton Architects

SHEAR

3D - Type 2

3D - Type 2

3. Studies on Depth Composition 3D - Guided Depth 3D - Guided Depth 3D - Guided Depth

3D - Ambiguous 3D - Ambiguous (Drawing by Hardy Ho) Depth 3DDepth - Ambiguous Depth

- Various Morphologies - Various Morphologies - Various Morphologies

(Drawing by Hardy Ho)

3D - Type 2

3D - Type 3

3D - Type 3

4. Atelier Bow Wow, Sectional perspective

(https://www.safaribooksonline.com/library/view/cad-fundamentals-for/9781780672823/08_chapter-title-1.html)

3D - Type 3

Architect: Herzog & de Meuron

COHESIVE

STADIUM: SECTIONAL GEOMETRY GEOMETRY

HABITABLE

1. Visual Syntax of 7 Deep Envelopes (Drawing by Hardy Ho)

2. Categories of Depth Composition (Drawing by Hardy Ho)

- Kai Tak Multi-purpose Sports Complex (MPSC) Pier PTI & Artists’ Village; SE to- Site the Analysis Metro Park and Cruise

Terminal; and NE to the LTSB Preservation Corridor and the

Kai Tak MTR Station Square & PTI. site is surrounded - Kai Tak Multi-purpose Sports Complex (MPSC) - SiteThe Analysis

12

13

200m

by no less than 10 schools and the Cattle Depot Artist Village nearby, which could drive the test case to provide both cultural and social programs within the complex. The Kai Tak Development is planned to accommodate a population of 90,000 and to provide at least 30,000 housing units, including 13,000 as part of the public housing estates. The nearby gridded layout of Kowloon City and To Kwa Wan, the industrial buildings of San Po Kong, the high-rise podium towers within the Development, provide a dense and variegated urban language in comparison with the open views & voids of the sports complex and the cruise terminal. Sight lines or view corridors shall be maintained with an innovative approach of framing the deep site rather than a vast green landscaped platform. The bland urban environment of high towers and flat parks shall be mediated through differentiation and distinction of a low to mid-rise complex that frames views and scenarios in numerous directions. The numerous offices and government buildings at the periphery of the Kai Tak Development shall require a mediated ground for retail and recreational uses as well. The need for not an icon but a social complex shall be one that could attract tourists coming from the Terminal to experience the vivid life of recreation and relaxation mediated through depth, in contrast to the monotonous impression of open-plan malls in the Terminal.

200m

200m

3D - Shifted Depth3D - Shifted Depth 3D - Shifted Depth

Contracted Depth Contracted 3D - Guided Depth 3D - Guided Depth Contracted Depth 3DDepth - Guided Depth

Architect: Herzog & de Meuron

3D - Ambiguous Depth

& graphical media represenTaTions as insTrumenTal Tools, The Thesis aims

(unbuilt)

Architect: DCA

RAMP Colosseum

3D - Ambiguous Depth

edefine The performaTive envelope ThaT merges The sTrucTure and archiTecTure inTo a

3D - Type 1a

1D - Overhung Depth 1D - Overhung 1D Depth - Overhung Depth

Bordeaux

Concept Stadium

EXTRUSION

3D - Ambiguous Depth

& graphical media represenTaTions as insTrumenTal Tools, The Thesis aims

1D-2D - Obvious Depth

1D-2D - Obvious Depth

HOLE

3D - Type 1a

1D-2D - Obvious Depth

1D - Punched Depth 1D - Punched Depth 1D - Punched Depth

(2003)

Architect: Eduardo Souto de Moura

e, which Transforms passive evenT-spaces inTo vibranT projecTive manfiolds wiTh depTh. plores The juxTaposiTion of inTerlacing spaces beTween The envelope and The inTerior.

geomeTries

Herzog & de Meuron

UTEC Campus (70 AD)

Braga Stadium

plores The juxTaposiTion of inTerlacing spaces beTween The envelope and The inTerior.

geomeTries

DCA

RAMP Colosseum

EXTRUSION

Design Method & Organization

3D - Ambiguous Depth

(unbuilt)

Architect: Grafton Architects

SHEAR

3D - Ambiguous Depth

Urban Arena

200m

Mediating Methodology: By using a simple array 200m of sports complex typology and mixing smaller modules of the same typology, the loose fit between the envelope, structure and interior, shall gener200m ate ambiguous depth that can produce maximum mediating affects of neither surface nor depth, solidity nor plasticity, ephemerality nor monumentality, apparentness nor obscurity, as well as various qualities induced by the autonomous field. The deep structure could be flexible, structural and affective by mediating the loose fit.

