JOE-HYNN YANG THESIS CAPSTONE PROJECT MFA(1), NYSID, SPRING 2016
Design Process Documentation
THE CRUCIBLE A Secular Monastery & Global Affairs Center
Contents
THE CRUCIBLE A Secular Monastery & Global Affairs Center
Introduction Client Profile Case Study - Hospitality Case Study - Sacred Space Case Study - Mixed-Use Campus Site Selection Program Development Concept Research : Buddhist Architecture Along the Silk Roads Design Development: Sketches Design Development: Schematic Plans Design Development: Storyboards Axonometric Studies & Final Renderings Concept Research: Phenomenological Theory in Sacred Place-making Custom Furniture Designs
HOSPITALITY + RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE + NYC WATERFRONT
INTRODUCTION
“What would a global conflict resolution center & Buddhist retreat in New York look like ...?”
This thesis will explore escapist hospitality within the context of the dense metropolitan cityscape of New York City. I believe there are still places in NYC, particularly waterfront property, or on scattered islands along the Hudson or East River, which might offer a sense of escape into another world. My core idea was to utilize my Asian art expertise to design a space focused on Asian art in a nonreductive / simplistic way, particular based on the theme of the Silk Road. The Silk Road was a major commercial trading route linking East and West, reaching its peak in the 8th century, but existing since the 1st century BC and remaining even when Marco Polo went to the court of Kublai Khan in the 14th century. It seems appropriate for New York as “the crossroads of the world” and as the primary global financial center, that an escapist resort continues to play on the theme of trade and free flow of information and commodities.
Since the Silk Road was the main route of the transmission of Buddhism from India via Afghanistan, Tibet, and Central Asia, to China and Japan, playing up the message of Buddhism as avoiding crass commercialism and the distractions of mundane worldliness, through the use of complex Buddhist art from the 5th to 8th century might be an appropriate contrast to the pure luxury on offer. Most Buddhist-themed space celebrate only the minimalist Zen Buddhism from Japan, but I would propose the more visually complex and baroque Mahayana Buddhism of Tibet, Burma, Cambodia, and 8th century China.This thesis will explore escapist hospitality within the context of the dense metropolitan cityscape of New York City. I believe there are still places in NYC, particularly waterfront property, or on scattered islands along the Hudson or East River, which might offer a sense of escape into another world.
While still focusing on a hospitality aspect related to the Buddhist theme presented above, I then considered expanding the program into mixed institutional-hospitality, by creating a center for global affairs but with a monastic retreat component. I was inspired by forward-thinking foundations like TED, Aga Khan Foundation, and the Aspen Institute, which tend to promote East-West dialogue, advances in human rights or conflict resolution. Just this week (NY Times, “Philosophy as an East-West Bridge”, Sept 16, 2015”) the Berggruen Institute in California announced a philosophybased initiative between China and the US “to look past contemporary political differences to their deeper intellectual roots.” I am proposing a waterfront site in New York to serve as this policy center, with three separate program elements: (i) symposium / conflict
resolution / arbitration meeting spaces (ii) educational gallery and study center exploring Buddhism, and its philosophy of the “middle path” as a conflict resolution tool, and (iii) monastic retreat for practitioners, where visiting diplomats and speakers can stay while in conference. Unique program requirements for this mixed use space are: (1) monastic cells for sleep/study/ meditation (2) chapel or worship space (3) symposium hall (4) arbitration meeting rooms (5) restaurant / dining hall (6) educational gallery or art space, possibly combining live performances like sand-mandala creation and dance. The space intends to have a private aspect for religious retreat and self-improvement, but also a public aspect in educating visitors about Buddhist philosophy and its historical complexity, but also as a location for high-level global affairs conferences and lectures.
PROBLEM STATEMENT This thesis project, a global conflict resolution center and Buddhist retreat in New York, poses the following questions of typology, program & interior design: a) To successfully create an exclusive, even hermetic, hospitality experience in New York despite the chaotic visual noise and emphatic character of this civty? Can a monastic environment be created despite street noise, variable air quality, proximity to technology and urban squalor? b) To balance the monastic lifestyle of internal reflection with the luxury amenities expected by diplomats and world leaders? How can an industrial waterfront site, such as a warehouse or power station, be converted to provide the exclusivity and privacy expected? c) To design interiors which are spiritual without overly Buddhist or Christian iconography? Can a chapel / worship space be focused on Buddhism without being a ‘period room’ or a ‘temple’? Can an interior inspired by historical Buddhism show relevance to 21st century life & technology without being kitschy, much less relate to the specificity of New York City? d) To successfully balance the private and public program elements for such a center? – ie. promoting spiritual self-reflection and study, but also functioning as a nexus for public outreach, education (eg. teaching Buddhist philosophy, or Asian art history), and diplomacy, especially conferences and symposia between East and West on trade, human rights, governance and conflict resolution? Can it be located near the United Nations but have its own degree of removal and separation from the distraction and chaos of the urban environment? e) To use the design vocabulary of East & West, with the interplay of water, light and space?
“The biggest determinant in our lives is culture where we are born, what the environment looks like ... But the second biggest determinant is probably governance. Good governance, or a certain kind of governance, makes a huge difference in our lives.” Nicolas Berggruen
The Berggruen Institute is based in Santa Monica, CA, and was founded by billionaire Nicholas Berggruen to develop ideas that shape political and social institutions, as a non-partisan think tank. They “bring together the best minds and most authoritative voices to explore the fundamental questions of our time, from global governance to what it means to be human in the age of technology.” Its work is currently split between The Governance Center and The Philosophy + Culture Center, and recently announced US$1 million prize in philosophy, to explore common ground between East & West.
Particularly interested in both global affairs and art, he currently is sits on the boards of the Council for Foreign Relations, the Council for the Future of Europe, and the Commission for Global Ethics and Citizenship; but also MoMA, Tate London, LACMA, and the Beyeler Foundation. He is co-author of “Intelligent Governance for the 21st Century: A Middle Way Between West and East,” which the Financial times named one of the best books of 2012. He is also extremely interested in architecture and has collaborated on development projects with Shigeru Ban, Richard Meier and David Adjaye.
Nicholas Berggruen is sometimes referred to as the “homeless billionaire” because he lives in hotels and does not own a residence. He was the heir to the fortune of the art collector Heinz Berggruen, whose collection is now in a museum in Berlin, and he expanded his wealth through hedge funds to a current net worth of $1.67 billion.
