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8.3.2 °Atmosphera Asya Guney
°Atmosphera
“Architecture is the air we breath, an air precisely laden with that : architecture.” Alejandro de la Sota
Human Body vs. Environment
Architecture Human body is a system that can only perform in certain temperature, humidity and pressure spectrums. (Mayer H., Bhatia, 2008) Environmental factors may not meet with the required spectrum all the time. Architecture emerges from this imbalance. (Ruiz-Larrea, 2014) The asymmetry between the exterior system (environmental factors) and the interior system (human body requirements) gives birth to architecture. In a broader sense, architecture is the act of entitling space as exterior and interior. It is an attempt to exclude human body from the environment, construct and contain diverse systems for its diverse activities.
Boundary
How does architecture realizes this purpose? It creates “boundaries”. Boundaries manifest itself most significantly in building materials. Throughout the ages men adopt numerous materials to form boundaries. Early building materials known were leaves and branches. Later, more durable natural materials such as clay, stone and timber was used. Following, synthetic materials were founded like brick, concrete, metals and plastic. More recently, material science focused on inventing materials that work with the environment. Rather than to exclude, these new materials aim to establish a responsive relationship between interior and exterior as well as between humans. From the early clay huts to Philippe Beesley’s Implant Matrix building materials changed and evolved extremely. However, despite the improvement in boundary’s materiality its integration with conventional Cover - Diagram, IaaC Archive 2
design process stayed the same. Boundary is continually seen as an object than a system. Therefore architecture use geometry to control boundaries of space. Architects highly relied on surfaces and lines, orders and axes. Consequently, architecture remained merely as an object composition.
Extensive vs. Intensive Properties of Materials
Kiel Moe (2015) proposes a different approach to imagine architecture. He explains that, there are two alternatives for the explanation for properties of a material. These are extensive and intensive properties of materials. A thermodynamic system is a quantity of matter of fixed identity, around which we can draw a boundary. (Spakovszky, 2006) extensive properties of matter are such as mass, volume, length of the material which are directly proportional to the amount of material in a system. These properties are extensively constant. They are divisible and can be recombined with no resultant change in a system. In altered configurations of the extensive properties, the resultant state mostly stay the same. Later he gives an example of a cube divided in half and he states that even though two parts are put together with a new configuration, in physical terms the cube is exactly the same. On the other hand, intensive properties of matter are such as temperature , pressure, density etc. These properties are not proportional to the amount of material in the system. Intensive division does not behave as extensive division. To continue with the same example of a cube, dividing a 60oC air in two parts doesn’t produce two parts of 30oC air, but rather it rather produces two smaller sizes of 60oC air. However if a 60oC and 30oC air is put together, a 45oC air will be formed. This is a entirely new state that rises from approaching a material through its intensive properties. In this approach architecture becomes an energy system composition rather than object composition. And it opens up new opportunities for design process.
Thermodynamics & Architecture
Application of intensive properties of materials in architecture deals with flow of heat, density of humidity, behavior of pressure etc.(Moe, 2015) Boundary and what it is composed of which is the building material can be seen as an energy system as well. Therefore from this point of view a new design method can be established. Thermodynamics provides coherent intellectual and practical models for how to deal with these complex and dynamic behaviour of energy systems and the states result from them. The idea explored on this project that is subject of this paper is the possibility of a new design method stem itself from the implications of thermodynamics, what would be the applications of this method. Is it possible for architecture to think boundaries as energy systems ? Is it possible to abandon domination of lines and surfaces and acknowledge gradients and behaviours?
Boundary Redefined : Reality Reformed
Sean Lally (2014) defines boundary in conventional architecture as a material of a singular energy configuration, manifested only in lines and surfaces. Michelle Addington (2015) supports this argument by saying boundary’s primary role is to establish a clear difference. Therefore boundary in conventional sense is definite and didactic. However thermodynamics define boundary almost in a completely different way. In thermodynamics boundary is a feedback relationship between the system and its surrounding. Rather than forming a distinct borderline, thermodynamic boundary negotiate and equilibrate the differences. In this definition boundary is a behavior. It is temporal. It evolves with every change in the system and the environment. Hence it is manifested with gradients and regions. “Boundaries not only determine the limits of space but structures human interaction with one another and with environment. Therefore it organises our reality.� (Fitzsimmons, 2014 : 115)As a result definition of boundary in design process comes out as a key element. Defining boundary as a surface would introduce a reality of static and invariable interaction with space. Contrarily defining boundary as an action, a transitional state would introduce a reality of transient, polymorphic interaction with space.
