Third Year Portfolio - Newcastle University - BA Architectural Studies

BA Architectural Studies Newcastle University Stage Three Portfolio 2014/2015 Isobel Eaton

‘A boundary is not that at which something stops but ... from which something begins its presencing.’ -Martin Heidegger

Contents Semester One 4 Soft Sutures: Spatializing the City’s Hidden Surfaces

Thinking Through Making 36 Semester Two 42 Seamless Binding: Softly Suturing the River to the City Charette Week: 92 The Unseen and the Unheard

Soft Sutures: Spatializing the City’s Hidden Surfaces

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The Brief Our brief in semester one was to find a new way to deal with cities in such a way that site boundaries become undefined or ‘loose’. Architecture affirms edges, it makes insides, separates them from outsides, sets out private spaces and invites in the public, but the manner in which it makes these edges is often uncritical. In a conversation with Andrea Branzi about his exhibition, ‘Open Enclosures’, he explains how he sees architecture to be limited by site boundaries; Architecture ‘ultimately remains an activity whose goal is to produce boxes, an activity that continues to see the city as a whole, as a territory characterized by figurative architectural boxes. Architecture is still not able to interact with an urban, metropolitan environment, where cities are seen as territories of experience whose quality is defined, not by the form of their buildings, but by the little things, the products, the people, the clothing, the information, the services. Architecture needs to start working on these elements in order to attain a level of flexibility, transparency and elasticity, as well as a form of poetic expression.’

To investigate these theories and the brief, I looked at how people experience space and boundaries. In ‘Poetry, Language, Thought’

by Martin Heidegger he discusses that often it is not the act of physically crossing over the threshold, that gives a sense of entering a space; it is the point when we turn the corner at the end of the street and see the façade or when we move onto the paving that we know originates from our destination. He explains this when explaining the route of the Greek word for boundary, peras: ‘A boundary is not that at which something stops but, as the Greeks recognized, the boundary is that from which something begins its presencing.’

Architecture is typically considered to end at the building envelope. This creates urban fabrics with defined boundaries and gaps running through these bounded spaces. It is these gaps that I have studied throughout this project with the aim of changing the nature of the in-between; the boundaries that created them will dissipate.

I have studied these gaps by mapping the Skinnerburn Area in Newcastle. I have found them to be subtle and delicate; they appear basic at first glance, however when studied closer, they are complex, constantly reacting to every detail that surrounds them. I found stitching or suturing to be a suitable way to represent these intricacies and the way in which I aim to pull boundaries together.

The aims of this project were to:

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- To find a new way to deal with cities in such a way that site boundaries become undefined or ‘loose’ - To find a suitable way to map Newcastle that represents the territories being investigated - To develop a brief for a small-sized architectural project that addresses an extended urban territory - To communicate the project and the intentions behind it through a powerful and persuasive series of representations The small sized architectural project I developed was a tailors on a small site by the River Tyne. I studied the site through stitching and the form developed from the representative lines where the sutures pull spaces together. These lines then rose up as if lifted from beneath, to create ‘fins’ that wrap around the enclosed spaces.

The drawing to the right shows the urban thresholds (the spaces in between that run through the boundaries) in the Skinnerburn area. A map is underlayed for context.

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Mapping Model This 1:2000 model depicts the bounded parts of the Skinnerburn area in solid blocks. Long strips of paper were then run through the spaces in between in order to investigate the nature of the gaps themselves. Wider gaps required more strips of paper so the undulations in the shape of the gaps is made more apparent.

Modrock was then applied to the areas of interest to further test the texture of the layers of paper, although this experiment did not have the desired effect as the modrock over powered the subtlety of the paper.

Chalk and Thread Drawing This piece is a chalk rubbing of the 1:2000 mapping model shown on the previous pages. The white chalk subtly picked up the intricacies of the model and the in-between spaces under investigation by mainly picking up the solid blocks and leaving blank the spaces where paper runs underneath. Some of these gaps are then stitched with pale pink thread to start to identify sites. The process of stitching finds the exact form of the spaces in between, as each suture can create it’s own path. The result created by all of the sutures combined then describes the space as a whole.

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Mapping Drawing This drawing is a combination of several ink rubbings of the mapping model. The ink rubbings brought out a different quality to the map as there are no defined edges. This demonstrates the way in which this scheme aims to change the way buildings interact with the urban fabric.

The gaps emerging from these rubbings are less defined but easier to pick out so these have become potential sites. These sites have then been digitally sewed in pink to represent the sutures that would pull the boundaries together.

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Site A

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Potential Sites Drawing From the mapping drawing two potential sites came to light. These have then been drawn with more context showing boundaries and outlines of surrounding buildings. From these drawings Site A seemed the most appropriate so this is the site for the small-sized architectural project - the Tailors.