12. Hardy Ho, ‘School & Cultural Venues’ Site Mapping 13. Hardy Ho, ‘Public & Private Residential’ Site Mapping 14. Hardy Ho, ‘Offices & Commercial Venues’ Site Mapping 21

14

3. Studies on Depth Composition (Drawing by Hardy Ho)

4. Atelier Bow Wow, Sectional perspective

(https://www.safaribooksonline.com/library/view/cad-fundamentals-for/9781780672823/08_chapter-title-1.html)

HOW? Tectonics & Affects of Depth Synopsis: Sectional projections (not limited to parallel projections/axonometric) are firstly used as an optical & graphic media tool to identify the geometric composition of the object planes, then, adaptive model prototypes are made to assess the influence of the sports complex to mediate urban edge and deep field conditions, finally light apertures & performative effects are applied/ projected on the planes for producing effects of depth.

Aggregate Composition as Primary Method: Tectonics like walls, columns, roofs, arches and vaults are employed to produce a deep layered structure rather than a unified surface. The loose fit of the envelope is evaluated on the punctured, framed, porous voids purposefully fit with the site and program constraints. The structure then becomes a graduated loose envelope.

GRAPHIC MEDIA Method - Colored Parallel Projection as Graphic Media: The underlying spatial structure of the architecture form, geometry or stereotomy is depicted and expressed with various spatial projections that could reveal a flattened and layered entirety. Parallel projection, mainly axonometric, is used as a primary spatial and graphical model. Widely used by progressive architects in the 1960s, for example, we can observe Peter Eisenman’s abstract drawings of his houses.

The thesis also uses worm’s eye axonometric in a way to deal with an observer’s viewpoint. Historically used by Auguste Choisy in describing various architectural precedents in the Histoire de l’architecture of 1899, the view can be considered as a critical instrument by transforming the built artifact into a theoretical position that idealize architectural

22

Sundeck

I’ H’

tectonics in the compositional assemblage of the architectural mass. Employed by James Stirling in the Department of Engineering at the University of Leicester in 1963, or by Mario Botta in the 1980s, the representation captures the tectonic moments of the three dimensional form in relation to the observer. Employed by Eugene Kupper in the UCLA Extension Building in 1976, the colored earth and sky axonometrics abandoned the orthodox or traditional part-to-whole relationship among tectonics by Stirling and Eric Owen Moss in the Morgenstern Warehouse and Pinball House in 1978, but more aggressively dealt with the atmospheric affects by emphasis of primary colors. Employed by Rafael Moneo in the National Museum of Roman Art in 1986, the patinas and faded textures of constructed brick and glass tectonics demonstrated the differentiation between the materialistic expressions of building elements.

G’

F’

E’

D’

C’

B’

A’

I’

Studios

Running Track

Shops & Galleries

01

H’

G’

F’

E’

Criteria – Geometrical Operations and Mediating Effects: A consistent and cohesive set of colored parallel projections with atmospheric hue backdrop is adopted as the major drawing technique. Parallel projection is used due to its maintenance of the undistorted section in relation to a diagonal deep projection. Operations on different types of the envelope have been categorized into clear and ambiguous groups firstly. The potential of the alternative arch-vault type is considered to possess the greatest potential both in mediating an old type with mixed civic program, and in cumulating various atmospheric effects or in inducing rich, diverse typicalities.

Secondly, the geometrical operations in the profiling of the section and the subtracting of the massing are presented with exploded axonometric in order to reveal the changes in scale and alignment of the different profiles. A set of three conceptual deep prototypes are produced to demonstrate a generic overview of the atmospheric effects created through the ‘deep masses.

Thirdly, the huge urban massing is expressed with an ex-

Sundeck

Shops

I’

H’

G’

0 10 Scale: 1 to 500

20

50m

02

03

01. Eugene Kupper, UCLA Extension Building, 1976 in A Confederacy of Heretics, Sci-Arc Press, 2014, 68.

02. Hardy Ho, Long Section Blowup Moments 03. Hardy Ho, Final Detail Prototype Corner Moments 23

0 4 Scale: 1 to 200

8

16m

Sectional Transition Studies

Proposed M

Sectional Transgression Studies FULL

Sectional Transition Sectional StudiesTransition Studies

Sectional Transgression Sectional Studies Transgression Studies FULL

NS

NS

EW

EW

Proposed MassingProposed Layout Massing Layou

FULL

1/2 (LATERAL) 1/2 (LATERAL)

1/2 (TRANSVERSAL)

1/2 - SCALED

1/2 (LATERAL)

1/2 (TRANSVERSAL)

1/2 (TRANSVERSAL)

1/2 - SCALED

1/2 - SCALED

1/4 - SCALED

1/4 - SCALED

1/4 - SCALED

Sectional ModularSectional Prototypes Modular Prototypes 04

05

Sectional Modular Prototypes

0

0 50

Top & Bottom Sectional Top & Studies Bottom Sectional Studies

Proposed MassingProposed Layout Massing Layout

06Proposed Massing Layout

Top & Bottom Sectional Stud

04. Hardy Ho, Geometrical Profiling Operations 05. Hardy Ho, Geometrical Subtracting Operations 06. Hardy Ho, 3 Deep Conceptual Prototypes 24

ploded axonometric showing the different datum, program, to be used by three types of users, according to the surrounding circulation and public transportation.