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Then & Now
Starting with the beginning of 20th century, architects’ ambition was to question the conventional understanding of spatial boundary. After 1960s, along with technological advancement enthusiasm grew wider among architects and artists. Following Archigram; Reyner Banham, Buckminster Fuller, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Haus Rucker Co, Superstudio and many of their contemporaries claimed architecture should abandon static and permanent. Spaces should be “situations, variable as clouds” (Alison, 2006)). Superstudio did Supersurface(1970), they believed architecture should build the hardware that regulates the flow within those systems. Supersurface was a perfect manifestation of this idea, being an infinite infrastructure sustaining nothing but life itself. Archizoom had a similar approach in No-Stop City (1966) with an infinite grid that modifies life and environment. Reyner Banham’s famous Environmental Bubble (1965) was a transparent living pod with nothing but an air conditioning output. Where people can live without any boundaries or any clothes on. Yves Klein’s Air Architecture is a crucial example for discussions of boundary . In 1960 he designed a Garden of Eden which the solid boundary between exterior and interior dissipated, which walls and roofs are made of fire and air. He suggested that immateriality is the ideal state of architecture. One of the recent examples of this debate is Diller Scofidio’s Blur Building (2002) where they create an alternative type of reality. Olafur Eliasson in all of his works allows the viewer to peer into a world of constant change, continual process of disappearance and appearance. He simply does that by exposing the direct behaviour of material. Lastly Philippe Rahm continues to advocate that architecture should adopt thermodynamic rules for attaining a new language. He believes that climatic phenomenas should be explored as new design tools for freeing architecture from its formal predeterminations. Despite the fact that this idea is quite promising for abandoning definite boundaries; in practice his work is no different than Le Corbusier’s hermetically sealed buildings. His practice consists of isolated, closed systems that are in equilibrium. Therefore any input from surrounding leads to breaking down of the whole system. It is impossible to even open a window in this perfectly balanced system. Therefore this dilemma further leads questioning the state of the open systems. Is it possible to imagine space as an open system where the system and its surrounding is in constant interaction without any solid boundaries ? Can flow of heat, change in humidity or pressure be the solely boundaries for dividing up the space ? What are the characteristics of these new boundaries which are transitional energy fields ? How are the human interactions that architecture provide with this new method of design? Figure 1 - Model Atmosphera, IaaC Archive
Temperature Fields
Air temperature is the most dominant factor in human survival. (Mayer H., Bhatia, 2008) Therefore this project specifically dealt with the behavior of heat energy and change in air temperature. The resultant application of this method is a design proposal of a garden of temperature fields. This research argues that it is possible to create spatial boundaries using thermal variation. Moreover, this new spatiality will produce new ways to interact with and perceive space. Therefore, it will create a new reality. This new design approach provides architects a freedom to exploit energy as a building material. Previous to design process of the garden, various experiments both virtual and physical were conducted. These experiments aimed examining and determining the behavior of air at different temperatures with different surrounding systems. LANDING REACTIVE & PRODUCTIVE LANDSCAPES
Process
In order to design with energy, one has to know how to represent, to be precisely, one has to know how to draw energy. Therefore, initially the focus of the research was to study the representation techniques of energy. A wide range of drawings and mapping techniques were analyzed including of heat, magnetic field, radiation, gravity, sound, wind, fog and many more. After archive work, a new way of drawing temperature, which is the main research matter of this project, was explored working with Rhinoceros and Grasshopper. Through usage of attractor points, point charges and vector fields; system and environment relationship, hence gradience realized. Once determining the way to draw temperature, study on behaviour of air regarding temperature was initiated. The First Law of Thermodynamics states that : Regardless of which way the heat diffuses, the total energy of the system must stay the same as no thermal energy is lost or gained in the completely insulated system. (Spakovszky, 2006) The Second Law of Thermodynamics follows as : Regardless of which way the heat diffuses, the temperature inside the system must finally become the same everywhere in the completely insulated system. (Spakovszky, 2006) Therefore when there is an imbalance within a system or between the system and the surrounding, the system tries to reach an equilibrium. It does that by heat transfer that causes change in temperature of the elements of the system. Heat transfer occurs in three ways which are; convection, conduction and radiation. What relates to this research is convection which is a process occurring in fluids e.g. air. More specifically the study focuses on natural convection of air. In order to understand the behaviour and tendencies of natural convection Figure 2-3 - Diagrams Atmosphera, IaaC Archive 6
of air, physical experiments were carried out. These initial experiments were fairly fundamental. It consists of a thermal camera, identical candles, identical ice cubes as well as an airtight plexiglass box. The candles and ice cubes served as heat sources (hot and cold), plexiglass box provided an isolated environment for the experiment so that behaviour of heat transfer could be observed clearly. The aim of these experiments was to grasp basic parameters of convection e.g. position of the sources in the system, proximity of multiple sources to one another, number of sources in relation with time and temperature altered area. Later a heat transfer simulation software titled Energy2D was employed for virtual experiments. In these experiments form of the heat source object was altered as well. Sphere, cube and prisms were exploited. Relation between altered source temperature as well as altered surrounding temperature and transfer speed were tested. The area of temperature change which can be perceptible through the sense of touch was analyzed and documented. Subsequently noticeable area of temperature change for human skin became a primer parameter for research and later design. Proceeding to two