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Diagram showing where the sun would break through the trees

Diagram showing the main routes that pass by the site

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Skinnerburn Film Another student and I made a film studying the subtle movement of the environment in Skinnerburn. It consisted mainly of what initially appeared to be still images, but when more closely examined there were small details moving, such as a leaves blowing in the wind.

This page includes still from the film.

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Roof Plan Site A

White Steel Fins From the mapping drawing two potential sites came to light.

These have then been drawn with more context showing boundaries and outlines of surrounding buildings. From these drawings Site A seemed the most appropriate so this is the site for the small-sized architectural project - the Tailors.

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Building Precedent: Steilneset Memorial, Peter Zumthor and Louis Bourgeios

Drawing Precedent: Olympic Archery Range, Enric Miralles and Carme Pinos

Paving Precedent: Banyoles Old Town, Josep Mias

This construction is a memorial in Norway for the witch trials that took place in the 17th century. It was opened in 2011. Zumthor’s repetitive framework of the structure inspired my steel fin design and the way Bourgeois ran her instillation through the centre is akin to my aims for the programmatic aspects of my building.

This project was for the Olympic archery range in the Barcelona Olympics completed in 1991. I was particularly interested in this scheme because of how it was drawn. It has similarities to my roof plan as there are a lot of lines and information shown in one image. I studied this drawing with the aim of producing a similarly clear drawing.

This project renovated Banyoles Old Town in 2008. It reactivated old streams that used to run through the town and have since been covered over. It also improved the pedestrian schemes throughout the area. I was particularly interested in this scheme for the paving patterns and the way the specific arrangement created subtle paths within the pathways themselves.

Paving Details On top of the fins sits a platform of limestone paving. Each small area of paving reacts to the surroundings affecting it creating an intricate pattern which, like in Banyoles Old Town, create new paths within the paved spaces. The paving slabs intersect at varying points and create an integrated form that matches the indistinct complex spaces they are occupying. The scale of paving changes at the threshold of the building creating a subtle difference between the flooring of the enclosed and external spaces. Below are details showing the atmospheric and material qualities of the paving design.

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Technical Study The structure of this design runs through the white steel fins supporting metal plates which catch the limestone platform. The building itself is a steel frame with a mix of semi-transparent limestone cladding, glass and polycarbonate.

This should create a variety of warm glows as light runs through the spaces. This is demonstrated in the plan detail to the left. Sections through the fins which catch the building and the bench are shown above.

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Exterior Perspectives 34

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Thinking Through Making Week

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Casting Workshops The school ran a week of workshops exploring material practices and possibilities. There was the opportunity to try various techniques including several casting workshops. Pieces produced from workshops I attended are shown on this page.

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1:1 Exploration The purpose of the 1:1 drawing was to develop drawing as a way of thinking. This drawing is a 1:1 atmospheric of the fins from semester one. I used a series of coloured chalks to represent the way light would react with the materiality. The process reinforced the iterations in the scheme and the way each fin would react slightly differently to it’s surroundings. Overleaf the image is shown at its original scale.

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Seamless Binding: Softly Suturing the River to the City

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Brief

Specification (floor areas approximated based on Newcastle University Library Dimensions)

Following on from the themes investigated in semester one I was asked to create my own brief to further test the architectural language that I developed.

- Accommodation for at least 15 Visiting Scholars

My scheme for this semester proposes a series of libraries along the bank of the River Tyne. The intention is to use these sites of education and culture to stitch together the spaces along the river bank to the main parts of the city of Newcastle. The libraries run either side of the Tyne which also creates links between Newcastle and Gateshead that should start to dissipate the cultural boundary between the two.

The sites that I am proposing are long and thin due to their river edge boundary. The five sites have since been stitched into the chalk drawing created previously and is shown below. In order to suture theses spaces I have created routes that run across the sites and interweave with the building. This creates an interface through which the public can engage that spreads out from the building without having a definite beginning or end. My proposal becomes a public realm as well as having programmatic applications which causes the boundaries that once defined the site to disappear.

The architectural language developed in semester one has evolved in order to better suit the context in which it sits. The sites I am proposing are generally old industrial sites and so require a more pragmatic approach. My proposal is less delicate than previously but has kept the idea of appearing more intricate the closer it is studied.

I have achieved this through using varying layers of transparency throughout the scheme.

Although I am proposing a series of libraries, for this project I will be focusing on resolving one with the intention that the style created would be transferred through to the other proposals in the future. This initial proposal is an academic library in Gateshead, across the river from the site I studied in semester one. I created a specification setting out the main spaces I intended to include and the experiential qualities I envisaged they should have. This is shown to the right.