CLIENT PROFILE
1
CASE STUDY : HOSPITALITY “The building’s muscular form is strong enough to stand up to both its tacky neighbors and the area’s older industrial structures. It exploits the clash of scales that has always been a gripping aspect of the city’s character. In short, it is the kind of straightforward, thoughfully conceived building that is all too rare in the city today.” Nicolas Ourousoff, The New York Times
THE STANDARD HOTEL CLIENT: ANDRE BALAZS PROPERTIES ARCHITECT: TODD SCHLIEMANN, POLSHEK PARTNERSHIP (ENNEAD) INTERIORS: SHAWN HAUSMAN, AND ROMAN & WILLIAMS. 337 KEYS. 18 FLOORS. 204,500 SQ. FT. COMPLETED 2009. CONCEPT: Two massive rectangular slabs book-hinged at the angle of the street-grid against the mirror angle of Gansevoort St, supported on 5 pilotis straddling the historic High Line, levitating 57 ft. above street level. Schliemann has cited Corbusier, Gordon Bunshaft, and Morris Lapidus as his inspirations, while Roman & Williams took their inspiration from Warren Platner for their iconic “Top of the Standard” interior. Seasonal amenities such as roof garden and ice rink create “a living room for the neighborhood.”
10/14/2015
Google Maps
Google Maps
PLAN - 4th - 17th Flr, Typ.
PLAN - 3rd Flr PROPOSED CRUCIBLE SITE
SITE ANALYSIS: ANGLE OF EAST BLOCK = MIRROR ANGLE OF GANSEVOORT ST ACROSS LITTLE W.12TH ST Map data ©2015 Google
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7405064,74.0095743,18z/data=!5m1!1e2
100 ft
1/2
PROGRAM ANALYSIS
PRIMARY CIRCULATION
2
CASE STUDY : SACRED SPACE Richard Serra, Tilted Spheres, 2004
THE CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST THE LIGHT, OAKLAND, CA CLIENT: ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF OAKLAND ARCHITECT: CRAIG W. HARTMAN, SKIDMORE, OWINGS & MERRILL 226,000 SQ. FT. COMPLETED 2008. CONCEPT: Inspired by the theories of Rudolf Schwartz and the art of Richard Serra, Hartman uses the parti of the vesica pisces in a double-carapace of glass and wood, above a concrete plinth incorporating 16 ft. grade-level change across the site; in a three-pronged mission to sanctify, educate and serve 700,000 Catholics. The building is axially aligned to the nearby lake, and the Omega Window draws from the west portal of Chartres’ Christ Pantocrator, replicated in tiny perforations, all to “combine ancient geometries drawn from nature and early Christian metaphors, with the most contemporary methods of computational design, to create a luminous, welcoming structure.”
10/14/2015
“The presumption is that a work of architecture that embodies the creativity and challenge of new art is somehow unsuitable as a housing for traditional religious rituals ... in contrast, or course, to the Middle Ages, when churches represented the most forward-looking, innovative, and daring architecture and engineering that had ever existed.” Paul Goldberger.
Google Maps
Google Maps
SOLAR PATH OAKLAND
AXIAL SHIFT 33DEG TO ALIGN WITH LAKE
Map data ©2015 Google https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8077633,122.2607882,17z/data=!5m1!1e2
200 ft 1/2
SHOP & CAFE
RECTORY
PLAZA
Sketches by Craig Hartman, Design Partner. © SOM
Presentation Watercolor. © SOM SANCTUARY USE OF GEOMETRY ... USE OF LIGHT ... RELATIONSHIP TO WATER, SITE & CITY OFFICES
PARISH HALL (COMMUNITY SERVICES) CONFERENCE ROOMS
MAUSOLEUM
Computational Study: Intersecting Spheres. © SOM
Interior: ‘Reliquary Wall’ Chapel. Credit: Webcor.com
PROGRAM ANALYSIS
AIRWELL (ACCESS BELOW)
SANCTUARY
RETAIL SHOP
ALTAR & SACRISTY
CAFE
PLAZA GARDENS
RECTORY
CASE STUDY : OTHER SACRED SPACE PRECEDENTS
1. Le Corbusier, La Tourette, 1953-60 2. Walter Netsch, Skidmore,Owings & Merrill, U.S.A.F Cadet Chapel, 1954-62 3. Steven Holl, Chapel of St. Ignatius, 1997 4. Eero Saarinen, Kresge Chapel, M.I.T., 1955 5. Hiroshi Nakamura, Sayama Forest Chapel, 2013
4
2 5
3
1
“Williams & Tsien have propounded on their creative philosophy in a series of essays ‘on slowness;’ namely an accretive and patient approach to process, utilising the iterative quality of sketching and hand drafting, while seizing on the discoveries which might occur on reviewing layers of worked-on drawings and the subconscious movements of the hand.. This approach also extends beyond process to their conception of space, and the appreciation of spatial quality ...”
3
CASE STUDY : MIXED-USE CAMPUS
excerpt from author’s original essay, fall 2015. ASIA SOCIETY HONG KONG CLIENT: ASIA SOCIETY ARCHITECT: TOD WILLIAMS & BILLIE TSIEN, TWBT ARCHITECTS 65,000 SQ. FT. COMPLETED 2012. CONCEPT: Adaptive re-use of 1860s ammunitions warehouses along a mountainous stream-bed in the heart of Hong Kong using principles of Chinese garden design and phenomenological emphasis on slowness, silence, shadows and evocative materials. Waterfalls, cantilevered aerial skyways, and retention of ammo rail-tracks accent a sprawling complex of art galleries, dining spaces, meeting rooms and auditorium. whose multi-level dispersal and unfolding nature is only comprehensible upon gradual exploration.
1:250 on A1
PROGRAM ANALYSIS: LOWER LEVEL A
PROGRAM ANALYSIS: UPPER LEVEL
PRIMARY CIRCULATION
SECONDARY CIRCULATION
2ND STAGE ANALYSIS
Site Selection Program Development Concept Research
SITE:
THE GANSEVOORT DESTRUCTOR PLANT, MEATPACKING DISTRICT, NYC
THE GANSEVOORT DESTRUCTOR PLANT 2 BLOOMFIELD ST, NEW YORK, NY 10014 140,000 SQ. FT. A derelict 1950s incineration facility scheduled for demolition 2017-18, on Gansevoort Peninsula, the westernmost landmass on Manhattan, previously designated 13th Ave, Piers 52 & 53. Historically, Herman Melville, author of ‘Moby Dick,’ was Customs Inspector on Gansevoort Piers, 1866-86, and Pier 54 adjacent, owned by Cunard White Star Line, was the destination of the Titanic, and where her sister ship, Carpathia, brought the rescuees in 1912. In 1956, the incinerator was the site of the only book-burning instigated by the US Govt. The FDA compelled Wilhelm Reich to burn his own material related to “orgone energy accumulation” which he thought could cure cancer. Gordon Matta-Clark cut into the side of Pier 52 to create “Day’s End,” 1975, a major work of Land Art amid gay sex trysts there. Today, apart from reinvigoration by the High Line, the Standard Hotel, and Renzo Piano’s new Whitney Museum, Thomas Heatherwick will construct an elevated park for Barry Diller & Diane von Furstenberg at Pier 55 in 2018.