Fourthly, the long sections in parallel projections demonstrate the mediating effects of the massing whole, by cutting through three sections across the outdoor and indoor arenas. The long sections are considered to be successful in mixing the program breakdown into a cohesive massing.

PERFORMANCE OF MODELS Method - The Proun as Geometrical and Graphical Aggregate Prototype: Employed by El Lissitzky in art drawing and Lazar Khidekel in architectural drawing under Suprematism, the Proun, as geometric and graphical compositions, is aimed to induce different spatial qualities through abstraction in the image.

The radical objecthood of the Proun, through sharp cuts and axial juxtaposition, form a tight and clear objectivity in parts and in a whole. The Proun, later translated into architecture through Rem Koolhaas and Zaha Hadid, most famously in the competition project for the expansion of the Dutch Parliament in The Hague in 1978. The intellectual nature of the structural deep massing, as well as the fluid movement and collision of the lines, become the influencing prototype of the typological array/aggregation of the arch/vault tectonics.

Criteria – Performance in a Range of Prototype Models: A range of cardboard models in different scales are tested in terms of circulation, program performance and lighting experience. The first 1:100 deep prototypes deal with a more sectional contouring method, but proved unsuccessful due to the stratification of surfaces into strips. The later 1:100 prototypes are designed to be views from a bottom view, and proved successful in demonstrating a range of treatments from scalar progression, disjunctive alignment to fenestrations, through the highlight of paper and translucent paper

07

08

09

07. El Lissitzky, Proun 1 (1919), http://65.media.tumblr.com/b825a50c5456aaf00387481b03d9d1f4/tumblr_n6iaenMBWo1rktvico1_1280.jpg 08. Hardy Ho, Outdoor Stadium Concourse in 1:200 model 09. Hardy Ho, Final 1:50 Detail Prototype Model 25

Layered Depth

3D - Contracted Depth

- Inconsistent Consistent Radii Vault

Type 1b

cted Depth

3D - Guided Depth

3D - Ambiguous Depth - Inconsistent Consistent Radii Vault

3D - Ambiguous Depth - Various Morphologies

Type 3

d Depth

10 3D - Ambiguous Depth - Various Morphologies

11

12

10. Hardy Ho, ‘Vaulted & Arched Depth’ in Studies on Depth Composition 11. Hardy Ho, Outdoor Stadium Transverse Sectional Studies 12. Hardy Ho, Sectional Modular Prototype Axonometrics 26

Section AA’

Section BB’

Section CC’

Section DD’

Section EE’

Section FF’

B’

Section GG’

I

H

A’

Section HH’

G

F

E

Section II’

D

C

B

South Section

A 0

13

10

30

50m

Section I-I’ I

H

G

F

E

D

C

B

A

I

H

G

F

E

D

C

B

A

Section II-II’

0

14

13. Hardy Ho, Transverse Sectional Studies 14. Hardy Ho, Lateral Sectional Studies 27

10

30

50m

in solid surfaces and overlapped cuts respectively.

The 1:200 long section models proved successful in terms of highlighting the section with white cardboard and the subtracted mass with translucent paper mediated with lighting underneath the models.

The 1:50 detail prototype models, in a total of three phases, proved successful in demonstrating a serial operation from a more generic stack, to a more specific but diverse range of affective mass, and finally to a more finely developed one introduced with elements of split-levels, program hierarchy, circulation, etc.

Schedule: Phase 01 - Building Scale 1:500/ Sectional Axonometric Drawings (due 16/12/2015) The stadium is examined as a sectional object. 1:500 sectional axonometric of the stadium are used to define the spatial qualities in surface and visual syntax that mediates the interior-exterior conditions. The ‘loose fits’ between the envelope and the massing is elaborated within the disciplinary background.

Phase 02 - Building Prototype Scale 1:100 & Urban Scale 1:1000/Drawing & Model/Mediating & Making (due Review 01: 1/2/2016) Different types of depth are categorized from 1D, 2D, 3D and ambiguous types. Alternative compositions of the arch-vault type is reconfigured to produce hybridized mixtures and further developed in diagrams.

Form/programs are analyzed through 1:1000 master layout and sectional studies in program breakdown, massing composition and framing studies are done with the intention of incorporating into the expanded & projected structural and recreational nature of Hong Kong Multi-purpose Sports Complex in Kai Tak. Phase 03 – Masterplan 1:1000/ Building 1:200 Sections/ 1:100 Prototype Models/ Drawing & Model/ Mediating & Making (due Review 02: 14/3/2016) 1:1000 massing layout is developed to incorporate the circuHardy Ho, Outdoor Stadium Spectator Stand in 1:200 model 28

29

lation flows into the test case with thick and shallow linear massing.

1:200 long sections of a succession of depth in different scales and types, as well as plans and renderings are made to incorporate the structure, program diversity into the massing. The prototypes for producing perception depth are fully developed into profiling and subtracting massing operations, tested with 1:100 conceptual prototype models.

