L.Arch Study Abroad
Santa Chiara Study Center
VIGILANCE Nicholas Chau California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
LA463 Senior Seminar Fall 2017
Professor Rennie Tang
Cortina d’Ampezzo, the City of Nature Lido, the City of Water
Castiglion Fiorentino, the City of Culture
Mapping P.10-11 Diagraming P.18-19
Mapping P.8-9 Diagraming P.16-17
Mapping P.6-7 Diagraming P.14-15
Story of the Three Cities P.20-21
CONTENT 2
The phrase “Site Specific” is often correlated to how substantial a landscape site is. The ways of analyzing the relevance of a design towards its site requires knowledge and understanding of the surrounding of the site. The more common ways of achieving this, is to search up city databases, dive into books in libraries, etc. The majority of the information obtained is second handed information, taken from other people’s effort. What if we, designers, can create our own parameter and analyze the site in our own process, a process that can be given to others and expand the information obtained without the use of the norm of site analysis? Introducing the process of Walking Algorithm, an algorithm by definition is “a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations”1, the walking algorithm created in this studio is inspired by Emma Cocker’s The Yes of the No. The walking algorithm in this book, especially, is inspired by the chapter Vigilance. The chapter emphasizes on the importance of the static, unseen elements that defines the city. These elements are usually hidden under the constant movement of pedestrians and cars, the more subtle elements are hidden under sunlight.
Vigilance suggests observation under night time, optimally, past midnight when most activities no longer be seen and the hidden elements will reveal themselves slowly. As a result, the walking algorithm is created to identify what elements have we ignored during our “normal day activities”. The aim of the walking algorithm is to create an outcome as objective as possible. To achieve this, the algorithm not only involves the executor of the algorithm, but also an identifier, who know nothing about the whole process. This can prevent the subjective assumption of the executor to produce an ideal outcome.
INTRODUCTION Walking Algorithm
In this book, it is clear to understanding that the results are altered due to overlighting in city, the elements of darkness are eliminated in exchange for the sense of safety. This not only lowers the complexity of a city, but also disturbed the nocturnal ecosystem.
Nicholas Chau (1996,Hong Kong), 4th Year Undergraduate in Cal Poly Pomona.
1 Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (11th ed.). (n.d.)
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Walking Algorithm step 1. Find the main street in the area step 2. Walk through the main street once step 3. Pick a starting point (During Daytime) step 4. Take a picture at eye level step 5. Walk 60 Steps / Until the first intersection step 6. Take another picture at eye level step 7. Enter intersection, walk 40 Steps/ Walk 40 steps step 8. Take a picture at eye level step 9. Repeat step 1-8 at Night step 10. Find an Identifier and ask what they see step 11. Output
In the following Mappings, the words on the pictures are the output from Identifiers of the pictures during daytime.
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MAPPING
MAPPING 1
texture sign
plant
electric sign
Important
plant
CONSTRUCTION
DAY window
Opening door
NIGHT
Window
plants Stairs
DOWN Location Map
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Handrail
Walking Algorithm step 1. Find the main street in the area step 2. Walk through the main street once step 3. Pick a starting point (During Daytime) step 4. Take a picture at eye level step 5. Walk 60 Steps step 6. Take another picture at eye level step 7. Walk 40 Steps step 8. Take a picture at eye level step 9. Repeat step 1-8 at Night step 10. Find an Identifier and ask what they see step 11. Output
Viewing the picture of night time overlaid with text output from morning can reveal the importance of both night and day. In the top picture, it is shown that the contrast seen between well-lit area and area with no direct lighting is unseen in the day time. Whereas, in the day time more can be seen in certain areas, such as the picture at the middle, the construction area is not obvious at night as the feeling the whole composition evoked is stronger than the single element itself. It is also shown that people tends to point out what they see in pictures of defined figures and objects, such as day time; and more emotion-oriented words comes out when the composition of the photograph incorporates a certain extent of unknown and the color of the lightings combined atmosphere. Relating this thinking into Cocker’s reading, when people stand still at night, instead of rely purely on what they see, people starts to assume what is happening, because they cannot see everything as clear as the day. H.P. Lovecraft once said “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown”, because of what is unknown to the eye, people starts feeling uncertain, overwhelmed by the darkness around. In addition to the visual, the European cold weather at night also adds an extra layer to the emotion evoked. This raises the significance of understanding the difference between day and night of a site, as a same site can be completely different between day and night, in terms of the atmosphere created. Hence, it is crucial for designers to clearly thought through of how a site should be, both in the morning and at night.