RENZO PIANO, WHITNEY MUSEUM
STD MODEL INCINERATION PLANT, PLANT. 1950s
WILHELM REICH & ‘ORGONE ENERGY’
GORDON MATTA-CLARK, DAY’S END, 1975
PIER 55, HEATHERWICK STUDIOS
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
BLOCKING DIAGRAM: 1ST FLOOR
2ND FLOOR
3RD FLOOR
4TH FLOOR
5TH FLOOR
ECK ATION D OBSERV TACK ES AT SMOK LE PINNAC
L LIGHT NATURA S LU VIA OCU
RATION FENEST CIT Y, TO CLOSED ATER W OPEN TO
TIC MONAS GG HANGIN
T RE TREA
ANCE GOVERN
ARDENS
PUBLIC
CENTER CH
OUTREA
OPOSED NEW PR CE ENTRAN
E FEATUR L L A F R E WAT H-PIT INAL AS IG R O IN
STACKING DIAGRAM: LONGITUDINAL SECTION
THE GANSEVOORT DESTRUCTOR PLANT: Original design rendering by “A. Sigler, Chief of the Architectural Section,” 1940s. Credit: Museum of the City of New York.
(FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) 1. Cave 19, Ajanta, India, c. 460 - 480 CE. Freestanding stupa in rock-cut apsidal chaitya-hall, carved with niche of standing Buddha, and triple-umbrella canopy. 2. Tomb figure, clay and paper on wood armature, with earliest example of tapestry-weave on jacket. Excavated from tomb datable to 688 CE, Astana, near Turfan. Credit: Xinjiang Museum. 3. Seokguram Grotto, near Gyeongju, South Korea, 751 - 774 CE. granite slab construction (ashlar masonry). View from antechamber to circular sanctuary and Sakyamuni Buddha. 4. Kneeling adorant from Cave 28, Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China, 7th Century CE. Removed by Langdon Warner in 1924, it is the only complete stucco figure from Dunhuang in the West. Credit: Harvard Art Museum. 5. Frontispiece of the Diamond Sutra, woodblock print dated 868 CE; the earliest example of woodblock printing in the world. Removed by Aurel Stein from Cave 17, the “Library Cave�, Dunhuang in 1905-07. Credit: British LIbrary.
RESEARCH ESSAY
1
Ritual Space Along the Silk Roads: The Transmission of Buddhist Architecture from India to China & Beyond
The Caves at Ajanta
Cave 9, Ajanta, India, c.100 BCE - 100 CE. Chaitya hall with nave, aisles and ambulatory. Central stupa with high base, spherical anda, square harmika, and inverted pyramidal chattri.
Plan & Elevation of the Great Stupa at Sanchi, the earliest extant Buddhist monument, begun during the reign of King Ashoka, 268 - 232 BCE. incl. diagram of the stupa’s symbolism.
[EXCERPT] “... Among the earliest examples of Buddhist architecture are the great stupas at Sanchi, Bharhut and Amaravati in India, dating from the middle fo the 3rd century BCE, said to have been begun by the great King Ashoka of the Mauryan empire. He is said to have disinterred the mortal remains of the Buddha (which had been buried in eight massive funerary mounds) and subdivided them further to distribute them to 84,000 locations throughout his empire. A ‘stupa’ was formed around each relic, composed of a hemispherical or egg-shaped earthen mound (anda), a cuboid reliquary container (harmika), and a tiered umbrella (chattri), an ancient symbol of royalty. These successively stacked geometric forms (sphere, cube, pyramid) form the distinctive shape of the stupa ...”
“... As we have noted, during the Early Buddhist phase, the Buddha was represented in sculpture and painting only by the use of aniconic symbols, such as the bodhi tree, the Wheel of the Law, his footprints, and the stupa-form itself. As such, the stupa-form became the interior focal point for a covered hall structure of veneration of worship, termed chaitya (meaning ‘sacred funerary mound’.) The earliest chaityas were probably wooden structures with elongated axis and vaulted roof supported by columnar posts, but the earliest surviving examples are those cut from the living rock in cliffs of the Western Ghats around the region of Maharashtra. Chief among these are found among 28 caves in a U-shaped river gorge at Ajanta, near Aurangabad, carved in two phases: five caved were executed around 100 BCE - 100 CE, and the remainder around 460 - 480 CE ...”
Cave 26, Ajanta, India, c.460 BCE - 480 CE. Chaitya hall with nave, aisles and ambulatory, Figural carving to frieze, bracket capitals to fluted columns, and false-beams to barrel vault.
! AJANTA
MOGAO
SEOKGURAM
basalt, excavated cave
gravel conglomerate, excavated cave
granite ashlar masonry
cliff facing river
cliff facing river
mountain peak facing ocean
aligned to solstices
aligned east
aligned east
window illumines stupa
window illumines Buddha face
window illumines Buddha face
chamber size governed by rock ßaws
chamber size governed by rock ßaws
chamber size governed by Buddha statue
stone sculpture, relief carving, dry fresco
stucco sculpture, applied clay reliefs, dry fresco
stone sculpture, relief carving no painting
dense compositions, strong color
dense compositions, strong color
bare composition, monochromatic
two key phases, slow incremental development in form over time, (2nd phase echoes 1st closely despite 400-year hiatus)
incremental development over 1000 years (4th - 14th century), using Indian & domestically developed forms
mathematically calculated form developed from Indian prototype
chaitya & vihara
chaitya & vihara
chaitya only
wood structure precedents visible via carving
wood structure precedents visible via painting
cave structure predecent only, stone slab rivets
worship, study, living space
worship, possibly study & living space, or possibly funerary
worship, cosmic mandala
political function
political function
political function
Many other contrasting features are to be noted between the three sites, (see table above) but their political function is of particular interest. Just
Plan & Section of Cave 285, Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang; an example of the vihara monastery type. Frescoed with inscriptions dated to 538 - 539 CE.
Cave 478, Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, c. 557 - 581 CE; among the largest caves for circumambulation around a central pillar following the Indian prototype. Credit: Dunhuang Academy.
The Cave Temples At Dunhuang [EXCERPT] “... Grotto-based architecture in China
appears only in a Buddhist context, and given the Ajanta prototype, was probably imported in an effort to stay true to doctrinal sources and contexts. Unlike the basalt at Ajanta, the local rock at Dunhuang is a soft gravel conglomerate (sandstone), which was not suitable for sculpture or carved architectural details. As such, most of the applied decoration is sculpted in stucco over wooden armatures, and the walls are predominantly flat. False rafters and faux architectural details are painted in fresco.
In 366 CE, the monk Lezun had a vision that there were a thousand Buddhas shining like lights near the cliffs of Dunhuang, and he excavated the first monastic cell there overlooking a seasonal riverbed fueled by melting snows. ... Of the supposed 1000+ caves, 492 ornately painted caves have been found on the southern flanks of the cliffs, and a further 248 undecorated caves were found on the northern flanks. The applied decoration appears to have reached their peak in the 5th to 8th centuries, although the last painted cave was executed in the 14th century.