Phase 04 - Revisions, refinements. Final areas of testing/ Building 1:200 & Detail Sections & Models 1:50/Drawing & Model (due Review 03: 3/5/2016) 1:200 long sections are further examined in its blowup moments. 1:200 plans in both the outdoor stadium and indoor arena, connected with other programs, are drawn with the intention to demonstrate the resolve on program and circulation issues.

Further revisions on the details of the envelope and spatial affects, through a series of 1:50 detail prototype models, axonometric drawings and sections.

The first 1:50 prototype with a more uniform stacking operation with different profiling but consistent subtracting moments; the second prototype deals with a more specific geometrical operation but more diverse scales of spaces, further lighted with slits as fenestrations.

Phase 05 - Revisions, refinements. Final areas of testing/ Massing 1:500 exploded axonometric drawing/ Building 1:200 long sections / Detail Sections & Models 1:50/Drawing & Model (due Thesis Lockup: 3/6/2016) 1:500 exploded axonometric drawing is produced to reveal the diversity of sports and recreation programs scattered across multiple datum.

1:200 long sections are further developed where structural and programmatic considerations are more resolved.

The final 1:50 prototype sectional model is developed with the consideration of program hierarchy through split-levels, indoor-outdoor corridors, circulation, public-private programs, lighting, etc.

Final models are selectively highlighted by LED lighting with the intention to emphasize specific moments within the massing.

30

Hardy Ho, Back View of Final 1:50 Detail Prototype Model 31

CONCLUSION

01 32

Depth for the Masses “The image is not a painting, but a structure around which we must circle, looking at it from all sides, peering down from above, investigating from below.�

- El Lissitzky, in Great Berlin Art Exhibition, 1923 Depth, induced through the composition of tectonic elements into new aggregates of typological prototypes, push the boundaries between the existing spatial and structural autonomy of the architect and the expanded field of political and social construct. The masses, not as an anonymous passer-by anymore, but as a specific subject in control over the new objective physical construct through the mediatric atmosphere of structure, affects and expression.

The deep massing, aims to conquer beyond the structural limitations, now expand or contract based on the subjectivity of the masses. The form of the sports complex, just like the Proun, finds itself in a field of qualities.

Epilogue on Kai Tak New Town development is Hong Kong is often criticized upon its overuse of generic podium-tower typology. Recreational facilities or parks have also always been criticized upon its lack of sensitivity to social and cultural context.

The new Kai Tak Sports Complex shall be considered as an alternative approach to deal with great and obsolete urban voids surrounded by rich context.

The typicality of the colonial colonnades in various historical monuments is also transformed from being rigid to plastic, or from a strict to a more recreational manner, with the new arch-vault typology organized in a deep massing configuration.

01. Hardy Ho, Test on aggregate composition in linear massing 33

Hong Kong is no longer viewed as a ‘borrowed place’ in a ‘borrowed time’.

In many rich contextual neighborhoods, architecture finds its way into creating a new monumental identity through invoking the collective memory of civic venues in history.

The dominant type of the sports complex, has transformed into a sensitive field of meditation, leisure, and originality.

Kai Tak, once the bay overlooking the old Kowloon Walled City, or once the old airport observing the rise of Hong Kong’s economy, has now become the breeding ground for professional and amateur sports player, as well as the social leisure complex immersed with affective qualities through a deep massing.

The sports complex is no longer self-referential and enclosed, but sensitive and responsive to surrounding context and the collective memories of locals.

Ho Cheuk YIu Hardy

34

Hardy Ho, Bird’s eye View from Northeast in 1:1000 Urban Massing Model 35

BIBLIOGRAPHY 01 THEORY 1. Aldo Rossi, The Architecture of the City, MIT Press,1984 2. Anthony Vidler, ‘Terres Inconnues: Cartographies of a Landscape to be Invented’ in October, Vol. 115 (MIT Press, 2006), 13-30 3. Florian Herweck and Sebastian Marot, The City in the City Berlin: A Green Archipelago, Lars Muller, 2013 4. Pier Vittorio Aureli, ‘Toward the Archipelago’ in Log, No. 11 (Winter 2008), Anyone Corporation, 91-120 5. Herbert Bayer, Diagram of the Field of Vision, 1930 6. Erik L’Heureux, Deep Veils, ORO Editions, 2014 7. Alejandro Zaera-Polo, The Politics of the Envelope, Log 13/14, Fall 2008 8. Kurt Evans, Iben Falconer and Ian Mills, Perspecta 45: Agency, MIT Press, 2012 9. Monika Minsova, Oxymoron & Pleonasm: Conversatiosn on American Critical and Projective Throey of Architecture, Actar Publishers, New York, 2014 10. Theo Lorenz & Peter Staub, Mediating Architecture, AA Agendas No. 11, AA Publications, 2006 11. Brad Cloepfil, Allied Works Architecture/Brad Cloepfil: Occupation, Gregory R. Miller & Co., New York, 2011 12. Ana Jeinic, Amselm Wagner, Is There (Anti-)Neoliberal Architecture?, jovis Verlag GmbH, Berlin, 2013 13. Jonathan Hill, Immaterial Architecture, Routledge, 2006 14. Jane Rendell, Jonathan Hill, Murray Fraser and Mark Dorian, Critical Architecture, Routledge, 2007 15. Alejandro Zaera-Polo, The Sniper’s Log: Architectural Chronicles of Generation X, Acta, New York, 2012 16. Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, Dialogue and Translation (GSAPP Transcripts), GSAPP Books, 2014 17. Diller Scofidio + Renfro, The Ciliary Function, Skira, 2006 18. Paul Bentel and Howard Hopffgarten, Monumentality and The City (The Harvard Architectural Review IV), MIT Press, 1984 19. J Mayer H, Could Should Would, Hatje Cantz, Germany, 2015 20. Mansilla + Tunon, From Rules to Constraints, Princeton School of Architecture, Lars Muller, 2012