Marisa Harris 3rd Year Visualization student, Texas A&M University, Lufkin, Texas
Identifier 7
MAPPING 2
nature
FALL DAY
MORE SIGNS
MORE SIGNS
CALM
DAY
MORE SIGNS
RESIDENTIAL APARTMENTS
MORE SIGNS
activity
tree sign
shade car bicycle
NIGHT
Back side of residential apartments
Location Map
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more signs
more car
LIFE
Walking Algorithm step 1. Find the main street in the area step 2. Walk through the main street once step 3. Pick a starting point (During Daytime) step 4. Take a picture at eye level step 5. Walk Until the first intersection step 6. Take another picture at eye level step 7. Enter intersection, walk 40 Steps step 8. Take a picture at eye level step 9. Repeat step 1-8 at Night step 10. Find an Identifier and ask what they see step 11. Output
From the output on the left of the page, it can be seen that when comparing day and night, the Identifier will start to point out atmosphere and weather. The occupation of the Identifier also affects the outcome, in this instance, the Identifier is an Architecture student, hence pointing out the architecture as residential apartments and even described the orientation of the architecture. It is also interesting that more human and vehicles are shown in pictures, evokes the feeling of livelier atmosphere. From a bystander point of view, when people compare two pictures and people are not the main focus, the clothing of the people in the picture is often ignored, whereas, their motions and action is amplified. Relating the output with Cocker’s reading, thanks to how static photographs are, the subtle elements are revealed. It is shown that during the day, Lido feels more lively and calm; the numbers of cars are comparably more than at night. At night, eliminating human activities and dimmed lights, the general atmosphere is more intimidating and “sketchy�, as described by the Identifier. The revelation of graffiti that were hidden during daytime and the fog created by the water vapor from the sea surround are the main two factors that amplified this feeling. These would not be noticed during daytime because of the climate and the graffiti are drawn on the storefront gate, which are unseen during daytime.
Jason Casto 3rd Year Architecture student, Texas A&M University, Austin, Texas
Identifier 9
MAPPING 3
MAJESTIC
high Architecture shading Action
UP COLD
Architecture
OPEN OPENESS
Old people
Architecture
DAY
Reflection
blue
Architecture
DOW N
MYSTERY
Gradient
Life People Action
colors
NIGHT Form
JOYFUL Nature Man-made
SHADE Location Map
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Walking Algorithm step 1. Find the main street in the area step 2. Walk through the main street once step 3. Pick a starting point (During Daytime) step 4. Take a picture at eye level step 5. Walk Until the first intersection step 6. Take another picture at eye level step 7. Enter intersection, walk 40 Steps step 8. Take a picture at eye level step 9. Repeat step 1-8 at Night step 10. Find an Identifier and ask what they see step 11. Output
Applying the walking algorithm into Cortina d’Ampezzo gave out an intriguing outcome. The environment in Cortina d’Ampezzo is ideal; there are certain elements that dominate the daytime activities, the Dolomites Mountains. During the night, outdoor activities drastically decrease due to the cold weather; in fact most stores close before 8:30pm. The lightings in the town also aid the output, because of the low amount of activities at night, the amount of lightings appear to be minimal when compared to other cities. With increased darkness and minimal lightings, mountains started to become silhouettes, the feeling of unknown is being evoked over and over. Position of lightings becomes obvious and the wordings from the Identifier began to be more personal. Instead of description, the wordings slowly became assumptions, and a hierarchy emerges. The heirarchy shows that sense of direction is the most dominant, following by the emotions evoked and the location of figures and objects are comparably insignificant.
Nesserine Ma Teacher Assistant, Ph.D. in Architecture, Texas A&M University, Tunisia
Identifier 11
Inspired by David Leatherbarrow’s “Gardens and the Larger Landscape”, the following diagrams are created in response to the Technological Distance portion of the reading. The architectures of the three cities are being analyzed the material of the Façade, roof, doorframe and window. This shows how all the cities uses similar materials, but different purpose, different method of usage and different styles of architecture are created. Relating to how Leatherbarrow is trying to encourage designers to use materials that we use everyday differently when it comes to designing.
DIAGRAMMING
Wood Stone Brick Ceramic 14
DIAGRAMMING
The architecture in Castiglion Fiorentino uses ceramic roof tiles, similar to Lido. The doorframe and windows are made of wood, this is because of the durability of wood and the source of wood is nearby, as Castiglion Fiorentino is in the Tuscany region where Agriculture is the main industry, hence wood. The faรงade of the architecture is stone; this is a city requirement to use local stone sources for both the street and the faรงade of architectures.
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Wood Stone Brick Ceramic 16
DIAGRAMMING
The architecture in Lido remains similar to Castiglion Fiorentino, with wooden windows and ceramic roof tiles. The main concern in Lido, as it is an island located near Venice, is water vapor. This differ Lido’s architecture from the other two cities; the façade and doorframe are built with bricks, as the durability of brick façades outweighs stone in high humidity areas and the stability of brick also overcomes wood, wood expands when in contact with moisture. Hence the use of material in this situation.
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Wood Stone Brick Ceramic 18
DIAGRAMMING
Cortina d’Ampezzo is a town near the Dolomites, with its high altitude, inconvenient transportation and constant snow during winter time. The architecture will requires materials from the surrounding and withstand all these problems. Hence, the façade, doorframe and windows are made of wood. Not only is wood a local material and can withstand snow, the influence of Switzerland architecture also take part in the decision of using wood as the façade. The stone roof tile, however, is completely a solution decision. This is because normal roof title cannot handle the weight of snow and might break under huge amount of snow, whereas stone title can completely withstand this problem. 19
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There is no absolute right or wrong viewpoints for a true thinker -Oswald Spengler