Cave 275, Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, c. 420 - 429 CE; among the earliest extant caves. With large painted stucco figure of Maitreya, Buddha of the Future, on lion throne. Credit: Dunhuang Academy.
A series of earlier caves from the 5th century follow the chaitya prototype from Ajanta, allowing for internal circumambulation around a central stupa or object of veneration. At Dunhuang, this usually takes the form of a squared pillar with niches of Buddha, or triad groups, on each of its four faces. The arched shape of the niches are also derived from the peaked-arch of the chaitya barrel-vault and exterior windows of Ajanta. The roofline of these ‘central pillar’ chambers is rather unusual in that there appears to be a gabled tranverse roof
rising up in the transverse vestibule before the actual pillar. Unlike the Indian prototypes which have a longitudinal axis, the Chinese examples appear to be transverse, possibly derived from wooden hall-temple structures with Chinese tiled roofs, in which the hall uses a modular bay unit repeated side-by-side in odd numbers. The sacred pillar thus sits within a flat-roofed rear chamber abutting the main transverse entrance hall ...”
The Cave Temple At Seokguram
Longitudinal Section: antechamber, corridor and domed sanctuary. Seokguram Grotto, c 751- 744 CE. After Harrell, fig.4. Diagrams indicating modular repeats in proportion of sanctuary and overall plan. Credit: art-and-archaeology.com; kscpp.net
[EXCERPT] “... While Ajanta and Mogao represent clustered ritual spaces excavated and evolving gradually out of natural rock formations over long phases, Seokguram represents a single architectural creation, formed by ashlar masonry to create a chaitya-griha grotto chamber whose proportions are mathematically calculated. Its harmonious proportions, based on √2 ratios, create a spatial mandala (concept map) representing the perfect nature of the Dharma, where the single unit is replicated in the many.”
(top) The key modular unit, the height of the Sakyamuni Buddha: 10’-8”. Interior view of the Sanctuary. (bottom) Archival photograph prior to restoration under colonial Japanese administration, 1909-13.
“... In plan derived from the chaitya prototype, the grotto has a rectangular antechamber, a flat-roofed corridor, and a circular sanctuary
facilitating circumambulation around a massive figure of Sakyamuni Buddha ... The sanctuary roof is a perfectly hemispherical dome, rising in five courses of progressively decreasing heights to a single capstone, whose component blocks were laid without mortar and required the calculation of π to an accuracy of 7 decimal places. The massive weight of the capstone and dome is locked into place by protruding stone slab rivets (tongtuldol), 10 on each of the upper three courses, cantilevered out radially and secured by the exterior mound of earth. As such, from the exterior, the grotto resembles a mounded funerary tumulus which harks back not only to the nomadic Steppes heritage of the Korean peoples themselves, but
also the 3rd century BCE stupa-mounds of Sanchi, Bharhut, and Amaravati which enclosed the earthly remains of the Buddha himself.” “... To outline its harmonies of proportion, the key modular unit is 12 tang ch’ok = 3.26m (10’-8”) high ... As shown in the diagrams above, the height of the Buddha = 1 unit. The diameter of the pedestal = 1 unit; the diameter width of the sanctuary = 2 units. The height of the Buddha and its pedestal = √2 (namely the diagonal of a perfect square with sides = 1 unit). The full height of the sanctuary = 1+√2 ... Furthermore the width of the corridor =1 unit, and its height = √2. The width of the antechamber = 2 units, and the combined depth of the grotto = 4 units.”
Concept Sketches Schematic Plans Design Storyboards
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
INITIAL MODEL FROM SCHEMATIC PLANS
CONCEPT SKETCHES
Rock Crystal ‘Five Element’ Stupa (gorinto), Japan, Kamakura Period, 13th - 14th C. Credit: Seattle Art Msm.
PAGES FROM DESIGN JOURNAL
STUDY MODEL OF GRAND STAIR & WATERFALL
CONCEPT SKETCHES PIRANESI, CARCERI D’INVENZIONE, PLATE XI, 1791
WILLIAM PEREIRA, GEISEL LIBRARY, SAN DIEGO
FRITZ WOTRUBA, DREIFALTIGEITSKIRCHE, VIENNA
INITIAL SKETCH OF GRAND STAIR, WATERFALL & CUBOID CASCADE
MOISHE SAFDIE, HABITAT 67, MONTREAL
PERSPECTIVE SKETCH OF INTERNAL SANCTUARY VOLUME (VORTICES OPTION) NOTE SKYBRIDGE AT RIGHT, OPPOSITE SLOPE OF RAMP-STAIR AT LEFT, AND CENTRAL PROJECTING VOLUME OF MEDITATION STUDIO, BRACED BENEATH BY COLUMN DESCENDING TO SANCTUARY FLOOR VISIBLE SEVERAL LEVELS BELOW.
(TOP) SKETCH OF INTERNAL SANCTUARY VOLUME (CURVILINEAR OPTION) (ABOVE) TOYO ITO, NATIONAL LIBRARY, TAIWAN, 2015.
CONCEPT SKETCHES
(ABOVE) MCKIM, MEAD & WHITE, GOULD LIBRARY, BRONX (RIGHT) PERSPECTIVE SKETCH STUDY OF SANCTUARY DOME STRUCTURAL BRACEWORK
LONGITUDINAL SECTION Scale: 1/16”=1’-0” NOTE: INDICATION OF SWIRLING RHYTHM OF ENTRANCE TOWERS. CUBOID STRUCTURAL LANGUAGE AT 1ST FLOOR ART GALLERY AND WATERFALL GRAND STAIR. DOUBLE-STOREY RESTAURANT WITH SKYLIGHT TO EXTERIOR. SPHERICAL SANCTUARY VOLUME, WITH PROGRESSIVELY DENSER VERTICAL SCREEN-WALLS TO THE CORNERS OF THE BASE LEVEL. 3RD FLOOR WITH SLOPING ANGULAR WALLS AND CLERESTORY WINDOWS. 4TH & 5TH FLOORS WITH MORE CURVILINEAR STRUCTURAL LANGUAGE AND DOUBLE-HEIGHT COLUMNS AT LOBBY RECEPTION & LOUNGE. LASTLY, INDICATION OF HANGING GARDENS AT 4TH & 6TH FLOORS, WITH SKYWAY ON 5TH FLOOR TO TOWER, AND SWEEPING UMBRELLA CANOPY OF OCULUS.