36

02 TECHNICAL 1. Farshid Moussavi, ‘Watching Sports 1927-2012’ in The Function of Style (ActarD Inc, 2015), 470-519 2. Christopher C.M. Lee & Sam Jacoby, AD Typological Urbanism: Projective Cities, Wiley, 2011 3. Neeraj Bhatia and Mary Casper, The Petropolis of Tomorrow, Actar, 2013 4. Todd Gannon and Ewan Branda, A Confederacy of Heretics, Sci-Arc Press, 2014 5. Barbara Burren, Martin Tschanz and Christa Vogt, The Pitched Roof, Niggli, Zurich, 2008 6. Valerio Paolo Mosco, Naked Architecture, Skira Editore, Milano 2012 7. Mark Muckenheim and Juliane Demel, Inspiration: Contemporary Design Methods in Architecture, BIS Publishers, Amsterdam, 2012 8. Geraint John, Road Sheard and Ben Vickery, Stadia: The Populous Design and Development Guide (Fifth Edition), Routledge, 2013 9. Michelle Provoost, The Stadium: the architecture of mass sport, NAi Publishers, Rotterdam, 2000 10. Ulrich Pfammatter, Building for a Changing Culture and Climate, DOM publishers, Berlin, 2015

03 RELATED PROJECTS 1. Herzog & de Meuron, Chelsea FC Stamford Bridge Stadium, UK, 2015 2. Herzog & de Meuron, Bordeaux Stadium, France, 2015 3. Grafton Architects and Paulo Mendes da Rocha, Architecture as New Geography, Venice Architecture Biennale 2012 4. Peter Cook, Abedian School of Architecture, Australia, 2013 5.Herzog & de Meuron, Flinders Street Station, Melbourne, 2013 6. Atelier Deshaus, Long Museum, Shanghai, 2014 7. Mass Studies, DAUM Headquarters, South Korea, 2012 8. Johnston Marklee, Vault House, California, 2013 9. Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Penn Station 3.0, NYC, 2013

37

APPENDIX

i

3D - Shifted Depth

1D-2

Perforated Depth

1D - Extended Depth

3D - Ambiguous Depth - Consistent Radii Vault 3D - Contracted Depth

2D - Layered Depth

3 -

PROGRESS REPORT Focused Depth

3D - Type 1b

3D - Type 1a 2D - Perforated Depth

3D - Shifted Depth

d Depth

Layered Depth

3D - Ambiguous Depth

3D - Ambiguous Depth - Consistent Radii Vault 3D - Guided Depth

3D - Ambiguous Depth - Consistent Radii Vault

3D - Ambiguous Depth - Inconsistent Consistent Radii Vault

3D - Contracted Depth 3D - Type 2

3D - Type 3

2D - Focused Depth

01 Type 1b

cted Depth

3D - Ambiguous Depth - Inconsistent Consistent Radii Vault

3D - Contracted Depth

2D - Layered Depth

3D - Guided Depth

3D - Ambiguous Depth - Inconsistent Consistent Radii Vault

3D - Ambiguous Depth - Various Morphologies

Type 3

d Depth

3D - Type 1b

3D - Ambiguous Depth - Various Morphologies

3D - Guided Depth

02 3D - Type 3

3D - Ambiguous Depth - Various Morphologies

03

01. Hardy Ho, Studies on Deep Wall mixtures 02. Hardy Ho, Studies on Deep Arch/Vault mixtures 03. Hardy Ho, Depth Composition Study Models ii

3 -

Review 01 away, a more perspectival/dynamic affect from a central focus, etc.

DBR commented on a successful linkage of the play of depth and an infrastructural complex’s structural, monolithic or monumental qualities. DBR also commented on a successful start on test models that experimented with depth induced by the compositional play on the envelope.

DBR commented the arch-vault typological mixture was relatively successful and could be a direction in producing more ambiguous depth affects that mediate the loose fit between the envelope and the structure. DBR suggested the approach of manipulating depth could be influenced either from urban forces or typological mixtures from within.