Practical Needs: 450m2 14 private bedrooms with en suites, small study areas and kitchen facilities 20m2 x 15.

Experiential Qualities: Bedrooms should be private and quiet and feel similar to a hotel room. The overall space should feel included in the library but not seem accessible to the general public.

- Entrance Area/ Lobby Space

Practical Needs: 50m2 Library admin space where people can check books in/out etc. and public seating areas.

Experiential Qualities: Very public space, one of the louder and more active spaces within the building, talking and public interaction is encouraged. Should be a space that reflects the building as a whole as it is the first impression visitors will get.

- Admin Spaces

Practical Needs: 800m2 A series of office spaces for approx. 30 staff.

Experiential Qualities: Calm, quiet, private. More formal and practical than other parts of the building.

- Book Stacks

Practical Needs: 1000m2 Book stacks at sensible heights and with enough room to move around them, should be arranged in a logical manner to ease navigation around the space. Clear difference in placement between books allowed to be taken out and books with restrictions on.

Experiential Qualities: Quiet, organised, easy to navigate.

- Silent Study Areas

Practical Needs: 1500m2 Experiential Qualities: Quiet, organised, easy to navigate. More variety of spaces so there could be a choice between a more enclosed and private area or a more open and breathable area to study in.

- Computer Clusters

Practical Needs: 1000m2 Experiential Qualities: Integrate with Silent Study Areas.

- Group Study Space with Occasional Computers

Practical Needs: 1500m2 Series of group tables with one computer per space and partitions in places to make a series of semi-private spaces and very public open spaces.

Experiential Qualities: Variable in order to accommodate groups of differing needs and sizes. Should feel more open and less controlled than the main study spaces.

- Public Cafe

Practical Needs: 200m2 Small Kitchen and serving area, tables that are inside but spread into the public eating area outside.

Experiential Qualities: Public, lively, open, part of the library but also blending into the outdoor public space and with links to the river and the other libraries.

- Reading/Seating Space Practical Needs: 200m2 Series of seating areas, some which are more private and some which are very open, links with the cafĂŠ and outside area.

Experiential Qualities: Similar to the cafĂŠ in terms of public nature and links with the surroundings but a more calm, quiet and reflective atmosphere.

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Mapping Drawing Locating Sites Site Programmes Site 1: Adult’s and Children’s Fiction Collection Site 2: Academic Library with Accommodation for Visiting Scholars Site 3: Archive Site 4: Poetry Library Site 5: Reflective and Reading Space

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Visual Links between Library Proposals

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Birds Eye View of Site 2

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Photos of the Site

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Existing Site Elevation

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Existing Routes

New Routes

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Investigative Paper Model This 1:500 model shows the site boundaries with strips of paper running through the space created in between.

It is a larger scale version of the mapping model produced in semester one. Any slight undulation in the definition of boundaries is picked up by the paper due to it’s thin nature, and the overall effect created by layering numerous strips starts to indicate the key points in the site.

These points of tension are represented with pale thread which represents literally the aim to pull the boundaries of the site together. These points developed into breaks in the form creating a separation of spaces and therefore allowing movement across the site without entering the building itself. This creates a series of public spaces from the woods to the river bank with no definitive start or finish, resulting in a dissipation of the boundaries.

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Semi-Transparent Fin Design The lines created by the paper model directly translate to a series of semitransparent acrylic fins that run through the ceiling of the ground floor, (the plan of these is to the left). These fins draw occupants through the long thin spaces and the effect of them as a whole creates a hazy effect, making it unclear where the space above ends.

There are voids in the study space on the first floor which look down to the book stack area below. The fins continue through the voids creating a feeling of unity between the two floors while also blurring the view, giving occupants a mere impression of others above or below.

The image to the right shows how light would travel through the fins between the voids in the two levels and also demonstrates the visual connection between the spaces.

On the next page are images of a 1:50 study model investigating how the fins would work with the voids.

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Roof Plan 58

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1: First Library Space 2: Second Library Space 3: Private Study Rooms 4: Secure Space for Items Requested from Archive 5: Accommodation for Visiting Scholars

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Ground Floor Layout

First Floor Layout

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Plan Details

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A: Dock Link to Archive

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B: Dock Link to Archive

C: Accomodation Plan

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Solid Limestone Paving

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Semi-Transparent Limestone Cladding

Semi-Transparent Acrylic Fins

Glass Facade and External Screens

White Aluminium Panel Cladding

Layers of Transparency The images to the left are ink rubbings on tracing paper of the initial mapping model from semester one. They are layered up and back lit to create a haze which emulates the subtle complexities inspired by the initial stitching concept. This led to a design with varying layers of transparency throughout, causing inhabitants to continuously permeate spaces. It also creates an ethereal facade which causes a series of stratified planes that dissipate the external boundaries.