SCHEMATIC PLANS
PLANS, INCLUDING FURNITURE LAYOUT Scale: 1/64”=1’-0” FORMAL GARDEN
4F CLOISTER 0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50' 100'
5F MONASTERY 0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50' 100'
6F 6F OBSERVATORY OBSERVATORY
20'
5FL SLAB5FL BELOW SLAB BELOW
0 5' 10'
CANOPYCANOPY ROOF ROOF ABOVE ABOVE
3F GOVERNANCE CTR
6FL SLAB6FL SLAB
100'
UPPER ROOF UPPER SLAB ROOF SLAB 11' A.F.F.11' A.F.F. (ONLY HVAC&DUCTS & (ONLY HVAC DUCTS MECHANICAL BY OTHERS) MECHANICAL BY OTHERS)
50'
6FL OCULUS 6FL OCULUS 12' A.F.F.12' A.F.F.
TOILETS
STAFF ROOM
30'
BAG STORAGE
20'
WAVE MOUND
FRONT OFFICE
0 5' 10'
LOBBY LOUNGE
RECEPTION (-24" A.F.F.)
2F WORSHIP SANCTUARY
SKY BRIDGE
OPEN TO BELOW
STAIRS DOWN
100'
SUPPORT SVCS
STORAGE
50'
WAVE MOUND
GALLEY KITCHEN
30'
LOBBY CAFE
TOILETS
FITNESS ROOM
20'
CLOISTER ROOMS
LINEN CLOSET
OPEN TO BELOW
TOILETS
0 5' 10'
HOUSEKEEPING
MEDITATION STUDIO
SVC CLOSET
1F PUBLIC OUTREACH 30' 50' 100'
0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50' 100'
0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50' 100'
LIBRARY
LIBRARY
PANTRY
LIBRARY
RETAIL & TOWER SUMMIT
ADMIN OFFICES
TOUCHDOWN OFFICES
TRANSLATION, PRINTING & I.T. SUPPORT
(-4" A.F.F)
(-18" A.F.F)
(-4" A.F.F)
(-18" A.F.F)
RECEPTION
TOILETS
SANCTUARY
TOILETS
CASUAL SEATING
ENCLAVE
ENCLAVE
ENCLAVE
COAT CHECK
SOUTH ART GALLERY
NORTH ART GALLERY
SVC CLOSET
STORAGE
SM CONCLAVE RM
MED CONCLAVE RM
CEILING LINE (4FL SLAB)
3FL SLAB
OPEN TO BELOW
SM CONCLAVE RM
MAINTENANCE & STORAGE
SANCTUARY RECEPTION
ADA ACCESS RAMP (0" TO +42" A.F.F.)
OPEN TO BELOW
TOILETS
NOTE ROOF OF AUDITORIUM TO 6' A.F.F. (CLERESTORY WINDOWS ONLY)
CLOSET
LRG CONCLAVE RM
GREEN RM
DOWN TO SANCTUARY
STAIR UP (OPEN TO ABOVE)
AUDITORIUM MEZZANINE (+42" A.F.F.)
RECEPTION
AUDITORIUM FOYER (UP TO MEZZ)
AUDITORIUM
WATERFALL (OPEN TO BELOW)
REFECTORY / CAFETERIA
COMMERCIAL KITCHEN (BY OTHERS)
TOILETS
HOST STN
OPEN TO BELOW
TOILETS
SYMPOSIUM MULTI-PURPOSE HALL
SIDE CHAPEL
STAFF LOUNGE & SUPPORT SVCS
TEA CAFE
TOILETS
WATERFALL PIT & GRAND STAIR
AUDITORIUM A/V & DRESSING ROOMS
COCKTAIL LOUNGE
TOILETS
OPEN TO BELOW
HOUSEKEEPING & STORAGE
LAUNDRY
COMMERCIAL KITCHEN (BY OTHERS)
SERVICE AREA
LOADING & DELIVERY
HVAC & MECHANICAL (BY OTHERS)
SECURITY & STAFF ENTRANCE
SCHEMATIC PLANS
PLANS, INCLUDING FURNITURE LAYOUT Scale: 1/64”=1’-0” 6F OBSERVATORY 0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50' 100'
CANOPY ROOF ABOVE
6FL SLAB
5FL SLAB BELOW
6FL OCULUS 12' A.F.F.
UPPER ROOF SLAB 11' A.F.F. (ONLY HVAC DUCTS & MECHANICAL BY OTHERS)
LOUIS KAHN
LE CORBUSIER
LOUIS KAHN
BAGAN, MYANMAR
ETIENNE BOULLEE
TAKTSANG, BHUTAN
DESIGN STORYBOARDS: INSPIRATION PRECEDENTS
PETER ZUMTHOR
JOSEPH CORNELL
ANDY GOLDSWORTHY
ANDY GOLDSWORTHY
JULSCI FULTO
DESIGN STORYBOARDS: INSPIRATION & MOOD
Final Renderings Custom Furniture & Material Application of Phenomenological Theory
CAPSTONE PHASE
1F
4F
AXONOMETRIC STUDY : FULL EXTERIOR
AXONOMETRIC STUDIES
2F
5F
3F
6F
INITIAL AXONOMETRIC SKETCH
PERSPECTIVAL SECTION: DETAIL OF WESTERN HALF
TRANSVERSE SECTION WITH AUDITORIUM
PERSPECTIVAL SECTION: DETAIL OF EASTERN HALF
PROPOSED EXTERIOR: GHOST SMOKESTACKS, HANGING GARDENS & UMBRELLA CANOPY
ANALYSIS OF CURRENT SITE & SIGHTLINES
SITE
CURRENT VS. PROPOSED EXTERIOR
0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50'
MIREI SHIGEMORI
PUBLIC OUTREACH
GEOFFREY JELLICOE
TOWERS 1F & ART GALLERY
100'
MICHAEL GRAVES
LIBRARY
RETAIL & TOWER SUMMIT
(-4" A.F.F)
(-18" A.F.F)
(-4" A.F.F)
(-18" A.F.F)
RECEPTION
AUDITORIUM FOYER (UP TO MEZZ)
COAT CHECK
AIDLIN DARLING DESIGN
TOILETS
SOUTH ART GALLERY
NORTH ART GALLERY
AUDITORIUM
TEA CAFE
TOILETS
WATERFALL PIT & GRAND STAIR
AUDITORIUM A/V & DRESSING ROOMS
TOILETS
SECURITY & STAFF ENTRANCE
COMMERCIAL KITCHEN (BY OTHERS)
SERVICE AREA
LOADING & DELIVERY
1F MAIN RECEPTION & ENTRANCE CUSTOM RECEPTION DESK, WATER RILLS IN FLOOR, COURTYARD ZEN GARDENS.