Critics: Dylan Baker-Rice (DBR), Thomas Tsang (TT) 1. Synopsis of presentation Why: Main ideas about the relationship between depth and the loose fit between the envelope, structure and interior were presented. The presentation included studies on the composition of depth through an array of typologies like the wall, column, arches and vaults that can be combined to produce multi-directional affects of depth, through a matrix of diagrams and test affect models.

What: The test case of the Kai Tak sports complex was argued to be flexible enough to allow a mixture of programs/typologies, while also urban enough where form/circulation forces could drive an urban complex through projective differentiation of the type.

How: Initial studies on the test case included a site analysis, a breakdown of the site programs, as well as a series of iterative massing/framing studies. The design methodology is articulated through a series of 1:1000 mapping studies and axonometric drawings and 1:200 affect test models. Parallel projection was used as a media to present a flattened/conceptual depth that reveal the layers of tectonics.

3. Student’s Response Why: The formulation of the idea of depth could be developed by exploring more about the integration of the envelope, structure and interior with the aggregate composition of the wall & ceiling through ambiguous blending.

What: The test case area and scale was justified, however, initial tests could start from half of the site. The contemporary local & global issue of sports complex as an obsolete spectacle was briefly mentioned.

The historical issue of producing deep affects in relation to public and monumental space could be further developed. Program flexibility & context relevancy could be influenced by each other.

How: The use of colored parallel projection as the drawing media was justified.

The iterative approach of producing a matrix of diagrams and models could be developed across the whole site. The potentials of material transparency could be incorporated with the envelope later on.

2. Synopsis of Critics’ Comments TT commented on the historical play of visual depth since the Renaissance from works of Borromini and Bramante. TT also commented that depth could produce both visual and acoustical affects in the test case. TT commented the target and the audience, or the audience and the public, could experience different affects depending on the distance and angle, e.g. a more flattened/static affect from far iii

1D-2D - Obvi

(Drawing by Hardy Ho)

(https://www.safaribooksonline.com/library/view/cad-fundamentals-for/9781780672823/08_chapter-title-1.html)

Test Case - Kai Tak Multi-purpose Sports Complex (MPSC) - Site Analysis

Schools & Cultural

1D - Extended Depth

2D - Layered Depth

3D - Type 1a

3D - Type 1b

3D - Contracted Depth

Private Residential Public Residential

3D - Ambiguous Depth

3D - Guided Depth

Office & Commercial

3D - Type 2

3D - Type 3

200m

200m

04

05 Indoor Sports Centre Program Breakdown Ancillary Arena

VIP Booths

Bowling Hall

Main Arena + Seats

Retail

Fitness Ctr.

Tickets

Outdoor Sports Ground Program Breakdown Pitch

Seats

Media Ctr.

Changing Rooms

VIP Booths

100m

Track & Field

100m

1. View Corridors as Framing Parameter

2. Massing Voids allowable by regulations

06

04. Hardy Ho, Studies on depth composition 05. Hardy Ho, Kai Tak Site Mapping Studies 06. Hardy Ho, Site studies on framing depth 07. Hardy Ho, Kai Tak Site Analysis iv

3. Program Massing Breakdown

4. Program Massing Rearranged

5. Framing Depth in parallel to View Corridor

6. Framing Depth along View Corridor

Retail

200m

200m

07 v

Overlapping Sections

Overlapping Contours

Overlapping Contours Parabolic Surfaces

I. Cross vault

I. Cross vault

Overlapping Sections

Overlapping Sections

Overlapping Contours

Parabolic Surfaces

II. Expanded parabolic vault (out of phase)

I. Cross vault parabolic vault II. Expanded (out of phase)

01 200m

II. Expanded parabolic vault (out of phase)

III. Shifted parabolic vault

III. Shifted parabolic vault

Overlapping Sections

Overlapping Contours

Parabolic Surfaces

Contoured Massing

200m

IV. parabolic vault III. Expanded Shifted parabolic vault (in phase)

I. Cross vault

IV. Expanded parabolic vault V. parabolic vault (inAmbiguous phase)

II. Expanded parabolic vault (out of phase)

02

V. Ambiguous parabolic vault III. Shifted parabolic vault

IV. Expanded parabolic vault (in phase)

03 V. Ambiguous parabolic vault

01. Hardy Ho, Kai Tak Sports Complex Layout Masterplan 02. Hardy Ho, Vault Composition Studies 03. Hardy Ho, 2nd Review Panel & Models Overview vi

IV. Expanded parabolic vault (in phase)

V. Ambiguous parabolic vault

Review 02 sports grounds into an ambiguous field of figure-ground massing. BSJ suggested to incorporate the surrounding urban fabric into the sports complex layout, such that the relationship between indoor and outdoor can be clearer and reflected from the 1:500 vault composition study models.

DBR commented on the test case being successful in integrating social issue in an architectural context related to urban and structural forces, and the method in producing strong drawings and models.