dimensional simulation, three dimensional software analysis was introduced. For this simulations Autodesk Computational Fluid Dynamics software was utilized along with Rhinoceros and Grasshopper. Through these experiments the goal was to observe and apprehend more realistic behavior of the air. By this stage the experiments are open systems, without any solid boundaries, observations are made in an open environment. Already they are taken out from a box and applied in large i.e. building scale. The intention is to distinguish the dynamic boundaries of multiple heat sources caused by convection and their relation one to another. This boundary is voluminous and gradient, diminishing as one walks of from the source of heat or growing as one gets closer. This gradient boundary is composed of layers of air in different temperature. Therefore the boundary is not clear cut. Entitling space within the boundaries or outside becomes almost completely relative. Because perception of temperature is building the boundary itself. Parameters of the experiment were distance between the heat source and the ground surface, number of the heat source, density of the heat source, proximity of the heat source, section area of the heat source, geometrical section of the heat source and its diameter. These experiments were to determine the size and shape of the heat emitters which will later be applied in the garden project. The selected results later was 3D Printed for having a deep understanding of the form and its scale. Following these simulations physical tests were executed. Water as a fluid acts as air. Therefore water was used to observe the limits and forms occurs during natural convection. Convection is not visible to eye, therefore thermal camera is necessary to observe this nature. Coloured water used with different temperature 8
was dropped in clear water with a constant temperature representing the environment. Forms of water’s behaviour was documented. Later similar experiments were conducted with dry ice and water. Dry ice here as well was used to visualise what it invisible to human eye i.e. air. At the end of these physical tests, the results were compared with simulation results in order to validate the results attained from virtual tests. Until these point in the research, heat sources were placed and emitted through a flat surface. Therefore the relationship between the effect of topography in other words change in section and air flow wasn’t investigated. Houdini, a visual simulation software, was used to examine formation of thermal variation, extents and form of the air at specific temperature. Change of the section where the heat is emitted was considered as well. Wind was included in the experiments in this part.
Atmosphera
Concluding to entire experiments, a garden of temperature fields was designed. This is an application of all the information collected through the research and experiment stages. Atmosphera is a temperature topography, creation of micro climates (Image 1). The interaction with the space is only through touch. It is a garden in disguise. Here all humans are blind. This phenomena creates its own reality, metaphorically saying “a parallel universe” (Image 2). The interaction with space is an active one. One is there for discovery rather than observation. While discovering the space and its diverse boundaries, one discovers the boundaries of human body as well. Atmosphera is a simple garden, composed of three elements. There is a ground platform including a grid of air emitters. The second element is the underground thermal labyrinth which regulates the temperature of the air emitted through the grid. Lastly the third elements is the air. Thermal labyrinth is a passive thermal energy system which takes advantage of the thermal mass of the materials. It consist of underground tunnels built from a high thermal mass material that use air to transfer the thermal storage capacity of the labyrinth to the required space. These systems work by flooding the labyrinth with cool night air, which in turn cools the high thermal mass material. During the day, air is drawn through the labyrinth where it is cooled before entering the required space. In winter, the process is generally reversed. (Gissen, 2003 : 43)Atmosphera works with one basic rules of convection. “Natural convection results from the tendency of most fluids to expand when heated. The heated molecules expand the space they move in through increased speed against one another, rise, and when cooled, they come closer together, with increase in density and a resultant sinking.” Hence, hot air rises and cold air sinks. Hence, air in different temperatures behaves differently, the spatial boundary it defines
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differ along with it, likewise the interaction of the body of those dynamic boundaries. Hot air rises, and the body ascends. Cold air sinks, and the body descends. Temperature of the air, determines its behavior. And this determines the way you interact with the space. You immerse your body in this field of temperature and let yourself be moved by garden (Image 3). The garden Atmosphera can take many shapes according to the seasons or time of the day. In summer it can be cold grounds which can get less than 10 degrees than its surrounding temperature. Or in winter it can be a gathering point, stage and seating shaped by the warm air. Atmosphera is a garden amplifying the tactile experience and provide enhanced spatial boundaries. Atmosphera is located in one generic “manzana” of Barcelona for creating a garden of temperature fields. Solar analysis were done using Honeybee for the site, for each month of the year along with average morning, afternoon and night values. Then using Grasshopper a grid of emitters were placed differing in density according to the solar analysis (during winter, colder areas will have emitters closely placed to each other). As a last step, various configurations of emitters were attained considering the required activity, interaction and climatic conditions.
Conclusion
Is it possible to define spatial boundaries by distribution of temperature in an open system ? We all know how close we want to sit in front of a fireplace. Not too close because you can get burned, or not too far because you don’t want to be cold. So there’s a boundary. It is not visible. But it is physical. And it is there. Therefore it is possible to define boundary as an action, as a negotiation in architecture. In conclusion of the conducted experiments, it is accepted that thermal variation in air can be used for creating spatial boundaries. This leads to a design method which boundary redefined as a behaviour, as a process and a reaction. Consequently, this redefinition structures a transient, interdependent interaction with space.
Figure 4-5 - Diagrams Atmosphera, IaaC Archive
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