INITIAL SKETCH OF ENTRANCE, RECEPTION & COURTYARD GARDENS
20' 30' 50'
LAWRENCE HALPRIN
0 5' 10'
CARLO SCARPA
PUBLIC OUTREACH LIBRARY
RETAIL & TOWER SUMMIT
LAWRENCE HALPRIN
GRAND STAIR WATERFALL 1F
100'
(-4" A.F.F)
(-18" A.F.F)
(-4" A.F.F)
(-18" A.F.F)
RECEPTION
AUDITORIUM FOYER (UP TO MEZZ)
COAT CHECK
SIR EDWIN LUTYENS
TOILETS
SOUTH ART GALLERY
NORTH ART GALLERY
AUDITORIUM
TEA CAFE
TOILETS
WATERFALL PIT & GRAND STAIR
AUDITORIUM A/V & DRESSING ROOMS
TOILETS
SECURITY & STAFF ENTRANCE
COMMERCIAL KITCHEN (BY OTHERS)
SERVICE AREA
LOADING & DELIVERY
1F/2F GRAND STAIR
WATERFALL CUBOID CASCADE, DESCENDING FROM
3RD FLOOR INTO ORIGINAL ASH-PIT.
0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50'
FRANK GEHRY
1F PUBLIC OUTREACH
ZAHA HADID
AUDITORIUM
100'
LIBRARY
RETAIL & TOWER SUMMIT
RECEPTION
SHOP ARCHITECTS
(-4" A.F.F)
(-18" A.F.F)
(-4" A.F.F)
(-18" A.F.F)
AUDITORIUM FOYER (UP TO MEZZ)
TOILETS
EERO SAARINEN
COAT CHECK
SOUTH ART GALLERY
NORTH ART GALLERY
AUDITORIUM
TEA CAFE
TOILETS
WATERFALL PIT & GRAND STAIR
AUDITORIUM A/V & DRESSING ROOMS
TOILETS
SECURITY & STAFF ENTRANCE
COMMERCIAL KITCHEN (BY OTHERS)
SERVICE AREA
LOADING & DELIVERY
1F AUDITORIUM & ART GALLERY
INITIAL SKETCH OF AUDITORIUM
0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50'
NORMAN FOSTER
2F WORSHIP SANCTUARY
SIR JOHN SOANE
RESTAURANT
100'
LIBRARY
PANTRY
ADMIN OFFICES
STAIR UP (OPEN TO ABOVE)
GREEN RM
AUDITORIUM MEZZANINE (+42" A.F.F.)
CLOSET
TOILETS
SANCTUARY
MAINTENANCE & STORAGE
SANCTUARY RECEPTION
ADA ACCESS RAMP (0" TO +42" A.F.F.)
OPEN TO BELOW
SIDE CHAPEL
STAFF LOUNGE & SUPPORT SVCS
HOST STN
OPEN TO BELOW
TOILETS
COCKTAIL LOUNGE
OPEN TO BELOW
HVAC & MECHANICAL (BY OTHERS)
HOUSEKEEPING & STORAGE
LAUNDRY
1F/2F RESTAURANT WINDOW WALL VIEW ONTO WATERFALL,
CUBOID MUQQURNAS ON 2ND FLR DESCEND THROUGH FLOOR-SLAB, NATURAL DAYLIGHT VIA ROUND SKYLIGHT.
0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50'
BENEDETTA TAGLIABUE
WORSHIP SANCTUARY I M PEI
OCULUS 2F & SANCTUARY
100'
LIBRARY
PANTRY
ADMIN OFFICES
STAIR UP (OPEN TO ABOVE)
GREEN RM
AUDITORIUM MEZZANINE (+42" A.F.F.)
CLOSET
TOILETS
SANCTUARY
MAINTENANCE & STORAGE
SANCTUARY RECEPTION
ADA ACCESS RAMP (0" TO +42" A.F.F.)
OPEN TO BELOW
SIDE CHAPEL
STAFF LOUNGE & SUPPORT SVCS
HOST STN
OPEN TO BELOW
TOILETS
HOUSEKEEPING & STORAGE
LAUNDRY
ROSS LOVEGROVE
COCKTAIL LOUNGE
OPEN TO BELOW
HVAC & MECHANICAL (BY OTHERS)
2F SANCTUARY
CUSTOM-DESIGNED ALTAR LECTERN, NATURAL ROCK ALTAR-STAGE.
GOVERNANCE CTR 0 5' 10' 10' 20' 20' 30' 30' 50' 50'
DANIEL LIBESKIND
ANSELM KIEFER
MEETING RMS 3F & REFECTORY
100' 100'
LIBRARY LIBRARY
TOUCHDOWN OFFICES OFFICES TOUCHDOWN
TRANSLATION, TRANSLATION, PRINTING && I.T. I.T. SUPPORT SUPPORT PRINTING
RECEPTION RECEPTION
DOWN TO TO DOWN SANCTUARY SANCTUARY
TOILETS TOILETS
CASUAL CASUAL SEATING SEATING
ENCLAVE ENCLAVE
ENCLAVE ENCLAVE
LRG CONCLAVE RM ENCLAVE
SVC CLOSET
DANIEL LIBESKIND
STORAGE STORAGE
SM CONCLAVE RM
MED CONCLAVE RM
CEILING LINE LINE CEILING (4FL SLAB) SLAB) (4FL
3FL SLAB SLAB 3FL
OPEN TO BELOW
SM CONCLAVE RM
NOTE ROOF ROOF OF AUDITORIUM TO 6' A.F.F. NOTE (CLERESTORY WINDOWS ONLY) (CLERESTORY
SYMPOSIUM MULTI-PURPOSE HALL
WATERFALL (OPEN TO BELOW) BELOW)
REFECTORY / CAFETERIA
COMMERCIAL KITCHEN (BY OTHERS)
TOILETS
3F GOVERNANCE CENTER
VIEW 4: FINAL RENDER
CONFERENCE TYP. LARGE CONCLAVE ROOM, FOYER,
& TRANSITION TO SANCTUARY.
VIEW 3: FINAL RENDER
LIBRARY
TRANSLATION, PRINTING & I.T. SUPPORT
REFECTORY DINING BESIDE WATERFALL SOURCE.
3F GOVERNANCE CTR
3
4
0 5' 10'
RECEPTION
DOWN TO SANCTUARY
20' 30' MED CONCLAVE RM
CEILING LINE (4FL SLAB)
3FL SLAB
OPEN TO BELOW
SM CONCLAVE RM
STORAGE
2
TOILETS
CASUAL SEATING
ENCLAVE
ENCLAVE
ENCLAVE
VIEW 2: FINAL RENDER
TOUCHDOWN OFFICES
LRG CONCLAVE RM
SVC CLOSET
SM CONCLAVE RM
3F GOVERNANCE CENTER
NOTE ROOF OF AUDITORIUM TO 6' A.F.F. (CLERESTORY WINDOWS ONLY)
1 SYMPOSIUM MULTI-PURPOSE HALL
WATERFALL (OPEN TO BELOW)
REFECTORY / CAFETERIA
COMMERCIAL KITCHEN (BY OTHERS)
TOILETS
VIEW 1: FINAL RENDER
50' 100'
CLOISTER 0 5' 10' 20'
JUHANI PALLASMAA
GARDEN 4F & MEDITATION STUDIO
30' 50' 100'
HERZOG DE MEURON
MOISHE SAFDIE
FORMAL GARDEN
MEDITATION STUDIO
PERKINS & WILL
OPEN TO BELOW
SVC CLOSET
TOILETS
FITNESS ROOM
CLOISTER 0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50'
KANO SCHOOL, 17thC
CLAIRVAUX
SUITES 4F & STD RMS
100'
FORMAL GARDEN
MEDITATION STUDIO
OPEN TO BELOW
SVC CLOSET
TOILETS
FITNESS ROOM
4F CLOISTER
TYP. SUITE, TYP. STD ROOM, & MEDITATION STUDIO.