DBR commented on the consideration of contrasting sides of the stadium stands to present different qualities of deep affects.

DBR also commented on the structural issue of the shed roof proposal. DBR suggested focusing on manipulating depth on one area first at 1:100 scale to hone the technique of composing depth away from using decorative colonnades.

Critics: Dylan Baker-Rice (DBR), Beisi Jia (BSJ) 1. Synopsis of presentation Why: Main ideas about the relationship between depth and the aggregated composition of the vault were presented. The presentation included studies on the composition of mixed typologies like the wall, column, arches and vaults through stereotomy that can be combined to produce dual-directional affects of depth, through a matrix of diagrams and test affect models.

What: The test case of the Kai Tak sports complex was argued to be a field of multilayered massing with a mixture of programs/datums, while also responded to urban form/circulation forces and formed an urban complex through projective differentiation of the type.

How: Further studies on the test case included the overall layout masterplan, vault composition studies, sectional earth and sky axonometrics, as well as a series of iterative transverse and lateral sectional studies of the outdoor stadium.

The design methodology is articulated through a series of 1:500 vault composition diagrams, axonometric drawings, 1:1000 overall massing model and 1:200 stadium sectional models cutting through both the outdoor stadium and the indoor arena. Parallel projection and atmospheric color gradients were used to enhance graphical media in highlighting a flattened/conceptual depth that reveal the layers of vault tectonics.

3. Student’s Response In general, more studies and development on a clearer approach reflected from the study models would be carried out.

What: The test case area and scale was justified, however, initial tests could start from a smaller scale. Program and structural issues should not end up with neoclassical colonnades, but with more sectional shifts in lateral direction. Sectional stacking and variation are considered relatively successful.

How: The use of colored atmospheric parallel projection as the drawing media was justified. The iterative approach of producing a matrix of diagrams and test models could be more fully translated into larger scales. The potentials of wall transparency could be incorporated with the structure/ envelope, as a secondary layer of depth.

2. Synopsis of Critics’ Comments BSJ commented on the major move of breaking down the existing separate vii

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Review 03 method through the performance of the 1:100 and 1:50 models as being successful in integrating the arch/vault tectonic into the test case of the stadium. NS compared the act to that of an structural engineer, such that architects could expand its autonomous field into large scale social complexes that are too much influenced by other issues. NS brought up Herzog & de Meuron’s Fünf Höfe in Munich which made use of media and lighting to create reflective and deep passage atmosphere, in which the position to differentiate natural and artificial construct is ambiguous.

ES commented on the relative success of the 1:100 models but regarded the 1:50 models too varied and specific or fully translated into the test case. ES also suggested both light and air could enhance the performance of the circulation atmosphere, which could be tested with the Millipede software.

DBR commented that a balance between diversity and uniformity should be done, e.g. parabolic cuts rather than slits should be allowed for lighting.

Critics: Dylan Baker-Rice (DBR), Eric Schuldenfrei (ES), Nasrine Seraji (NS) 1. Synopsis of presentation Why: Main idea about the relationship between depth and the aggregated composition of the shifted sectional vault was presented. The presentation included different scales of sectional transgression that can be combined to produce dualdirectional affects of depth, through a matrix of diagrams and test affect models.

What: The test case of the Kai Tak sports complex was argued to be a field of deeplayered massing with hybrid programs/ datums, not limited to public spaces, learning institutions, recreational facilities, while established as an autonomous urban complex through projective differentiation of the type.

How: Further studies on the test case included the overall massing axonometrics, sectional transgression diagrams, as well as a series of iterative transverse and lateral sectional studies of the outdoor stadium.

The design methodology is articulated through a series of three 1:100 2-storey vault composition prototypes through asymmetry, non-alignment and fenestrations respectively, as well as two 1:50 sectional modular prototypes translated into the test case, and 1:200 stadium sectional models cutting through the outdoor stadium as a focus area. Parallel projection and atmospheric color gradients were used to enhance graphical media in highlighting a flattened/conceptual depth that reveal the layers of vault tectonics.

3. Student’s Response In general, more studies and development on a clearer approach translated into all study models would be carried out.

Why: The idea between the discourse of depth and the test case was strong.

What: The test case area and scale was justified, however, the 1:50 models should be more specific and fully translated form the 1:100 models. A clearer logic in producing more sectional shifts in lateral direction should be made.

How: The iterative approach of producing a matrix of diagrams and test models could be more fully translated into larger scales.

2. Synopsis of Critics’ Comments NS commented on the iterative ‘circular’ xi

04 04. Hardy Ho, Geometrical Profiling & Subtratcing Operations; 3 Deep Conceptual Prototypes 05. Hardy Ho, Linear Sports Complex Axonometrics 06. Hardy Ho, Sectional Modular Prototype Axonometrics xii

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Final Review 2. Synopsis of Critics’ Comments EH commented that the arch-vault typology has always been recurring within the profession, from ancient colonnades to Toyo Ito’s Tama Gallery or Brandon Clifford’s vault syntax. EH commented it is the surface syntax of the vault, rather than the composition or tectonics of the structure, as the most interesting quality apparent in the models. EH considered the 1:100 models very successful in producing specific moments when the structure touches ground, and that the models are agonistic in terms of not revealing the true structure anymore. EH suggested the consideration of thermal mass in terms of realization and sustainability.