The material qualities of the scheme support this concept by also varying in transparency and reflective nature. The swatch to the left shows the materiality.

One aspect of the scheme that is vital in creating the ethereal effect is the series of glass screens which run between the river bank and the library. I have taken influence from the Fondation Cartier, (shown to the right), by Jean Nouvel in Paris, both by studying how he has created the facade and how the structural support system works.

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Photomontage of Study Model

Elevation

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Ground Floor Plan of First Library Space

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First Floor Plan of First Library Space

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Structural Grid for First Library Space

Intermediate Floor Plate for Book Stack and Study Space

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Primary Structure for Book Stack and Study Space

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Public Entry Points 72

Controlled Access Silent Study Spaces are only

accessible through swipe card barriers and include the book stack area with computers for searching, seating areas for silent study, computer bays for silent study, standing computers for printing only, printing and scanning facilities, short term book loan space on the ground floor and group study spaces on the first floor.

Intermediate Lobby Spaces are gathering spaces in between barriers. They include seating areas and self checkout book facilities as well as providing access to toilets and lifts.

Main Lobby Spaces and Communal Study Spaces

are large open spaces at the major entrance spaces to the building. They include reception desks, self check out book facilities, tables for communal study and also provide access to toilets, lifts and stairs.

Public Spaces do not require a swipe card for access so also can be visited by non users of the library. They include cafĂŠs and public seating areas

Other Spaces include plant rooms, staff room and changing, administrative offices and cleaning cupboards.

Controlled Access Silent Study Spaces Intermediate Lobby Spaces Main Lobby Spaces and Communal Study Spaces Public Spaces 73

Section B Through the Book Stack and Study Space

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Section A Through Entrance and Lobby Spaces

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Section C Through Cafe Space, Public Seating and Staff Room

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Integrated Structural Section B The building is constructed from a steel frame with central columns which support the intermediate floor, and roof, which allows a free facade. The glass facade is glass wall construction, with fins to help with stability, connnected by spider grips. The structure of the facade is similar to The Gate in Newcastle, (shown to the left). The solid elements of the facade are also not structural and are clad, and insulated, with white aluminium. The floors and columns are clad in varying limestone tiles.

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Ground Floor to Aluminium Clad Facade Junction

Blue arrows show the position of the drainage systems.

Pink arrows show the position of heaters. Due to the free facade and voids in the intermediate floor, heat would easily travel up to the first floor.

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Ground Floor to Glass Facade Junction

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Aluminium Clad Facade to Roof Junction

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GlassFacade to Roof Junction

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Intermediate Floor and Aluminium Clad Facade Interaction

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Intermediate Floor and Glass Facade Interaction

Yellow circles indicate LED lighting which run along the top of the fins. This is environmentally friendly and allows the line of lighting to follow the curved lines.

The semi-transparent acrylic would interact with the light and create a warm glowing light from the ceiling.

This lighting strategy will work with the natural light entering in the building from the north facing facade.

The lilac arrows show air coming out from vents in the services spine. There is a services void that runs the length of the design on the intermediate floor in order to house mechanical ventilation, lighting systems and other services. There are also extra services voids above spaces such as bathrooms.

This design has mixed mode ventilation. The prevailing wind runs along almost parallel to the building. The screen design creates a sheltered area of lower pressure on the river side compared to a higher pressure on the woods side. This draws air across the building in a natural ventialtion system which is shown below.

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Photos of 1:500 Study Model

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The design’s facade and elevation has since changed along with the glass screen design and the links from the building to the woods.

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Interface The spaces that run along side the building create an interface through which the public engage with the site. The routes run across the site, extending into the woods and to the riverbank, effectively ‘suturing’ the two boundaries.

It is possible to walk from one end of the site to the other without entering the library spaces, however there are many points of entry along the routes, as well as public spaces. These spaces permeate the scheme and are interwoven with the library itself, creating an interface.

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Charette Week: The Unseen and the Unheard

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Breif This charette aimed to highlight the often overlooked elements in the experiencing of architecture - light and sound. Through investigating these elements around campus, The Unseen and The Unheard produced our own synesthesia-based models of our experiences to greater raise our awareness and understanding of how light and sound are effected by architecture and how we might use them in our own practice.

The programme included; discussions on video mapping, examples of techniques, investigating the campus, recording workshops, model making and sound editing, video mapping workshops and editing.

We were separated into subgroups with each group producing their own outcome based around a sound recorded during the week. A model was produced in response to the sound and an animation was video mapped on top.

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Final Outcomes

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