MONASTERY 0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50'
NOTRE DAME, PARIS
LOBBY LOUNGE 5F
100'
PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL
CLOISTER ROOMS
HOUSEKEEPING LINEN CLOSET
STAIRS DOWN
WAVE MOUND
SKY BRIDGE
OPEN TO BELOW
SUPPORT SVCS
STORAGE WAVE MOUND
MAYA LIN
TOILETS
BAG STORAGE
LOBBY LOUNGE
RECEPTION (-24" A.F.F.)
LOBBY CAFE
TOILETS
STAFF ROOM
FRONT OFFICE
GALLEY KITCHEN
VIEW 1: FINAL RENDER 5F MONASTERY CLOISTER ROOMS
HOUSEKEEPING LINEN CLOSET
0 5' 10' 20' 30'
WAVE MOUND
SKY BRIDGE
OPEN TO BELOW
STAIRS DOWN
LOBBY CAFE
1
50'
TOILETS
BAG STORAGE
LOBBY LOUNGE
RECEPTION (-24" A.F.F.)
2
SUPPORT SVCS
STORAGE WAVE MOUND
TOILETS
STAFF ROOM
FRONT OFFICE
GALLEY KITCHEN
5F MONASTERY
INITIAL ACCESS VIEW, BY SAND GARDEN, & LOBBY CAFE, WITH CLERESTORY VIEW
TO OBSERVATORY LEVEL.
VIEW 2: FINAL RENDER
100'
5F MONASTERY CLOISTER ROOMS
LINEN CLOSET
INITIAL SKETCH OF COLUMNS AND CLERESTORY HOUSEKEEPING
0 5' 10' 20' 30'
WAVE MOUND
SKY BRIDGE
OPEN TO BELOW
STAIRS DOWN
LOBBY CAFE
2
50'
TOILETS
BAG STORAGE
LOBBY LOUNGE
RECEPTION (-24" A.F.F.)
1
SUPPORT SVCS
STORAGE WAVE MOUND
TOILETS
STAFF ROOM
FRONT OFFICE
GALLEY KITCHEN
VIEW 2: FINAL RENDER
5F MONASTERY
CHECK-IN & CONCIERGE, & LOBBY LOUNGE.
VIEW 1: FINAL RENDER
100'
CELESTIAL OBSERVATORY
6F OBSERVATORY 0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50'
RAM SINGH, 18THC
PIET OUDOLF
CANOPY ROOF ABOVE
6FL SLAB
5FL SLAB BELOW
6FL OCULUS 12' A.F.F.
UPPER ROOF SLAB 11' A.F.F. (ONLY HVAC DUCTS & MECHANICAL BY OTHERS)
The Jantar Mantars of Northern India Noguchi as Photographer
January 8 - May 31, 2015
100'
6F OBSERVATORY
The Jantar Mantars of Northern India Noguchi as Photographer
JANTAR MANTAR CELESTIAL OBSERVATORY,
FORMAL PARTERRE WITH TOPIARY MAZES, SKYWAY & REFLECTING POOLS. January 8 - May 31, 2015
RESEARCH ESSAY Phenomenology & Sacred Place-making: Interior Design Theory in Application
“A ray of light is not the same ray of light as came before ... Space has tonality, and I imagine myself composing a space lofty, vaulted, or under a dome, attributing to it a sound character alternating with the tones of space, narrow and high, with graduating silver, light to darkness.” Louis I. Kahn, 1973
[EXCERPT] “...The parti is derived from the Buddhist stupa, originally a reliquary for the Buddha’s hair and bones, but now simplified into a conceptual mandala, or thought-diagram, of stacked squarecircle-triangle. This imparts geometric purity to the building’s section, and the program’s divisions of function. The lower two floors use the vocabulary of the cube in the public outreach areas of auditorium, art galleries and restaurant. The worship sanctuary expresses the sphere, and rises full-height through an oculus to a tri-form roof canopy. The fourth and fifth ‘monastery’ levels, with meditation hall and private ‘cloister’ rooms, echo this curvilinear language; while the intervening third floor has a distinct language of sliding planes , essentially an elision of the cube transforming into a sphere. This indicates the programmatic uniqueness of this floor, deveoted neither to insular contemplation nor public education, but to active application through global conflict resolution.
Design solutions in this Crucible thesis are inspired by, and respond to, issues of phenomenology in architecture, particularly arising out of the writings of Juhani Pallasmaa, and its application to the development of sacred space. By focusing on a holistic conception of sensory response, and by challenging the binary oppositions of buildingvs-occupant / structure-vs-volume / observervs-phenomenon, we edge towards a conception of place that is non-dualistic, almost Daoist in derivation. In other words, a broader philosophical conception where exterior-interior, materialimmaterial, solid-void are intrinsically inseparable, simultaneous, and fundamentally uni-valent. Selected work by Peter Zumthor, Le Corbusier, and Louis Kahn shall be used as case studies, and the concept of ‘ma’ (space-time-interval) in classical Japanese architecture shall be discussed.”
In the Eyes of the Skin, the Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa discsses his concern of the patriarchy or dominance of the eye over the creation of architecture. This ‘ocularcentrism’ privileges appearance and rationalized focusing over the more fundamental haptic senses. In order to counter the alienation we feel within built space, Pallasmaa calls for our vision to become more ‘unfocused’ and ‘peripheral,’ and for architecture to restore primacy to considerations of touch, sound, smell, taste and physical orientation. As one’s perceptions are “fused into the haptic continuum of the self,” one discovers that “... my body is truly the navel of my world, not in the sense of the viewing point of the central perspective, but as the very locus of reference, memory, imagination, and integration.”
This reference to the omphalos, the navel of the world, is particularly resonant when discussing sacred space, since it is first used in reference to the Delphic oracle. Omphalos-stones were considered the power centers of the gods, and were set up in the adyton (the holy-of-holies) of the temple. One of the more famous modern usages of the term refers to the Foundation Stone of the former Temple of Jerusalem (destroyed 70 CE) enclosed within the Dome of the Rock, sacred to all three religions of the Book. Omphalos therefore integrates multivalent meanings: site of divine inspiration, site of temple foundation, site of generative power through the unity of phallus and uterus, the axis mundi, the fulcrum of the universe. By applying a phenomenological approach, the generative sacredness of any space may derive from the complete integration of the fully human into the built structure ...”
2
CAMP CHURCH FOR MIGRANT REFUGEES, CALAIS 2016
ST. PAUL’S LONDON, DURING THE BLITZ © GETTY IMAGES
“Only in the vacuum lay the truly essential ... The reality of a room, for instance, was to be found in the vacant space enclosed by the roof and the walls, not in the roof and walls themselves.” Okakura Kakuzo, ‘The Book of Tea,’ 1906
[EXCERPT] “...Equally important to Pallasmaa as the self-evident nature of process is the factor of scale and proportion: “Understanding architectural scaleimplies the unconscious measuring of the object or the building with one’s body, and of projecting one’s body scheme into the space in question. We feel pleasure and protection when the body discovers its resonance in space. When experiencing a structure, we unconsciously mimic its configuration with our bones and muscles ... unknowingly, we perform the task of the column or vault with our body.” This compares well with the aesthetics of classical Chinese (or Japanese) calligraphy, since the irreversible transmission of ink-characters onto paper or silk is interpreted using the somatic vocabulary of ‘bones, sinews, muscles, breath.” The connoisseur of calligraphy reads the order of the strokes, assesses the change of vertical pressure left in the brushlines, and intuitively echoes the rhythm and rapidity of the
movements of the wrist, shoulders and torso. By recreating the choreography of the creation of the text, by “unknowingly performing the task with the body,” we reach emotional communion with the original artist’s subjective state of mind , which resonates against the literal meaning of the text alone. Sacred place-making now therefore begins to move away from the vocabulary of construction and engineering towards the language of choreography and music. Exterior structure, and interior space, “initiates, directs, and organises behavior and movement.” Therefore since it implies a bodily reaction, an active encounter, it necessarily involved embodied associations of time and memory. We approach a building, confront it, assess it in relation to our body-self, pass through it, exit; we do this to facilitate rest, domicile, play, pleasure, work, and worship ...”
STRATA, ZAK+FOX
WEATHERED OAK
CORBATA NERO VEIN-CUT, HONED
MEXICAN BLACK RIVER PEBBLES
HAND-MOLDED PLASTER TRAVERTINE BLOCK TILE
ACID-ETCHED & STAINED CONCRETE
LAHAF, ZAK+FOX INDIGO & MULBERRY STAINED LINEN
JINGASA, ZAK+FOX
TAN BRICK, TYP. MOLDED CUNEIFORM GLASS
VEINED ITALIAN CREMA, BRUSHED WOVEN TEXTILE
MATERIALITY [EXCERPT] “... With this discussion of boundaries, interventions and place-making, we have almost come full circle to Norberg-Schulz’s discussion of the tangibility of thresholds. He quotes Heidegger, “A boundary is not that at which something stops, but as the Greeks recognized, the boundary is that from which something begins its presencing.” In classical Greece, the boundary between the sacred and the profane was termed alsos, referring to sacred groves of trees growing at the mouths of caves thought to lead to the Underworld. The transition between one realm and another was therefore a physical thing; more specifically, living things of nature, which moved, changed, aged. This is what makes gardens such powerful transitions, and Louis Kahn himself used groves of trees as transitions to the Salk Intitute, and to the Kimbell Art Museum, identifying these places as sacred realms (of art, of science, of humanism.) In praising the meditative outdoor room at Salk, which emphasizes the metaphysical by using horizon, ocean and sun, as well as the silvery immateriality of the light-filtering cycloid
vaults at Kimbell, Curtis writes, “... recently there has been a slogan of the ‘tectonic’as a supposed answer to a world filled with arbitrary images, but here again Kahn slips through the rhetoric. Kahn’s architecture is full of inversions: masses which seem suddenly weightless, materials which dissolve into immateriality, structures which reverse load and support, rays of light which reveal the realm of shadows, solids whch turn out to be voids.” Simply put, he reveals himself a master of phenomenological place-making. Norberg-Schulz discusses the key poem ‘ein Winterabend’ by Georg Trakl as phenomenology in the making of a home, but his analysis of the door threshold is equally applicable to ‘wanderers’ who seek entry to divine illumination rather than mundane domicile. “To dwell in a house therefore means to inhabit the world. But this dwelling is not easy; it has to be reached on dark paths,and a threshold separates the outside room from the inside. Representing the ‘rift’ between ‘otherness’ and ‘manifest meaning, it embodies suffering and “is turned to stone.” To paraphrase Norberg-Schulz:
“In the threshold, thus, the problem of (sacred place-making) comes to the fore ...” namely, the emobdying of ordeal-testing, symbolic passage and redemptive transformation. By using the devices of phenomenology, ie. by recognizing intentionality, concretizing place, and by abolishing the binary oppositions of bodyworld / structure-space / observer-observed, we may be able to enhance the associations of sanctity and spirit in creaing a sacred space. To do this, we draw lessons from classical Japan, from Zumthor, and from Kahn: (i) focus on thresholds, transitions and sequences of choreography, (ii) use shadows, silences, peripheral vision, evocative haptic materials, and somatic scale (iii) introduce spatial-temporal off-breaks to heighten awareness of inter-relatedness (iv) consider negative space as an active presence whose tension and energy can be manipulated (v) allow the truth of construction, ageing, and the intrinsic character of materials to show through.”
“To me buildings can have a beautiful silence that I associate with attributes such as composure, self-evidence, durability, presence and integrity, ... and with warmth and sensuousness as well ...” Peter Zumthor
INSPIRATION :
COSMIC MOUNTAIN MANDALA
PLAN
FUDO MYO’O, JAPAN, KAMAKURA PERIOD, 13TH CENTURY. METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK.
SCALE 1-1/2”=1’-0”
AXIS MUNDI : LECTERN FURNITURE DESIGN, SPRING 2016 JOE-HYNN YANG, MFA[1] NYSID
SIDE ELEVATION
FRONT ELEVATION
SCALE 1-1/2”=1’-0”
SCALE 1-1/2”=1’-0”
INSPIRATION : MUGHAL ‘CHAHAR BAGH’ GARDEN OF PARADISE
FRONT ELEVATION SCALE 1-1/2”=1’-0”
PLAN SCALE 3/4”=1’-0”
AXIS MUNDI : RECEPTION DESK FURNITURE DESIGN, SPRING 2016 JOE-HYNN YANG, MFA[1] NYSID
cru·ci·ble ͞ ˈkroosəb(ə)l/
noun
noun: crucible; plural noun: crucibles
1 a ceramic or metal container in which metals or other substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures.
▪ a place or occasion of severe test or trial. "the crucible of combat"
▪
a place or situation in which different elements interact to produce something new. "the crucible of the new Romantic movement"
!
source: oxforddictionaries.com
JOE-HYNN YANG !278 School of Interior Design MFA(1), New York Thesis Capstone Project, Spring 2016. yang.joehynn@gmail.com (917)4004393