ES suggested to explore the roofscape more and to maintain the discrepancies which proved very successful and interesting for further development.

WJ commented on the thesis successful in demonstrating eclectic, mythical, antihistorical, geometrical qualities through the simple but focused analytical approach.

Critics: Dylan Baker-Rice (DBR), Eric Schuldenfrei (ES), Eric Howeler (EH), Beisi Jia (BSJ), Simon Chan (SC), Weijen Wang (WJ) 1. Synopsis of presentation Why: The final and most developed idea about the relationship between depth and the aggregated massing composition of the shifted sectional vault was presented. The presentation included different scales of sectional transgression that can be combined to produce dual-directional affects of depth, through a matrix of diagrams and test affect models.

What: The test case of the Kai Tak sports complex is redesigned as a field of deeplayered massing with hybrid programs/ datum, not limited to public spaces, learning institutions, recreational facilities, while established as an autonomous urban complex through projective differentiation of the type.

How: Further studies on the test case included the overall massing axonometrics, sectional transgression diagrams, as well as a series of iterative transverse and lateral sectional studies of the outdoor stadium.

The design methodology is articulated through a series of three 1:100 2-storey vault composition prototypes through asymmetry, non-alignment and fenestrations respectively, as well as three 1:50 sectional modular prototypes translated into the test case, and 1:200 stadium sectional models cutting through the outdoor stadium as a focus area. Parallel projection and atmospheric color gradients were used to enhance graphical media in highlighting a flattened/conceptual depth that reveal the layers of vault tectonics.

3. Student’s Response Development translated into all study models have been proved instrumental in establishing the thesis grounds.

WHY: The idea between the discourse of depth and the test case was strong.

WHAT: Structure and materiality reflected from the 1:50 models should be more sensitive such as adopting the use of fiberglass reinforced with steel trusses.

HOW: The iterative approach of producing a matrix of diagrams and test models is difficult to be fully translated into the larger scales, since the experience and qualities would be too apart. xv

04 04. Hardy Ho, Sports Complex Exploded Axonometrics Overview 05. Hardy Ho, Final Urban Masterplan xvi

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06 06. Hardy Ho, Sports Complex Exploded Axonometrics (Bottom Extract) 07. Hardy Ho, Sports Complex Exploded Axonometrics (Top Extract) xviii

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14. Hardy Ho, Outdoor Stadium Level 5 Part Plan [+18.0m] xxvi

15. Hardy Ho, Three 1:100 Deep Conceptual Prototypes (Left to RIght): Scalar Progression, Warped Fenestration, Disjunctive Symmetry xxvii

16. Hardy Ho, Overview of 1:200 model

17. Hardy Ho, Promenade & Deck in 1:200 model

18. Hardy Ho, Stadium Concourse in 1:200 model xxviii

19. Hardy Ho, Stadium Spectators’ Stand in 1:200 model

20. Hardy Ho, Track and Field in 1:200 model xxix

21. Hardy Ho, Market & Terraces in 1:200 model

22. Hardy Ho, Concourse in 1:200 model xxx

23. Hardy Ho, Catering Services in 1:200 model xxxi

24. Hardy Ho, Final 1:50 Detail Prototype xxxii

25. Hardy Ho, Final 1:50 Detail Prototype Corner Moments xxxiii

26. Hardy Ho, 1st 1:50 Detail Prototype Model

27. Hardy Ho, 2nd 1:50 Detail Prototype Model xxxiv

28. Hardy Ho, Final 1:50 Detail Prototype Model xxxv

29. Hardy Ho, Front View of Final 1:50 Detail Prototype Model xxxvi

30. Hardy Ho, Back View of Final 1:50 Detail Prototype Model xxxvii

31. Hardy Ho, Side View of Final 1:50 Detail Prototype Model xxxviii

32. Hardy Ho, Corner View [1] of Final 1:50 Detail Prototype Model xxxix

33. Hardy Ho, Corner View [2] of Final 1:50 Detail Prototype Model xl

34. Hardy Ho, Corner View [3] of Final 1:50 Detail Prototype Model xli

CREDITS

Thesis 2016 Department of Architecture The University of Hong Kong Special thanks to - Dylan Baker-Rice - Sonia Ho (MArch I) - Yvonne Yuen (BAAS IV) - Jayla Lai (BAAS III) - Gavin Ng (BAAS II) - Christie Ma (BAAS I) Edited by David Erdman - Thesis Chair Bookdesign by Samantha Wan Images by: The University of Hong Kong Department of Architecture All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the Department of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong.

THESIS 2016 DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG