Cal Poly Architecture Thesis: Dichotomy by John Tuthill

dichotomy

dichotomy Architectural Duality on the Path to Enlightenment

Studio 400 | 2012 _ 2013 | Karen Lange

John Tuthill e: johnrtuthill@gmail.com

000102 060708 [06] Introduction : The Deception of the Building [120] Program : A Path to Enlightenment

[12] Research 01 : Objectivity / Subjectivity [130] Installation : ZIP

[38] Research 02 : Zeitgeist and Mass Society [138] Section Show : Duality

030405 091011 [62] Research 03 : Manipulative Architecture [144] Detail Show : Techtonics

[82] Vellum : Distor[t]able [152] Design Devleopment : Program Split

[94] Site: The City of Angels [174] The Hot Zone : Dichotomy

Introduction We exist in a perpetual architectural state: the ramifications and presense of archtiecture are inexscapable. Even devoid of a physical presense, we carry the affects of a social condition inherently tied to our built environment. This book seeks to study the implications of and possibly capture these affects. The ability to create allows us to imagine realities far beyond our perceived physical capabilities making the possibilites are undoubtedly endless and hypothetically extreme. Superstudio created cities that bent any preconceived notion of what a city could or should be. Modernists invented a style that aimed to rectify human behavior, some even attempting to implement tea as the future alternative to alcohol. Sometimes the intentions were even a bit more sinister. The fascist regimes of WWII were notorious for radically altering architectural style in order to impose their new social orders on their populace. Considering the great power of architecture, whether simply perceived or actual, we exist in a world of increasingly banal construction. No longer does our built environment inspire or provoke. Rather we live in a realm of uninspired strip malls and bland row homes. Our Mecca has become the suburban big box store, our Xanadu, the technological realm. What is the cause of our abandonment of architectural power? Subsequently, what are the ramifications of such notions of architecture? Are we doomed to banality as well, or is there a redemption in sight? Architecture has the power to destroy society, but it also holds the power to redeem. As the stability of our world becomes an illusion, we must turn outside the norm for salvation and remember what those in the past did. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s change the world, and letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s save ourselves.

1. “Al menos da Sombra” by F. Antolín Hernández at flickr.com/ photos/f_antolin/3846742404/in/ photostream/

“I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.”

-Umberto Eco

The Deception of the Building Issue Abstract

Issue

Let’s Change the World!

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.” Gandhi

Every person at some point in their life steps back and

examines their own worth, their impact made on the world, and the resonance made in time. Such thoughts lead to radical conceptions and considerations, questions of mortality and morality, value and worth. Through these thoughts, come severe endeavors, and through these endeavors we hope comes an impact. Yet what seems to define this impact? Is it as subjective as lasting perception or can it be as literal as an imprint left on the environment? The notion of an objective impact versus a subjective impact significantly alters the course of action throughout a lifetime. Those intent on objectivity accumulate possession; conversely, those intent on subjectivity accumulate experience. Characters in history, as John D. Rockefeller have built up fantastic levels of wealth; characters, as Mahatma Ghandi have built up incredible levels of introspection. Despite such radical differences in path, both men have done enormous amounts of good in the world and arguably have made a strong impact. Considering that an objective and a subjective path toward meaning end at the same locale, what constructs cause one to traverse each direction? The difference between what constitutes each approach appears to be purely relative to each person. This seems to destroy the notion that an inherent objectivity even exists: is wealth simply a construct of our imagination or is it a measurable constant? Wealth is actually defined as “an abundance of valuable material possessions or resources; riches”, which obviously denotes a purely objective function. However, there exists modifiers of the word such as “material-wealth”; if wealth is already defined as an abundance of material possessions, a redundant modifier should not be necessary. Perhaps this confusions lies not with our construct of ‘wealth’ but rather with what constitutes 10

valuable. Value in most connotation is a subjective ideal [for the sake of this paper, an objective value is largely irrelevant] as the value of an object will vary depending on who perceives it. As wealth, a seemingly objective idea, is derived from a subjective principle, it cannot be truly objective. Rather, wealth exists as a societal function, with value being placed on certain objects by a perceiver rather than existing in the objects themselves. Thus wealth, and derivatively lifemeaning are subjective to the perceiver, as are the impacts made in the world. So, to revisit the original question with this diversion in mind, can we actually change the world? It seems to follow that a lasting impact exists only in the minds of those who perceive it and the value of such an impact exists likewise. Thus to make an impact, one must either use resources to influence perception or change the perception itself. The former involves the accumulation of goods/ideas and the latter involves a force of will. When looking at influence, these constructs seem to follow, as those whose impacts we remember are the wealthy, the wise, and the powerful. The path chosen is entirely up to the individual but the end goal is always the same: influence. While influence seems to be derivative of possessing a trait at a more substantial level than that of another, the relative difference in level appears to be a very blurry line. To alter perception is to alter this line: those gifted in deception or persuasion can more easily exact influence than those with ample resources alone. One capable of altering perception can ultimately create an illusion of an impact great enough to suffice for an actual impact. So let’s go change the world, or better yet let’s say we did and let the rest believe.

so letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s change go change the world, or better yet, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s say we did and let the rest believe. 11

Abstract

Using Architecture to Drive Society T

o implement a change in the world, one must look beyond the individual. To change the mind of one is altogether insignificant within the vast scope of society. To implement change, one must instead change the mind of the masses. Yet, another could argue that these masses are made up of individuals and attention should be paid as such. However there exists a condition where a crowd acts a collective and the individuals share a consensus of thought and opinion. In this sense, one can simultaneously address both the individual and the mass by considering the solidarity of the public. Consider the implications of mass media and mob mentality: trends, culture, morality, and ethics all cause the perceptions of many individuals to be tied together as one. The whims of the masses can be described as fickle, fleeting, ephemeral; at the same time these very nuances can possess massive power. The same traits that seem to lead society astray with selfishness and greed can instantly unite it for a single cause. The paradoxical nature of a mass society with a mob mentality cannot be ignored and has been studied in detail throughout history. Social theorists from the ancient Greeks to contemporary politicians have noted the ability to unite the public in a guided effort to implement change. Abraham Lincoln stated, “public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without it, nothing can succeed.” With this in mind, the question becomes how can architecture take advantage of this situation. Given that one must collectively influence the individual and the masses in order to induce change, corresponding architecture should do the same. At a micro scale, architecture deals very much with perception. To influence an individual is to alter their perceptions, to manipulate their environment as to manipulate their psyche. These notions all tie into the question of significance in architecture; are buildings 12

inherently objective and derive meaning from form or subjective and derive meaning from perception? Depending on which is correct or to which degree each is, one can better understand how to create architecture that resonates with an individual and how to use this resonance to alter preestablished beliefs. Accordingly, at a macro scale architecture also deals with perceptions. Yet in this case, the perceptions are not the individual’s of the building, but rather the individual’s of the group. Within a crowd, a member will alter their perceptions to fit with those of the majority. In a sense, the individual frames their perceptions with the intents of the mass in mind. To influence culture is to alter standards, which in turn modify the individual’s perceptions. These ideas directly correspond to the study of the zeitgeist. Zeitgeist, the spirit of the times or amalgamation of the social, cultural, political, and economic feel of a particular era, is closely bound to architecture. From era to era, the architecture has reflected the zeitgeist and in some cases the architecture has driven the zeitgeist. By manipulating architecture, one has the capacity to consequently alter the zeitgeist, which alters the social norms of the masses and changes their perceptions. Through creating an architecture that both alters cultural standards and individual notions, one has the capacity to change the minds of many and rapidly instigate change. This change can essentially drive the evolution of society. This project aims to capture this phenomena, first by researching subjectivity/objectivity and zeitgeist respectively then synthesizing the two into manipulative architecture.

Using architecture as a tool to drive society, the designer holds the ultimate power: the ability to shape the whims of the masses and manipulate the perceptions of the individual. The question is then to what extent is this notion possible and what could be the ramifications of such?

1. “JFK Cuban Missile Crisis” by James Vaughan at flickr.com/photos/x-ray_ delta_one/3957088447/

So let’s change the world already. 13

Research 01 1. Objectivity / Subjectivity ob-jec-tiv-i-ty [ob-jik-tiv-i-tee, -jek-] existing without the thoughts of a conscious subject sub-jec-tiv-i-ty [suhb-jek-tiv-i-tee] intentness on internal thoughts. What is architecture and more so what gives something a quality of architecture are two fundamental problems inherent in all architectural design. On one side, modernist architects and their derivatives would argue that the architecture is inherent in the building, as in a Louis Sullivan’s “form follows function” ; conversely phenomenologists, such as the contemporary Peter Zumthor would counter that architecture is derived in the experience of the perceiver. These two schools dictate that architecture is either objective -- having value inherent in the built form -- or subjective -- having value relative to the perceiver.

…The famous flutings on the [Parthenon’s] famous columns— what are they there for? To hide the joints in wood—when columns were made of wood, only these aren’t, they’re made of marble. The triglyphs, what are they? Wood. Wooden beams, the way they had to be laid when people began to build wooden shacks. Your Greeks took marble and they made copies of their wooden structures out of it, because others had done it that way. Then your masters of the Renaissance came along and made copies in plaster of copies in marble of copies in wood. Now here we are, making copies in steel and concrete of copies in plaster of copies in marble of copies in wood. Why? -Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead

1. “Jackson Pollock, Number 31, 1950” by Detlef Schobert at flickr.com/photos/ detlefschobert/6137803648/

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” -Confucius

Objectivity / Subjectivity Objectivity Subjectivity Idealism Formalism

The Sociocultural Perception “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” -Confucius

“I want to depict the most romantic idea in the most detached form” -Oskar Schlemmer, Diary, September 1915 “Four sticks in the ground can no way rise to the level of true philosophy” -Marc-Antoine Laugier

he dialectics of architecture rely on the presupposed notion of significance of the built form. Is meaning inherent or relative? Can an architecture even exist without intention or is the intention self-evident? Such quandary has troubled architectural theorists and practitioners for centuries and proves to be the unconscious rationale for each act of design. Schools of thought throughout history have battled upon these grounds: the modernists fighting for an architecture-inof-itself while the phenomenologists counter for an architecture-in-of-perception. With so much discussion and no mutual consensus there appears to be no obvious solution. However if one breaks down the arguments, they all reduce to a rather simple distinction: architecture as subjective and ideal or architecture as objective and formal. When historical architectural movements are viewed through these filters, there exists enough commonality to appropriately categorize architecture and end any ambivalence.

1. “Jackson Pollock, Number 31, 1950” by Detlef Schobert at flickr.com/photos/ detlefschobert/6137803648/

The Sociocultural Perception

Subjectivity and Objectivity in Architecture

There

exists a certain duality with the nature of things: our perception of the thing and the thing itself. German Philosopher, Martin Heidegger, in the Origin of the Work of Art1, discusses the “thingliness of things”, or in easier terms the nature of objects. He postulates that all things are self-evident at their most basic level but can gain additional significance through external perception, with art being the highest level. The inherent meaning that all objects posses is their objective form, and the meaning obtained through perception is their subjective form. Here Heidegger exposes this duality of existence with objects but delves further into extending a duality of meaning. Within the realm of architecture, the same duality of meaning exists, as architecture is in essence also just a ‘thing’. Architecture then is ascribed both by its self-evidence -- e.g its formal properties -and its reception -- e.g. how one perceives it. Yet in architectural theory, this duality is not commonly accepted with camps migrating toward one end of the spectrum or another. I find it interesting that these two notions of architecture cannot simultaneously exist2 and have sought to study the conceptions of each in order to attempt to bridge the divide. As the idea of architecture as a subjective body seems to be the more traditional school of thought, it seems appropriate to start here. There is no correct answer in the field; rather than stating that a solution is “right or wrong”, the more appropriate critique is “right for or wrong for.” The latter is heavily rooted in the opinion of the critic, as any typology can be applied to any situation in a manner that works. If the critique of architecture lies with the perception of it then surely the architecture itself should be of the perception too. A purely subjective architecture would place no value in objective values -- e.g. form, materials, dimensions -- but rather what these values mean. Hence, importance would be given to the experience of the brick over the brick

itself or the perception of height rather than the dimension. This form of architecture, propitiated in some degree by contemporary phenomenologists, places the significance of the structure in its users reactions. A building in this context can be deemed successful if and only if those who occupy it believe it to be. Yet while this modality may seem plausible, when one begins to think of the designer’s intent, it reveals itself paradoxical in nature. There cannot exist an intent to design for perception without a preconception of what the perception will be. The notion of this design is that the product will “cause one to feel x or y”. If there can exist a preconceived sense of how a building will be perceived then there must exist some form of objectivity that instead dictates “a or b causes one to feel x or y.” In an objective sphere, architecture reduces to a computational mathematical level devoid of any notion of perception. Rather than investigating how the brick is perceived, an objective stance would examine the properties of the brick. By removing the human sense from architecture, built form becomes significant in of itself and holds meaning in its composition. A pure objective architecture does not rely on contextual information nor reception to weigh its worth, rather it holds worth because it exists as such. This notion of architecture has made a rather strong resurgence in contemporary culture with the advent of parametric and algorithmic designs coupled with the postmodernism shedding of regionalism. These new forms of architecture hold meaning in their form; the design is right because of the mathematics that drive it are irreducible. Yet just as before with the purely subjective architecture, a purely objective architecture also reveals itself to be paradoxical when one thinks of intent. If the design is based purely on the mathematics, the one may wonder why all contemporary design does not look the same. How does one discern which mathematical framework to enlist or to what to degree or in what manner? There must be a notion of reception or of why this design is appropriate.

1. Martin Heidegger. “The Origin of the Work of Art,” in Poetry, Language, Thought.

2. Hogben, Paul. “Maintaining An Image Of Objectivity: Reflections on an Institutional Anxiety.” Architectural Theory Review 6.1 (2001): 63-75. Print.

The Sociocultural Perception Perceived Objectivity

Architecture must occupy a certain space, both physically and metaphysically. The role of the architect is to fill the space with a structure that will facilitate a reaction on both accords. As mentioned earlier, both the subjective and the objective factor into the intent of the architect regardless of bias toward either end. A total conception of architecture, regardless of intent will undoubtedly refer to both schools as built form contains both mathematical structure and the capacity to illicit reaction. The question should not be whether architecture is subjective or objective but rather to what degree it is of each.

1. David Hume. “Of the tandard of Taste.” in Aesthetics: The Big Questions, ed. C. Korsmeyer (Malden: Blackwell, 1998)

As every notion of the world we have is derived from empirical evidence1, one cannot deny to any degree the subjectivity of architecture. Yet there exists no such guarantee on the objective half. The only true objective forms are mathematics and architecture cannot exist as only mathematics, but rather as a representation of mathematics. The notions in architecture that we hold to be universal all lose any degree of objectivity the instant they manifest into built form. The illusion of an objective architecture lies in a commonality of bias; if enough people consider a construct to be universal without dissent, then the construct becomes universally accepted as such. For example, the form, layout, and construction typology appears to be constant across culture -- i.e. a school can always be recognized as a school, an office as an office, or a hospital as a hospital. While this would seem to imply a certain objective type,

consider placing the same typology into a different context. Across cultural lines, building typologies always differ, destroying any notion that there is a single inherent typological standard. It appears that objectivity is not rooted in the universal but rather a cultural perception of the universal. It seems to follow that a change in cultural perception would ultimately result in a change in typological standards. In this respect, a certain type of building in one society would appear completely different in another, and to each society this typology would appear ‘normal’. As the culture between the two societies changes so does their architecture. Perhaps this stems from a functional root, with certain typologies better suited for environmental and social constraints. Perhaps this stems from an aesthetic root, with preference given to one style over another. Nonetheless there exists a strong relationship between culture and what is normal. If one was able to change the normal, or introduce a new typology that becomes standard, the cultural perceptions surrounding the old typology would also change. Given that the general populace is often unaware of their cultural bias, these changes could be carried out unnoticed. To alter objective bias and the accompanying perceptions at length influences the individual significantly.

To begin the path to enlightenment, the pilgrim must first be susceptible to change.

Reading1A Morality and Archiecture Revisited [by] David Watkin by James Curl 18

20 Reading1B Maintaining an Image of Objectivity: Reflections on an Institutional Anxiety by Paul Hogben 22 Experiment01 Visible Duality 24 Reading1C Kitaro Nishidaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Philosophy of Emptiness and its Architectural Significance by Jin Baek 28 Case Study 01 San Cataldo Cemetery by Aldo Rossi 30 Reading1D The Content of Landscape Form [The Limits of Formalism] by Marc Treib 32 Experiment02 Folding Form 34 Case Study 00 Stockhomlsporten Master Plan by BIG Architects

Reading1A

“Morality and Architecture Revisted [by] David Watkin” written by James Curl 1. Curl, James. “Morality & Architecture Revisited [by] David Watkin.” Newsletter | Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain 74 (n.d.): 18.

James Curl aims to “construct an account

of architectural space that is an elaboration of the psychoanalytical account of the subject.” In other words, the topic of the paper revolves architecture existing as an extension of the ego. Martin writes “architectural composition is a struggle to give order to space so as to provide the order and consistency that the ego struggles to give itself.” He examines this construct through the perspective of two architects: Brunelleschi and Le Corbusier. With Brunelleschi, he examines the use of perspective, as Martin writes, “perspective structure was an analogy for the way that our object-relations structure the world ... [these structures] structure the world just as our ‘love objects’ structure us as desiring subjects.” Here Curl implies that perspective is our interpretation of the world’s physical geometry, our ability to differentiate depths and imply distance. He extends this relationship to the interactions between us as desiring subjects and the objects of our desire. He seems to imply that these objects of desire structure our subjective view of the world just as perspective structures our literal view of the world. “We and our representations of the world depend entirely on an invisible object of desire, an abstract, infinite, enigmatic object.” Thus to alter our desires is to alter our representations of the world and ultimately alter ourselves. In this correlation, architecture plays the role of bridging the gap between the ego and our desires. Martin writes, “architectural composition is a struggle to give order to space so as to provide the order and consistency that the ego struggles to give itself.” We can shape our perceptions /

representations of the world with our desires, yet these desires cannot shape the world itself. As Martin suggests, our egos strive for order and balance; the ego is the sense of self and throughout life we strive to find ourselves, to explore meaning, to justify our existence. We strive to uncover an explanation of our self, a self-representation dependent upon our objects of desire. Architecture as a representation of the ‘self’ can fulfill this desire, giving the ego an external reference to it’s self-conception. If a structure functions in alignment to one’s practices, then these practices seem appropriate and fulfilling. Curl then shifts his attention over to a young Corbusier to demonstrate the aforementioned notions. As a young man, Corbusier - then Jeanneret - visited the Acropolis. Jeanneret’s visit to the Acropolis constituted an encounter with the Thing (the pure shattered substance of the Other’s enjoyment) that was so intense that he could only survive by becoming a name-of-the-architect ... a ‘me’ named Jeanneret already knew of a ‘self’ name Le Corbusier that was yet to come”. By encountering an object so significant, Corbusier’s ego was shaken to the point that it accordingly changed, awakening a new self within him. “From this structural projection/introjection difference Curl points out that the intimate in architecture is not just a negotiation of ‘me and my love object’, but also sometimes a negotiation of ‘the Architect and the Other’. Only the name of the Architect might master the battery of architectural signifiers as they ripple through the ages with the insistence of an Other.”

Architecture,

in its multi-faceted role,”engages the ego in a neurotic game”, altering our environment to different degrees of alignment with our ego. When the difference proves to be too great, and we become neurotic, as evidenced with the perspectival space of Brunelleschi’s nave of San Lorenzo. When no difference exists, architecture validates the ego, providing structure, order, and consistency to our conceptions. There also exists the possibility that the difference aligns not with our current self but an other self, as with Corbusier and the Acropolis. This notion is the most interesting of all, as the interaction inherently changed young Jeanerret into Corbusier; the experience shattered his previous conception of himself, giving rise to a new molded conception. __________

1. “El último surrealista” by Antonio Marín Segovia at flickr.com/photos/ 2. Ibid. 3. “I just don’t know what to do with myself” by Thomas Hawk at flickr. com/photos /thomashawk /8070474134/

Meaning in architecture becomes apparent in this article with the subjective mind existing as an extension of the built form. Architecture as Watkin suggests bridges the gap between the ego and our desires, drawing purpose through validation. I find it particularly interesting that he contends architecture to be so deeply rooted within our conceptions of ourselves. During my research on the subject, I discovered the artwork of Roberto Matta, who paints architecture constructed from emotion, as shown to the left. While the representations are pretty surreal, the notion of creating space from emotion resonated with me. I wonder how much architecture is constructed through emotion and how much built form is a manifestation of emotion. The first dwellings of humanity were constructed as literal representations of psychological conditions; have we lost our connection between architecture and emotion through objectivity or has it manifested itself in a more foreign abstract manner? 21

Case Study 00

Master Plan | BIG Architects | 2011 | 1. Stockhomsporten Master Plan courtesy of BIG at archdaily. com/121770/ stockholmsporten-masterplan-big/

2. Ibid.

The

Stockholmsporten Master Plan, as pictured, is a master plan competition won by the Bjarke Ingels headed BIG architects. The intent of the project is to create a new portal into Sweden at the Hjulsta highway intersection 15km north of Stockholm. At the center of the infrastructure lies the giant hovering sphere, acting as an “an ever changing icon that marks an entry point to the city and reflects the passing seasons and the evolving urban life beneath it.”4

1. Stockhomsporten Master Plan courtesy of BIG at archdaily. com/121770/ stockholmsporten-masterplan-big/

I chose to showcase this project as BIG challenges typical typologies of design, institution, and precedence. Instead Bjarke and his firm establish a new form, connecting to the natural environment and the surrounding urban contexts. By abandoning traditional typologies, BIG does as Paul Hogben suggests in the previous reading; the project is a departure from an institutional-driven architecture that draws inspiration from mathematics and business structure. Instead, the Stockholmsporten Master Plan draws upon dialogue and context to establish a design both unique and relevant.

4. J, Sebastian. “Stockholmsporten Master Plan / BIG.” ArchDaily. N.p., 22 Mar. 2011. Web. archdaily.com/121770/ stockholmsporten-masterplan-big/.

To remove the plague of cookie-cutter-architecture evidenced in suburban tract homes and strip malls, architects must adapt a mentality akin to BIG. Bjarke claims that architecture should “maximise the potential for unfolding human life to the fullest.”5 He continues, stating “as life evolves – our buildings and cities should evolve also, so we have a physical framework tailored to our ideal lifestyles – rather than being forced to to live in ways imposed upon us by outdated structures of the past.”6

2. Ibid. 3. Ibid.

5. Linda. “Interview with Bjarke Ingels.” ArchiNinja. N.p., 10 Nov. 2009. Web. archi-ninja.com/interviewwith-bjarke-ingels/. 6. Ibid.

Architecture cannot exist as an objective, scientific or business-based practice. As Bjarke professes, life and living are non-homogenous processes that constantly evolve. To design a rigid typological frame for a multi-faceted event is to ignore the subtle nuances of humanity. Rather one must tend to the subjective side of architecture, noting necessity over efficiency. 23

Reading1B

Maintaining an Image of Objectivity: Reflections on an Institutional Anxiety written by Paul Hogben

1. Hogben, Paul. “Maintaining an Image of Objectivity: Reflections on an Institutional Anxiety.” Architectural Theory Review: The Journal of the Department of Architecture, Planning and Allied Arts 6.1 (2001): 6375. Print.

aul Hogben attempts to trace the rise of objectivity over subjectivity in architectural discourse and weight the affects on building and mentality. He begins by drawing a difference between traditional critical dialogues and more contemporary description reports. The former being a conversation including technical, aesthetic and formal aspects that presents perspectives and opinions. The latter is a compilation of technical information with empirical verification. Description reports represent the majority of contemporary architectural discourse emphasizing that “the presence of the building in the physical world was to ground any written assertion about it”. Furthermore, “subjectivity and objectivity [are] irreconcilable and mutually exclusive opposites.” He continues to present a series of events and mentality shifts that ultimately caused the contemporary empirical methodology to replace the traditional subjective one. In the post WWII 1940s, ideas of logical positivism and pragmatism began to grip the managerial sector, dictating a factvalue dichotomy over an empirical one. At the same time, the architectural sector was becoming more closely aligned with management-client relations. “Architects were being told that to gain the business of the entrepreneur they had to learn to better serve the interests of speculative research capital.” Corresponding to this shift was the elevation of information to a system of communication and the increasing image of professionalism with architecture as a professional service. All these factors alongside an increase in technological development and scientific advancement caused the fact to matter more than the opinion. Hogben writes, “the rationality of science marginalized the subjective domain according to the notion that scientific theory could organize data more rationally than ... political ideologies or aesthetic movements.” While some may argue that the advancement of

a scientifically based architectural discourse is far more progressive and aligned with current mentalities, Hogben presents an alternative notion. He states, “fact based accounts of buildings belong to a way of rendering buildings as architectural that survives through the repetition of the same.” He furthers that the proponents of the fact based accounts “arrest the building by constituting it within the established ways of speaking and knowing.” As discourse delves into impersonal, hard facts, Hogben argues that architecture follows suit. Mentality shifts translate to implementation shifts; as discourse loses subjectivity, architectural attitude follows, and consequently building style. As a solution to the issue of objective architecture, Hogben suggests that dialogue is reopened in architectural discourse. He states, “formal calculi have a monadological - indivisible - structure, a structure that excludes conversation ... They replace dialogue with a mere exchange of information.” As factual information supersedes dialogue, the building becomes more of a theory proven by its existence rather than an experiential concept that collaborates with its existence. As Hobgen puts, “the building is not hypothesized but rather figured at the levels of encounters in collaboration.” To escape from architectural banality and the isolation of theory, architecture needs to reopen dialogue, shed the aura of objectivity and return to its subjective roots. As the only true form of objectivity is numerical, an objective interpretation of architecture must reduce itself to such. Yet architecture seems to be deeper than the analytics, than the calculations, than the facts. There exists an inherent phenomenology, regardless of intention, that cannot be quantified scientifically. To ignore this aspect is to reduce architecture to formalism, devoid of a notion of an occupant. Architecture exists as a unique combination of the scientific and the artistic and must call upon both or risk banality or obscurity.

This

article by Paul Hogben discusses

what objective architecture is and where it originated from. As architecture became more institutionalized and business-oriented, the design followed suit. Today suburban sprawl is littered with rows of uninspired tract homes1 3, and strip malls2

1. “Suburban Sprawl” by John K at flickr. com/photos/ johnkay/3732615241/ 2. “Behind the Strip Mall” by ‘Your Pal Dave’ at flickr.com/photos/ yourpaldave/2697577432/ 3. “Suburbia” by Jan Baranski at flickr.com/photos/ janek_b/4338979939/

devoid of any character. To approach architecture with only notions of objectivity reduces concepts of context and emotion to efficiency and numbers. While the latter are undoubtedly important within the operations of an architectural practice, allowing them to leak into design has led to the banality of

architecture. The article suggests that an objective architecture is possible, but does not generate any form of meaning. Thus, on the search for meaning, one must consider the subjective side and the ideas that a more humanized direction can yield a more significant architecture. 25

Try seeing things from a different perspective Try seeing things from a different perspective

photograph by Melissa Peter

Experiment 01: Visible Duality A

s an architectural change can lead into a social change due to the notions of sociocultural objectivity, the question then lies in how this change occurs. Within the scope of subjectivity, Yet to initiate sweeping revolutionary change, not just one mind, but the minds of a collective society must change. As one can only be aware of their own perceptions, aligning such delusions is a shear impossibility. Thus to initiate change, one must alter mentality rather than perception. This of course, is a relatively easy approach as even the slightest triggers can alter mentality. Think Stockholm Syndrome, Stanford Prison Experiment, or a mob mentality, where a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s environment significantly changes their mentality and consequently, their perception. Just as environmental modification can incite revolutionary + reactionary behavior, the phenomenon can pacify similar behavior. In times of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;idealâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; civil policy, an environment can be modified to incite acceptance and solidarity amongst a people. Regardless of the end result, the process involves manipulating a group of people to have a similar mindset and consequently perceive certain societal norms differently. The question then lies in how would one go about manipulating perception through spatial triggers. Perhaps notions of color and form might change perception; yet these seem to be far to objective as each person may experience different notions different ways. Rather the better option seems to produce an environment that challenges objectivity, one that presents data in a manner that makes us aware of it. 27

Experiment01

Visible Duality CMYK shift

ave you ever wondered what something looks like from anotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s point of view? This first experiment, done at the 5th year abstract show attempts to demonstrate this idea of a multiple perceptibility through a state of visual duality. The idea behind this experiment was to present a single convoluted image, then offer a participant two filters to view the image through. Each filter clarifies the image but only presents one aspect of the image. In order to gain an understanding of the entire image, one must view the image from both filters, essentially seeing from both points of view. To achieve this effect, I studied the work of the Milan -based design team Carnovsky - composed of Francesco Rugi and Silvia Quintanilla - and their RGB artwork. Within each piece the artists create are three different images overlaid on another, each possessing only Red, Green, or Blue color. When exposed to a certain color light, certain image layers vanish, leaving only one or two to be exposed. Using this approach, I created a series of images, as shown on the right, that possess two overlaid images. The first set, colored cyan shows an intact structure and a group of people at peace. The second set, colored magenta, shows a ruined structure and a group of people rioting. Rather than using a light filter to differentiate the two layers, I opted to create two pairs of glasses - one pair had a set of cyan lenses, the other, a set of magenta. When each pair is worn, the images become clear, but only show one side or the other, as shown on page 27. To fully comprehend the image, one must wear both pairs of glasses and consider both points of view. 28

Magenta Shift [peaceful]

Cyan Shift [chaotic] 29

Reading1C

“Kitaro Nishida’s Philosophy of Emptiness and its Architectural Significance” written by Jin Baek

1. Baek, Jim. “Kitaro Nishida’s Philosophy of Emptiness and Its Architectural Significance.” Journal of Architectural Education (2008): 37-43. Print.

in Baek, of Penn State University studies philosopher Kitaro Nishida’s notions of emptiness and translates them into architectural principles. He begins his paper by differentiating two schools of thought: the typologists and the populationists. According to evolutionary biologist, Ernst Mayer, “for the typologist the type (eidos) is real and the variation an illusion, while for the populationist, the type (the average) is an abstraction and only the variation is real.” While this school of thought appears intriguing according to Baek, he counters that the differentiation is no more than a refiguring of the debate between realism and idealism. Rather than encourage this debate, Baek calls for an interdependence between the typologist and the populationist and the ideal and the real, with one being the basis for the other. To illustrate this point, Baek delves into Nishida’s theories of emptiness. He first defines emptiness as “a topos in which beings emerge, exist, and evaporate, the ultimate foundation of reality that transcends ideas of being and non-being.” With this base-point, he draws from Nishida’s philosophy, three lessons. 1) The first of these, titled “The Dialect of Opposites,” deals with the determinace of the identity through the disposition of asymmetrical qualities. Baek writes “the identity of a being is determined not by what is believed to be existent within itself but by it’s dialectical relation with the opposite.” He uses the example of “like the moment in which one finds one’s self to be the being of warmth in reference to coldness enveloping and penetrating the body.” Thus we are the amalgamation of all that we are not, as what we are not determines what we are. He notes that this type of thinking does not mean to synthesize these opposites into a middle ground, but rather synthesize a new entity out of the juxtaposition of them. 2) The second lesson, titled “The Bodily Subject

of Immersion,” furthers the notion of identity to include sensation. He writes, “sensation is not concerned with measuring outside phenomena based on predetermined concepts, ideas, and values but with unconditionally accepting phenomena as one’s own self.” Nishida believes that the body is an empty vessel, and we are constantly immersed in the abundance of what the world offers. Perception is then what the immersed self is able to take in, with the surplus being the ability to create. 3) The final lesson, title “The Dialectic Between the Ideal and the Real,” takes upon the previous two lessons to determine self-identity. Baek writes that this identity is the self-delimination of the infinite and eternal emptiness into a finite and temporal content. The eternal and infinite, as described here exist as the universal and the ideal according to Nishida. According to Baek, “Thanks to this nature of the universal, the ideal, such as eternity or infinity, is felt only through the real, while the real emerges as the function of self-individuation of the ideal. Accordingly, there is no ideal unless there is the real, and there is no real unless there is the ideal.” With these three lessons established, Baek shifts his writing to their architectural applications. Noting the first lesson and the juxtaposition of opposites, Baek cites the Architecture of Aldo van Eyck. Eyck, a member of Team X, “sought to transcend the categorical and monodimensional comprehension of the human being in modernism.” He created an architectural language that “allows ‘simultaneous awareness’ of what is significant on either side.’ Moreover, ‘an in-between place in this sense provides the common ground where conflicting polarities are reconciled and again become twin phenomena.” In this regard, Baek states “good architecture does not impose a meaning by favoring one value over the other between individuality and collectivity or between peripherally and centrality. Rather, it lays out a platform on which the contrasting values are co-present.”

e continues shifting to Aldo Rossi and the notion of emptiness in the creation of a monumental buildings. Rossi believed that for a building to achieve the status of a monument, the core of the building should be empty as to allow the capacity to accept a performance not intended for its original conception. In this sense, no type can be identified with only one form, even if all architectural forms can be reduced to these types.

1. Holocaust Tower by Renaat at flickr.com/ photos/renaat/3440741987/

__________ Architecture then is the endorsement of the mutual dialectic between the ideal and the real with the ideal being the the infinite and eternal, the real being the finite and temporal. It is the arena where the dialectical opposites are corepresented and interdependent, with the knowing body synthesizing these values. Furthermore, the architect is not one who creates these arenas but rather the one who emphasizes with what is offered by the world. Baek seems to suggest that the subjective notions of architecture are far more important than the objective as success lies in the perceptions of the space rather than of the space itself. Interestingly, he endorses a deep connection between this subjectivity and individual identity. As David Watkin suggests in the previous essay, our perceptions of a physical object are projections of our self onto these objects. Baek takes this notion one step further, writing that these objects can do more than just cause us to realize already existing traits. Architecture possesses the ability to significantly influence who we are by facilitating an escape from emptiness. It is through our environment that we ascribe meaning to our actions, pulling the ideal our of infinity. 31

Case Study 01

San Cataldo Cemetery | Aldo Rossi | 1858-1876 | 1. â&#x20AC;&#x153;ho visto cose che voi umaniâ&#x20AC;? by Antonio Trogu at flickr.com/photos/ atrogu/5567917814/

n the grounds of an ancient cemetery in Modena, Italy4 lies Aldo Rossi’s San Cataldo Cemetery. The cemetery was invented by Rossi after he suffered a horrific accident; while sitting in the hospital for many weeks, “he began to theorize about the structure of his body as a series of fractures that had to be put together again”5 From this idea, Rossi took fragments of ideas from older cemeteries and merged them together into a new typology: The Rossian cemetery has no roof, floors, windows or doors; instead it is only a shell with openings. Some of the openings are for light, others for views, access, and even containment of cremated bodies. Many do not hold this building in high esteem, as they find it depressing or ugly. But Rossi has found a way to make architecture metaphysical; the visitor is inevitably confronted with the thought of death, where truths are constant and irrevocable. I really enjoy this building as a composition of its parts as Rossi intended, but what drew me to it was his disregard for strict adherence of current typology. Instead of conforming to the cultural standards of his time, Rossi designed a moreperfect cemetery, one that drew upon the past, present and future that created new social theories. In a sense, Rossi detaches himself from the subjectivity and draws inspiration through the form. The building, analogous to his body has a series of ribs with a central void. Meaning is driven through the realization of form, not function.

1. “San Cataldo Cemetery” by Maurizio Mucciola at flickr. com/photos/maurizio_ mwg/3094256454/ 2. “Cemetery of San Cataldo” by Gio Vencato at flickr.com/photos/gio_ vencato/7766893016/ 3. “San Cataldo” by Antonio Trogu at flickr.com/photos/ atrogu/5169402427/ 4. Sveiven , Megan. “AD Classics: San Cataldo Cemetery / Aldo Rossi” 10 Dec 2010. ArchDaily. Accessed 26 Nov 2012. archdaily.com/95400 5. 6. Ibid.

Previous research has gone against objectivity in architecture, claiming banality and detachment from the user. Yet Rossi transcends this by designing for the dead, for someone without perceptions and taste. By freeing himself from the perceptions of the living, Rossi creates an architectural masterpiece that still resonates with the observer. Perhaps objectivity has its place, released from the confines of perception. 33

Reading1D

“The Content of Landscape Form [The Limits of Formalism]” written by Marc Treib 1. Treib, Marc. “The Content of Landscape Form [The Limits of Formalism].” Landscape Journal 20.2 (2001): 11940. Print.

This

article written by Marc Treib, a professor of architecture at UC Berkeley, seeks to unearth the role (and possible limits) of formalism in landscape design. He mentions the notion that there exists three axes of design that one must consider in producing a coherent end result. These are, the formal -- space, form, and materials -- the cultural -- history, social, and behavior -and the environmental -- ecology and typology. He postulates that a successful design can only incorporate one, while leaving the rest void, yet such a practice will not produce a complete design. He continues to write that a recent trend in the field of landscape architecture is the rise of the formal axis and the diminishing of the other two due to the creation of the photographed image. This photographed image lends toward the notion “experience [of the design] is circumscribed and limited. [The photographed image] has increased the power of the place that is difficult to match on site. It reduces the potentially manifold dimensions of experience -- e.g. haptic, olfactory, auditory, and temporal -- to only two: the visual and the formal. In the process, the formal aspects become the purpose or content of the design and the image reigns supreme.” Treib calls out the photographed image as being able to capture a specific instance in the site, that often cannot be replicated in person. As a result, the perceiver’s conceptions of the work become very limited, as many can attempt to conceive of a project without actually experiencing it first-hand. As the trend toward showing work with a strong bias toward imagery grows, the architect seems to hold formalism with a much greater regard. After all, formalism can be easily translated through imagery while the “potential manifold dimensions of experience” cannot be. Despite Treib’s criticism

of formalism in this nature, he does not assert that a purely formal project cannot be successful. Rather he suggest that a project whose architect considers all three axes of design, formal, cultural, and environmental, holds potential for much greater success. He expands, saying “we often reward form as-content, which it can be, rather than form and space; the shape of content.” __________ The rise of formalism must be countered with a balance of regionalism. While the merits of both appear to be fairly self-evident, the two often appear as contrary forces. Treib’s approach calls for the unification of the formal and the local to create a more appropriate design. Rather than allowing form to be sole the driving factor behind the design and the sole appropriator of content, form should work alongside regional aspects to create content. While this article responds directly to various works of landscape architecture, it can be directly applied to the international style gaining notoriety in architecture. With a strong disconnect from the cultural and environmental axes, the international style seeks to negate the influences of regionalism in architecture. Treib would appear to argue against the international style for these reasons, citing a severe disconnect with the realm of a perceiverbased design. He states, “If perception is the primary vehicle for understanding, we also need to consider aspects of cognition, which are equally, if not more, crucial for maintaining interest and pleasure— and for evaluating merit. This mental discernment distinguishes between the manner of [designing] and how we think about that design. It again raises the issue of content.”

Regionalism respect to existing conditions landscape integration cultural manifestation preservation

time specific

1. Falling Water by Phil Romans at flickr.com/photos/ mdu2boy/33447526/

2. Seattle Public Library by Jeff Wheeler at flickr.com/photos/ wheelo28/3460285088/ 3. Verde, Piedra, and Titano by Pablo NĂşĂąez at flickr.com/photos/ pablonete/2777576787/

enhancement of conditions landscape development

Balance social manifestation conservation contemporary 3

creation of new conditions landscape adaptation technological manifestation exploitation timeless

Formalism 35

Experiment 02: Folding Form The notion of typology seems to be a very popular topic in contemporary discourse, with many professionals and students alike

claiming to “create a new typology of x” or to “alter/better the current typology.” Yet what many do not seem to realize is to change the typology of a building type is to subsequently change the function of it. Even a purely aesthetic change alters the way people perceive a building, ultimately changing the way it functions. The restoration of an old museum may change its function from an art warehouse to a cultural destination simply because people are more inclined to visit. This relationship dictates an inherent relationship between form and function, but I question to what extent does this relationship hold? Is function derivative or form or is it a separate entity? I began by taking a simple plane, as evidenced on the left and began folding it to greater and greater degrees, distorting it far beyond its initial state. In doing so I questioned if the new forms could still be recognized as the same even though they were significantly altered. To further this exploration, I extended the experiment to furniture with Vellum approaching. If the same exaggerations were applied to a more recognizable form, would the same notions of form versus function hold? To what extent does form dictate an object’s inherent self and to what extent does function? Can one be voided for another or do both have to be present? 37

Experiment03

Folding Form Folded Furniture T

he sets of chairs and tables to the right are the result of a series of algorithmic manipulations done to a simple base-object.

Within Group A, I used the shape of the baseobject as a bounding box, lofting, in rhino, an alternating surface throughout. Within Group B, I generated in grasshopper a 3D voronoi grid within in the confines of each baseobject, using a set of randomly generated points. From the 3D voronoi grid, I generated two new objects: one that was formed from the voronoi cells, and another that was formed by piping the voronoi grid outlines. Within Group C, I created in grasshopper a lofted spline surface from the outline of the baseobjects. I generated random splines along each edge of the base object, then lofted them together in different successions to create new objects.

Within Group D, I utilized rhinoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bend and twist commands to distort the base-objects. I used a variety of different axes and degrees of distortion to make new forms. From these four groups, I selected two chairs and one table and rendered each set with materials. I then surveyed a random sample of people asking them to rate the form of the set then the function of the set on a scale from 1-10. I then asked each person if they considered the sets to be â&#x20AC;&#x153;table and chairs.â&#x20AC;? While the form to function ratios of each set varied per person, I was surprised to hear their answer to the table and chair question. Almost every person surveyed answered that these items were a table and chair despite distorting the form, removing the function or both. I think that as long as an object can be recognized as its typological self then people still consider it to be the typological self. It appears that no degree of alteration can alter this relationship. 38

Vellum: p82

Experiment03 Results

Folding Form

Form Function

Are these a set of table and chairs?

Y N 39

Research 02 2. Social Architecture mass society “The bourgeois urban-industrial world” zeitgeist The defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.

With the advent of an information-based-society comes the loss of regionalism and the rise of a homogenous culture. The idea of a zeitgeist, a singular manifestation of regionalism, accordingly becomes moot as no singular manifestation can exist. Rather, a double zeitgeist exists, consisting of the traditional regional and the information based. Thus architecture is no longer only influenced by the people, industry, and culture of its locale but rather the global environment brought to the site through the exchange of information. As a result, architecture is freed from its interdependence with the zeitgeist and can act as a transformative force without changing the zeitgeist. Contemporary architecture must escape from the aesthetic determinacy of the previous conception of zeitgeist and instead embrace this new transformative immanence in order to remain relevant.

“There exists constructive potential in crowds & masses; a crowd has a cultural vacuousness, an amorphousness, and a restlessness. Those within it share traits of uprootedness, weakness of allegiance to traditional institutions, exposure to jangling barrages of sensual stimulation and the resulting excitability. “ -Eugene E. Leach, “The Theory of Mass Society”

“The Parthenon, 1975” by Robert Wallace at flickr.com/ photos/robwallace/7724224/

“The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization.” -Frank Lloyd Wright

Social Architecture Mass Society Zeitgeist Information

The Zeitgeist of a Mass Society “The mother art is architecture. Without an architecture of our own we have no soul of our own civilization.” -Frank Lloyd Wright is possible only in plenty of empty space. “Individualism ” -Rudolf Arnheim story of the cultural crusader in a mass society that he cannot win, “Itbutis thethattragic we would be lost without him. ” -Paul F. Lazarsfeld

hat drives art and architecture? With insight in the previous section given toward what the meaning of architecture is, this section strives to uncover where the meaning comes from? Form and function once more come into play as one can debate whether the use of or the object itself drives the hand of the architect. Yet to look at meaning on such a level seems far too superficial as architectural design draws upon much before even reaching a question of function. The most innate rationales of architecture are not a study of the building itself but rather the context which the building exists and its connection to its context. Form and function, despite great intention, cannot exist properly with a misaligned context - think a fire station built over the ocean or a skyscraper built in rural plains. The environment and its context are the driving factors of meaning, validating the appropriateness of certain design and providing rationale for other. The over arching questions are then what is context, what forms of context exist, and how is context determined?

“The Parthenon, 1975” by Robert Wallace at flickr.com/ photos/robwallace/7724224/

The Zeitgeist of a Mass Society Social Context

ocial trends, both ambivalent and flamboyant, pass through culture and society on a whim. Just as the fleeting notions of one pass within our grasp, the usurping power of another begins its attack. The taste of our time, the zeitgeist, reflects the amalgamation of these trends, politically, socially, economically, and socially. This defining spirit of our time drives all discourse and decision, as evidenced in significant differences between the natures of different eras. Art and architecture in particular has acted as an extension of the zeitgeist throughout history, with its composition reflected in social conceptions. Within each era, one can easily attribute the stylistic tendencies of a people to their cultural ideologies. In this sense, Greek architecture is inherently Greek, just as midwestern is inherently midwestern, and Japanese is inherently Japanese. The Greek notion of a god residing inside a temple shaped the design of the temple; the Japanese conceptions of Taoism reflect upon the ambiguity of the zen garden design; the midwestern rejection of the city is evident in the expanse of suburbia. Hence, architecture is directly derivative of the current culture. While this notion holds unconditionally, there exists a second sphere of influence in the architectural paradigm: the ability for the architecture to influence the zeitgeist. Just as architecture is derivative of culture, culture is derivative of architecture. New social movements always accompany an architectural change and are often preceded by one. The modernists attempted to predict a shifting cultural norm and designed buildings that embodied the new ideology with aspiration that people would change their ideologies accordingly. Yet the modernist movement did not succeed as planned, largely due to the failure to recognize a typological shift in the zeitgeist. With the advent of an information-based culture, came the loss of a

regional societal divide. A new connectivity brought a homogenization of culture. This new iteration of culture was no longer based on place but rather on information; the singular society became global and with the transition came the loss of the traditional zeitgeist. As societies and their respective cultures evolve, they draw upon their surrounding environments for influence and direction. Through the duration of humanity, this surrounding environment has largely been geographic and deeply rooted in the physical realm. Very recently, relative to the span of humanity, has this paradigm shifted, brought on by an increasingly globalized society. No more are societies isolated by geographic boundaries; the ondemand age of the internet, mobile phones, and air travel has significantly reduced distance - in both a relative and metaphoric sense. As society becomes more globalized, culture follows suit as the two are perennially bound. If culture was once based on regionalism, what then is a place-less global culture? Furthermore, what is the architecture of a global culture and its mass society? Without regionalism as a driving force for architecture, meaning must be derived from an alternative force. If a location is irrelevant to a place then any conception of geographic context also becomes irrelevant. Yet to completely abandon physical context -- as attempted by the international style of architecture -- is to remove any attachment a building has with its environment. In this regard, a building ceases to be architecture and instead becomes sculpture, a work of art that can be transplanted from region to region as easily as a piece can travel museums. To remedy the problems caused by a globalized society, architecture must not abandon the zeitgeist as per current trends, but instead return to it and bring context back to building. 43

The Zeitgeist of a Mass Society Information Age Culture

1. Bell, Daniel. “The Theory of Mass Society.” (n.d.): 193-98. College of the Sequoias | John Davis. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. cos.edu/Faculty/JohnD/ Documents/PS%20 MASS%20SOCIETY%20 DANIEL%20BELL.pdf.

ith the zeitgeist literally meaning the spirit of the times, one must first understand the components of contemporary culture before creating a concept of the whole. As noted, today’s society is a global society with physical barriers giving way to an onslaught of connectivity through technology. The contemporary society is no longer a regional derivation but rather an informational derivation. Accordingly the passage of information now links geographic regions instead of physical passages; boundaries are established through GPS tracking instead of physical markers; family units are no longer bound by proximity but rather social media connection. It seems to follow that all of the aspects of a physical geography now exist as virtual geography, powered by the exchange of information. If all of these defunct physical aspects founded the traditional zeitgeist, then the newer virtual aspects found the contemporary zeitgeist. The spirit of our time now is that of a global culture, one that exists despite of physical, location-specificity. Yet, despite the level of interconnectivity in a virtual realm, physical barriers still exist -- an phone call from one side of a mountain to another does not tear it down to facilitate communication, rather it virtually eliminates the barrier to facilitate communication. Likewise similar access to information in urban areas globally, does not dictate that each city faces the same geographic constraints. It is foolish to

assume that a contemporary skyscraper in New York would exist as-is without complication in London because globalization has brought the two areas close culturally. In this sense, the traditional zeitgeist is still relevant, but its relevance does not void the more contemporary. Instead there exists a double-zeitgeist in a globalized culture. The first component is the cultural that establishes social boundaries and connections based on information exchange; the second component is the regional that establishes physical boundaries and connections based on geographic location. Unlike a traditional idea of a zeitgeist, a society can no longer call upon geography for both culture and context. Contemporary globalized society must now call upon information for culture and geography for context. As described by Daniel Bell in The Theory of Mass Society,1 a society loses its primary family and community ties, the individual no longer possesses any unifying values. The individual is then susceptible to a charismatic leader to step up and provide the unity that society has destroyed. The noted leaders may be politicians, socialites, or common rabble; all that they must provide is a single belief that can be shared by many. The idea of a dual-zeitgeist is evident within Bell’s writings, with the traditional regional zeitgeist manifesting as the lost traditional family ties and the information zeitgeist manifesting as the group ties.

An increasingly information based society has yielded an increasingly distanced population. Globalized culture, while bringing individuals across great distances closer together has isolated us from those closest to us. The information-based-society has all but eliminated local ties, instead linking people internationally based on common interest. No longer does proximity dictate relationships; people can now choose to surround themselves with those they are similar to and distance themselves from the chaotic mass close to them. Architecture, as evidenced in recent development has sought to regain traditional family and community ties. Projects now seek to create a “sense of community” or “force interaction” between its tenants. As noted, people in this new mass society have become more susceptible to a common leader, to a unifying force. Yet instead of using this power to undo the weakened state of society, perhaps one could use it to better society.

Reading2A The Mob by Phillip Strick Reading2B Challenging Formalism by Kendrick Grandison Case Study 02 The Park Avenue Armory by Herzog + Demeuron Experiment03 Cultural Absurdity Reading2C El Zeitgeist y El Problema con Imenencia by Peter Eisenman Case Study 03 EMP by Frank Ghery

44 46 48 50 58 60

Can architecture instead of forcing interaction, force stainability, force morality, or maybe even something more sinister? It seems that through the double-zeitgeist, the individual has lost their power, their ability to think for themselves. This section will observe how these notions have come to happen, analyze them, and lastly study the implications of them.

In order to create change, one must first give people the reason to listen. 45

Reading2A

“The Mob” written by Philip Strick 1. Strick, Philip. “The Mob.” Sight and Sound 5 (1993): 35-36. Print. 2. “Untitled” by Patricio at flickr.com/photos/patricio_ valenzuela/2232318141/

Phillip Strick in his short article writes

about the role and influence of mobs and crowds in movies and television and the affect of the depictions on the viewer. The mob, the faceless antagonist, the zombie hoard, the nameless enemy armies, persistently exist as single-faceted players serving to pursue the hero. Yet these crowds, according to Strick, are much deeper than first perceived; “crowds [are] small collections of relatives who laid claim on you, people you grew to depend on and were part of.” He argues our current mass-society has produced a cultural crowd that rapidly expands and ingests all those who stray too close. Those who become infected, become one with the crowd, dependent on its actions for his own, reliant on the whims of the many. According to Strick, Everything that you and television touch is destroyed. You’re television incarnate: indifferent to suffering, insensitive to joy. All of life is reduced to the common rubble of banality -- war, murder, death, are all the same to you as bottles of beer. __________ Here, Strick expands upon the ideas of a mass-society that envelops the lost individual. Instead of a singular charismatic leader, Strick proposes mass-media as a collective leader. In this case of the double-zeitgeist, a collective leads a collective. This notion interests me as a collective cannot easily be singled out and noted as a point source. Thus, people can be manipulated by it without knowing.

25% of US households are people living alone, compared to 7% in 1940

Traditional Societal Relationship Contemporary Global Relationship

“Between 1985 and 2004, the number of people who said there was no one with whom they discussed important matters tripled” “There are more than 300 million of us in the United States, and sometimes it seems like we’re all friends on Facebook.”

Regional Zeitgeist

Information Zeitgeist

“Social-networking sites like Facebook and MySpace may provide people with a false sense of connection that ultimately increases loneliness in people who feel alone. These sites should serve as a supplement, but not replacement for, face-to-face interaction” “Just being able to engage genuinely and politely with your neighbors is a better fix than Xanax could ever effect for mental stability.” data from ‘Lonely Planet’ by Johannah Cornblatt from Newsweek at thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/08/20/lonely-planet.html

Charismatic Leader 47

Reading2B

“Challenging Formalism: the Implications of Contemporary Cultural Theory for Preservation” written by Kendrick Grandison 1. Grandison, Kendrick Ian. “Challenging Formalism: The Implications of Contemporary Cultural Theory for Preservation.” Landscape Journal (1999): 30-41. Print.

Kendrick Grandison, in his essay questions

the existence of culture in a post-modern society by examining classic definitions of culture and providing contemporary alternatives. He begins by first providing a traditional definition of culture as “the means by which all contemporary social, economic, and political contests may be arbitrated.” Thus culture is the force that determines the features of a society; that which generates bias and relegates the norm. Grandison writes that with a post-modern ‘mass civilization’ comes social crisis and the forces that normally relegate culture are becoming lost to homogeneity. He begins his discourse into the effects of mass society by first presenting classical definitions of culture, particularly that of Matthew Arnold. Arnold wrote that culture used to be the privilege and determinace of the aristocratic few. From these “men of culture” came the high forms of art, music, and literature; and from these forms derivatively came culture. Throughout history, historians have been able to captivate the masses through recording particular historical instances while quieting the others. Yet as WWII came to an end, the middle class burgeoned, leveling the aristocratic hierarchy that once determined culture affluence. As Grandison states, “the minority is now made conscious ... of a hostile environment.” Those who previously bent to the whims of a culture beyond their control, now hold greater leverage and with this leverage, greater cultural control. Consequently, the notion of multiculturalism -- identifying those previously ignored in historical preservation -- called for the re-identification of the ignored masses throughout

history. Such is the concept of mass society: a cultural sphere generated no more by the “men of culture” but one generated by the masses. Grandison calls attention to this new cultural typology and denotes the danger in a homogenized society. According to him, taste becomes democratized, a far contradiction to the previous conceptions of high culture. He writes that with the loss of a high culture, dictated by a privileged few, comes societies succumbing to commercial culture. A culture determined by the masses reflects the whims of the masses; unfortunately, these masses are often mere drones of commercial culture whose ideas of taste are no more than what is sold to them. When culture is controlled by the masses, it becomes “[a reduction] of public taste and consumption to the lowest common denominator.” While the disappearance of traditional high culture appears prevalent, Grandison notes that mass society does not just endanger “high culture” but also “low culture”. Just as a mass society expanded into the artistic spheres, it also expanded into the governmental spheres. Post WWII governments also sought to remember the ignored masses, but did so instead through aid programs aimed toward raising the affluence of these people. These new practices ultimately succeeded but with them fragmented the working class, creating a homogenized mass of affluence rather than sharply designated hierarchy. With the government woven into a mass society that controlled culture, it became by extension an “instrument of the government by which conforming citizens are formed.”

ith these notions of a mass society driven culture, Grandison finishes his essay by observing the effects of such on architecture, a product of culture. He claims the rise of formalism with architecture having “meaning residing in architectural form” a direct result of the cultural paradigm shift. Just as high culture was derivative of the transcendent aristocracy, ancient architecture was believed to be of an exclusive higher power. The gifted few transcended architectural ideals directly from the gods and “mysteriously move the consciousness of a people.” Grandison argues that postmodernism and mass-society driven architecture merely recycles these powerful movements and “follows the trends of the time.” Architecture driven by a mass society is damned to become a slave to the whims of society and abandon its role as a cultural driving force.

1. “Basilica of St. Paul” 2. “United Support For Victims Of Torture” by Vinoth Chandar at flickr.com/photos/ vinothchandar/ 5875960125/ 3. “An assortment of pop-culture icons” by Dan Century at flickr.com/photos/ dancentury/3162087128/

__________

I find this article particularly interesting as it notes the affects of a mass-culture on both ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture. Thus, not only will the new information-zeitgeist-driven culture destroy the arts but also it will destroy colloquial interaction. As noted in the previous essay, an information society removes social interaction, weakening a society’s binding fabric. It’s rather peculiar that the very practice of bringing people together through mass society are driving them further apart. Grandison attributes this phenomena to a commercialized societal relationship; the solution, however does not seem so clear. 49

Case Study 02

Park Avenue Armory | Herzog and Demeuron | 2011 | 1. “Ernesto Aeto | Anthropodino” by Troy McCullough at flickr.com/photos/ idletype/3532869263/

2.”Park Avenue Armory” by Bobby Bradley at flickr.com/photos/ litetra/6050994843/

riginally “built by New York State’s prestigious Seventh Regiment of the National Guard, the first volunteer militia to respond to President Lincoln’s call for troops in 1861”4 the armory served as both a barracks and a social club. “The Armory’s 55,000 square foot drill hall, reminiscent of the original Grand Central Depot and the great train sheds of Europe, remains one of the largest unobstructed spaces of its kind in New York.”5 In 2007, Herzog and Demeuron won a design competition to revive the old building which had fallen into a state of disrepair.6 Deciding to only remodel a few interior rooms, Herzog and Demeuron followed a three-step process: first, delayer the original state as much as possible; second, stabilize the room along with the damaged areas, and third, reinforce and refurbish the room so that it best retains its original character.

In doing so, the architects preserved the original regional essence of the historic building, while readapting it to a contemporary function. This project, in my opinion holds strict adherence to the traditional zeitgeist, taking strides to keep the local context in tact. Rather than readapting the building with an international style in mind, the regional New York context and original functional relationships stayed constant. I find this project interesting as it goes against the notions I had maintained throughout this section by considering only one half of the dual zeitgeist. Yet unlike most contemporary architecture, the armory only follows the traditional.

1. “Park Avenue Armory, NYC” by Julia Rubinic at flickr.com/photos/ jrubinic/3456838327/ 2. “Back for More” by Nicole Aptekar at flickr.com/photos/ nicoletbn/5801596901/ 3. “Library, Park Avenue Armory, NYC” by Julia Rubinic at flickr.com/photos/ jrubinic/3456800273/ 4. 5. “Park Avenue Armory.” Park Avenue Armory. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. armoryonpark. org/about_us/history. 6. Cilento , Karen. “Park Avenue Armory / Herzog & de Meuron” 14 Oct 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 24 Nov 2012. archdaily. com/176436.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Monks Playing Volleyball in the Afternoonâ&#x20AC;? by Sukanto Debnath at flickr. com/photos/sukanto_ debnath/557599560/

Experiment 03: Cultural Absurdity There exists certain things that we as a society hold to be standard, including customs, culture, morals and ethics. For anyone

who has ever traveled outside of the country or in some instances even to other cities within the United States, there always is a slight culture shock that accompanies a change of place. These notions we consider “normal” may not appear to be so normal within a different context, and other’s perceptions of “normal” may appear truly alien within our own. There seems to be a certain typology that aligns particularly with a certain culture; in terms of this section of research, the zeitgeist seems to dictate which constructs are considered “normal” and which are not. I find this notion fascinating, as many people are so engrossed in emulating popular culture without any knowledge of where this culture originates from. Some even become embedded to the degree that they feel the popular culture to be the correct culture and all other variations to be wrong. I am interested then in taking aspects of popular culture that our society finds to be “normal” and juxtaposing them against an extremely different context to see if these norms really seem “normal” anymore. In the next few pages, I’ve done this through combining icons from one culture with the context of another. In doing so, one sees how absurd their own culture truly is.

Are we driven by are own conviction or are our convictions driven by our environment?

The recipe for serenity: Enriched wheat flour, sugar, corn syrup, niacin, water, high fructose corn syrup, vegetable and/or animal shortening â&#x20AC;&#x201C; containing one or more of partially hydrogenated soybean, cottonseed and canola oil, and beef fat, dextrose, whole eggs, modified corn starch, cellulose gum, whey, leavenings (sodium acid pyrophosphate, baking soda, monocalcium phosphate), salt, cornstarch, corn flour, corn syrup, solids, mono and diglycerides, soy lecithin, polysorbate 60, dextrin, calcium caseinate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, wheat gluten, calcium sulphate, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, yellow #5, red #40.

The Gospel of the DJ: Rippin’ my heart was so easy, so easy, launch your assault now, take it easy. Raise your weapon, raise your weapon, one word and it’s over. rippin’ through like a missile, rippin’ through my heart, rob me of this love. Raise your weapon, raise your weapon... And it’s over. Deadmau5 1:15

The Profitability of War: With a worldwide box-office gross of about $2.8 billion, Avatar is often proclaimed to be the "highestgrossing" film, but such claims usually refer to theatrical revenues only and do not take account of home video and television income, which can form a significant portion of a film's earnings. Once revenue from home entertainment is factored in it is not immediately clear which film is the most successful. In addition to the $1.8 billion Titanic grossed during its original theatrical run, it also earned a further $1.2 billion from video and DVD sales and rentals.[1] While complete sales data is not available for Avatar, it earned $190 million from the sale of 10 million DVD and Blu-ray units in North America,[2] and sold a total of 30 million units worldwide.[3] After home video income is accounted for, both films have earned over $3 billion. Television broadcast rights will also substantially add to a film's earnings, with a film often earning as much as 20â&#x20AC;&#x201C;25% of its theatrical box-office for a couple of television runs on top of payper-view revenues;[4] Titanic earned $55 million from just the US broadcast rights alone for its initial television run (equating to about 9% of its North American gross).[1]

The Mission of Poverty: Shareholders - We are committed to enhancing the long-term value of the investment dollars entrusted to us by our shareholders. By running the business profitably and responsibly, we expect our shareholders to be rewarded with superior returns. This commitment drives the management of our Corporation. Customers - Success depends on our ability to consistently satisfy ever changing customer preferences. We commit to be innovative and responsive, while offering high quality products and services at competitive prices. Employees - The exceptional quality of our workforce provides a valuable competitive edge. To build on this advantage, we will strive to hire and retain the most qualified people available and to maximize their opportunities for success through training and development. We are committed to maintaining a safe work environment enriched by diversity and characterized by open communication, trust, and fair treatment.

Afrikaans Homily: Almagtige God, die Groot Thumb ons kan nie ontduik 'n knoop; die Roaring Thunder wat split magtige bome: die alsiende Here op 'n hoogte wat sien selfs die voetspore van 'n bok op 'n rots massa hier op aarde. Jy is die een wat nie huiwer om te reageer op ons oproep. Jy is die hoeksteen van die vrede.

The Modes of Enlightenment: Big Mac: Along with the Quarter Pounder with cheese, this is one of the two McDonald's signature menu items, introduced in 1967 as a response to the flagship burger at Big Boy restaurants. Two 1.6-ounce (45 g) (approx. uncooked weight) ground beef patties, special Big Mac sauce (similar to Thousand Island dressing), shredded iceberg lettuce, cheese, two gherkin slices, and re-hydrated onions on a toasted sesame seed bun, with an additional middle bun (called a "club layer") separating both beef patties. In Australia a Big Mac average serving size is 201 grams. Big N' Tasty: The Big N' Tasty consists of a seasoned quarter-pound (4 oz, 113.4 g) beef patty with ketchup, mayonnaise, slivered onions, two dill pickle slices, leaf lettuce, and one tomato slice on a sesame seed bun. The Big Tasty configuration is somewhat different, consisting of a third-pound (150 g) beef patty, 5-inch sesame seed bun, square-cut lettuce, two tomato slices, sliced onions, three slices of Emmental cheese, and Big Tasty sauce (which has a smoke flavour). The Big Tasty Bacon variant also contains strips of bacon. This variant is not sold in the USA, only internationally.

Reading2C

“El ‘Zeitgeist’ y el Problema de la Inmanencia” written by Peter Eisenman 1. Eisenman, Peter. “EI ‘zeitgeist’ Y El Problema De La Immanencia.” AV Monographias 53.53 (1995): 25-54. Print.

Peter Eisenman in “The Zeitgeist and the Problem of Immanence” discusses how an society dominated by mass-media has created a doublezeitgeist and altered the architectural modality. He begins by introducing a traditional three-tiered view of economics. The first level includes political organizations based on the land and the people: for example, agriculture and mining. The second level consists of an industrial structure that still relies on people but less on land. Lastly, the third level is a more recent development; it is an information based society that requires neither land nor raw materials; its population is heterogeneous and has no base in either blood, land, language or tribe. With the information-based society becoming more relevant in today’s society, Eisenman asks, “what then is the physical environment of a country-city of no land and no people.” To answer this inquiry, Eisenman introduces the notion of the zeitgeist; zeitgeist according to him being, “a unitary, and thus single, typical manifestation of the particular organizational cosmology of a particular time and place. Architecture has always had the capacity to both mirror and be driven by the zeitgeist.” It can reflect the status quo and form a new emerging spirit, form and be formed simultaneously by the zeitgeist. According to Eisenman, good architecture both has the capacity to transform the existing zeitgeist and the ability to sustain that information over time. Thus good architecture must hold a

continuing sense of ‘dislocation’ from the norm and not just be a theatrical overplay of the current. He states, “what we know to be an architecture or a ‘good’ architecture has little to do with necessity, aesthetics or function ... rather it can be argued that architecture has always been the dislocation of those very relationships. While the zeitgeist worked well in the aforementioned architectural relationship, the advent of the information society has diminished its significance. As this new society does not have a set land or homogenous culture, there cannot be a single manifestation of it and thus no zeitgeist. Rather than abandon the idea, Eisenman proposes two divisions of zeitgeist, akin to the divisions of economics. The first division is the traditional definition, based on the land, the industry, and the people. The second is based on information in a system of public and private capital intermingled with public and private culture. Unlike the first tiered zeitgeist which manifests similarly relative to location, the second tiered zeitgeist manifests similarly relative to information. He claims, “Singapore, a resident of Berlin today probably has more in common with a New Yorker than with someone living in another German city, so similar are New York and Berlin as cultural and information centers, besides being centers of capital.” Media, arts, and culture all become supported by an international network of capital; consequently, culture is no longer dependent on location as influences can be obtained instantly from anywhere.

1. “UN chief Ban Kimoon at the European Parliament” by European Parliament at flickr. com/photos/european_ parliament/5096602058/

2. “Un Giorno Doppo L’Otro” by Luciano at flickr. com/photos/30208099@ N00/2121079688/

Capital

3. “BIG Mountain House” by John Tuthill 2

Culture

Zeitgeist International Network

Case Study 03 | Frank Gehry | 2004 |

EMP

1. “EMP/SFM” by Steve3034 at flickr. com/photos/54702613@ N00/4199716462/

“ n 1969 a screaming, reverberating rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by Jimi Hendrix seemed to herald an end to innocence. His resonant lyric “Are you experienced?” is now recalled in the name of software billionaire Paul G. Allen’s Experience Music Project. Hendrix would have appreciated the design approach to Seattle’s new museum of pop music.”4 The project, from the flamboyant mind of Frank Gehry sits in front of the Seattle skyline in stark contrast. Gehry, in his characteristic style abandons traditional typology, instead creating a form with little functional significance. In doing so with EMP, Gehry departs from the regional zeitgeist and fully embodies the information zeitgeist. He develops a style that can be regarded as international as his buildings fit into any context without sacrificing any notions of form.

1. “EMP” by Kieran Lynam at flickr.com/photos/ kieranlynam/474515168/ 2. “EMP” by pfly at flickr.com/photos/ pfly/181205389/ 3. “Sunset at the EMP, Seattle” by Steven Hromnak at flickr.com/photos/ gaphiker/6281685878/ 4. Clair Enlow, “Frank Gehry Rock Temple”, in ArchitectureWeek No. 9, 2000.0712

I find Gehry’s approach interesting not because he designs without regard to regionalism but rather that he is successful in these designs. One cannot question the elegance of the Bilbao museum or the beauty of the sky reflecting in the surface fo the EMP. Throughout this section, I had maintained that successful architecture must learn to keep both aspects of regional and formal design but here in this final case study, Gehry seems to prove me wrong. Perhaps there is no explicit correct answer to the question of the zeitgeist. Perhaps Gehry has managed to transcend the traditional zeitgeist. Or perhaps his work indirectly addresses the regional zeitgeist, tying into the context without implicitly stating it. Nonetheless, the zeitgeist holds an integral to architecture and the implications of it should be carefully measured. 63

Research 03 3. Manipulation ma-nip-u-late 1. to manage or influence skillfully, especially in an unfair manner 2. to negotiate, control, or influence (something or someone) cleverly, skillfully, or deviously Manipulation entails that individuals are caused to do something they would not otherwise have done, unaware that an act of power has been effected. That is, manipulation contains an element of secrecy and deception: it is ``power exercised (1) deceptively and (2) against the putative will of its objects’’ The manipulator does not reveal why a specific message is sent, what kind of response is wanted, or why a particular reaction is desired. “Humans normally experience the conscious self as localized within their bodily borders. This spatial unity may break down in certain neurological conditions such as out-of-body experiences, leading to a striking disturbance of bodily self-consciousness. On the basis of these clinical data, we designed an experiment that uses conflicting visual-somatosensory input in virtual reality to disrupt the spatial unity between the self and the body. We found that during multisensory conflict, participants felt as if a virtual body seen in front of them was their own body and mislocalized themselves toward the virtual body, to a position outside their bodily borders. Our results indicate that spatial unity and bodily self-consciousness can be studied experimentally and are based on multisensory and cognitive processing of bodily information.” --The experimental induction of out-of-body experiences.

Science

1. “Hey America, The Good Life” by Thomas Hawk at flickr.com/photos/ thomashawk/6684174503/

“Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”

-Dwight D. Eisenhower

Manipulation Mob Mentality Environmental Psychology Revolution

Altered Perceptions “Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” -Dwight D. Eisenhower The manipulator does not reveal why a specific message is sent, what kind of “response is wanted, or why a particular reaction is desired. -Tore Sager ” conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions “of The the masses is an important element in democratic society. -Edward Bernays ”

ith notions of the meaning of architecture and the derivation of meaning in architecture already discussed, the next step is to determine the effect these constructs have on the individual. The notion of meaning inherent to subjective architecture directly affects the environment of the individual, physically altering the makeup of a locale through the introduction of a building. Accordingly, the notion of the zeitgeist effects the perceptions of the individual, altering societal-based judgments and opinions. Having said that architecture inherently has the capability to change both ends of the spectrum, there exists the possibility of dramatically influencing the conceptions of a person through built form. This section seeks to understand to what degree a person can be influenced by architecture and specifically how the manipulation can occur.

1. “Hey America, The Good Life” by Thomas Hawk at flickr.com/photos/ thomashawk/6684174503/

Altered Perceptions Environment + Context Control

The environment exists as an ambiguous term, expressing notions of both a physical and a metaphysical realm. The physical environment is the sum of all built and natural formations in the world of the individual. Conversely, the metaphysical environment is the sum of all sociocultural constructs (the zeitgeist) in the world of the individual. Ultimately, one will every moment of their life encapsulated within these environmental spheres. Consequently, these spheres becomes a part of the individual, molding the conception of self.

x. This new typology will, if successful, change society xâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s conceptions of what housing ought to be. As this belief begins to spread, the individual will begin to adapt their beliefs to those of the masses in order to maintain continuity and acceptance. Ultimately these new beliefs become ingrained in the individual, representing an extension of the person themselves. With the above considered, architecture plays a very powerful role in the human psyche by framing

Within the construct of the mind, the Freudian superego or conscious mind, exists as an identification with an outside agency and strives to gain social acceptance. These outside agencies relate directly to

Consider a new architectural typology of housing

as communal has been developed within society

metaphysical

environmental

spheres

with

sociocultural stigma driving an individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desire

our interactions. The example infers that altering context will eventually change the interactions that take place within. Selling vegetables becomes a far different process in a grocery store rather than at a farmers marker or a restaurant; furthermore, conducting business becomes a far different process in a cubicle-filled office rather than in a

for acceptance. Accordingly a physical environment

storefront or even a living room. While changing

can influence social structure as evidenced with the

context will not alter the underlying structure of

zeitgeist in the previous section. Hence the physical

each interaction, the means of performing each

sphere can influence the metaphysical sphere

will change drastically. Thus architecture cannot

which can influence the super-ego, which ultimately

immediately change why we do something but rather

influences the conscious self. As architecture exists

it can change how we do something. Although there

within the physical realm, it possesses the ability to

cannot be an immediate change in the why, the

alter a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s self-conceptions. To illustrate this

change in process [how] can eventually, manifest

point, examine the following:

itself into a change in motivation [why]. 67

Altered Perceptions Exploitation

Take an organic farmer who strives to give people access to fresh produce selling his vegetables at a farmerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s market for example. The farmer, having a direct connection with the consumer, attempts to make his product the most attractive in any regard, warranting better business. If the farmer suddenly begins selling vegetables at a supermarket, the basic business typology remains intact, but the process of selling vegetables changes drastically. No more does he interact one-to-one with the consumer; instead he interacts with the middle-man [grocer] who in turn, interacts directly with the consumer. Eventually, the farmer may lose his connection with the consumer, warranting a change in approach. Perhaps he decides to opt for a greater yield and changes to chemical fertilizers. Without a direct connection to the consumer, the affects of such practices begin to feel foreign and ultimately, the farmer has changed the way he grows vegetables.

people become more susceptible to the notions the new typology carries with it. With their guard down, a populace can become manipulated to accept these new notions as standard. At this point, I have investigated subjectivity in architecture and mass society and have taken an initial analysis of manipulation. Throughout all branches of study there seems to be a common theme evolving aligned with my initial provocations. Architecture can be manipulative and is most effective when practiced at both the macro [societal] and micro [individual] scales. These final inquiries then seek to uncover how architecture can be manipulative and understand how manipulation works. If my ideas hold and architecture provides as significant of an influence on the ego as believed then I question what is the appropriate use of it? Should we create architecture with the sole intent of manipulating the individual, and more interestingly, have others already tried? Perhaps even succeeded? The person and their environment are inherently tied and to alter the environment is to alter psyche. As the built and social environments are virtually inescapable in contemporary society, one cannot exist independently of architecture and its derivatives. With these notions, we have the power to change the world: we can manipulate the masses through manipulating their environments.

With architecture holding to power to alter perception in such a manner, the architect fundamentally possess the ability to manipulate society. Taking any ethical discourse aside, the architect is able to impose his or her world-vision onto a society. Consider notions of utopias designed during the modernist eras: by designing the cities in a certain manner, the architects believed that society as a whole would begin to reflect the design. Totalitarian regimes in particular have exploited this ability, dramatically altering the architecture of their nations upon taking Now that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re here, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s give them something to power. By changing the architectural typology, the listen to. 68

Reading3A Walking Through Doorways Causes Forgetting by Gabriel Radvansky, Sabine Kraweitz, and Andrea Tamplin 68

70 Case Study 04 Daisen-In Zen Garden by Soami 74 Reading3B Manipulative Features of Planning Styles by Tore Sager 76 Case Study 05 Therme Vals by Peter Zumthor 78 Reading3C Work/Life/Work Balance by Andrew Maynard 80 Experiment04 Hallucinatory Stimulation

Reading3A

“Walking through doorways causes forgetting: Further explorations” written by Gabriel Radvansky, Sabine Kraweitz, and Andrea Tamplin 1. Radvansky, Gabriel, Sabine Kraweitz, and Andrea Tamplin. “Walking through Doorways Causes Forgetting: Further Explorations.” The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 64.8 (2011): 1632-645. Print.

The

study produced by members of the psychology department at Notre Dame measures the effect a shifted environment has on our perceptions. The researchers first presented an experiment by Radvansky and Copeland in 2006 where the subject traveling through a virtual multiroom setting simulated by a 66” monitor, picking up an object on a table in one room and carrying it to a table in another room where they’d exchange objects and continue on. The researchers would ask the participant to identify the object they placed in the previous room at two distinct intervals: the no-shift condition where a participant has not yet progressed to the next room and a shift condition where the participant has crossed the threshold. Their findings indicated that passing through a threshold into another room correlated to a significant loss in the subject’s ability to correctly identify the previous objects. The Notre Dame researchers revisit this study, expanding the research into three variations of the original experiment. The first variation aimed to reduce the degree of immersion the subjects had with their environments while participating in the experiment. In this variation, instead of having the subjects in front of a 66” monitor, the size is reduced to 17” causing the virtual environment to take up less of the visual field. Even with the smaller degree of immersion, the study found that there was still a degree of location-updating effect with memory being worse after an environment shift. The second variation sought to test the effect in a real-world scenario, making subjects physically walk through a series of rooms rather than virtually

travel through them. As with the previous variation, the results were again confirmed with a significant location-updating effect. The third variation tried to test the role of context in the previous experiments by allowing the participant to return to the previous room to answer questions -- one theory that rose up in the other variations was that traveling through a threshold did not trigger memory-loss but rather the changed context of the new room was responsible. Once more, the original results prevailed and returning to the original room did not change the degree of location-updating effect. ______________ This experiment provides direct evidence of my thesis as the built environment plays a significant role in perception; consequently, altering the environment alters perception. In this scenario, event the simplest architectural manifestations deeply interact with our psyche. Given that a mere threshold holds so much power, I wonder what a deeper inquiry into more complex forms would yield. I wonder if certain combinations of thresholds and forms and colors and lights and space can be specifically created to subliminally interject into a perceiver’s mind. The pinnacle of architectural manipulation would be to harness these notions and deploy them upon the unsuspecting public, quietly and subversively influencing their perceptions. The thought of such architectural power is terrifying but at the same time exciting. In the right hands, this manipulation could save the world, yet in the wrong, it could destroy it

1. “Doorways” by Paolo Dallorso at flickr.com/ photos/27868169@ N00/4028301263/ 2. “Virtruvian Man” by Gopal Venkatesan at flickr.com/photos/ gopalarathnam_v/ 2916245008/

an Purkinje, a founding father of modern neuroscience, stumbled upon a reliable hallucination as a child. First he closed his eyes (very important!) then tilted his head to face the sun and moved his hand quickly back and forth in front of his closed eyes. After a few seconds, Purkinje reported the appearance of â&#x20AC;&#x153;beautiful figures,â&#x20AC;? which gradually became more intricate. Scientists have since adapted this protocol for the lab, and constructed custom goggles that repetitively flash light at a particular frequency. This stimulation seems to short-circuit the visual cortex. Its cells start firing in unpredictable bursts, which leads to the perception of imaginary images. In this sense, the hallucinations are a side effect of our need to always make sense of reality, as the brain struggles to decipher this cacophony of sensory inputs. - Hack Your Brain by John Lehrer

Experiment 04: Hallucinatory Stimulation

Experiment04

Hallucinatory Stimulation Purkinje Lights

M 9V

hallucination is a sensory experience of something that does not exist outside the mind, caused by various physical and mental disorders, or by reaction to certain toxic substances, and usually manifested as visual or auditory images. When hallucinations have a psychological origin, they usually represent a disguised form of a repressed conflict. To fool the mind is to alter perception, and to alter perception is ultimately to alter the essence of the conscious self. This experiment aims to create a device that induces hallucination, based off of the phenomenon attributed to Jan Purkinje. With Purkinje’s scenario, the brain begins to invent hallucinatory images when faced with visual overstimulation. To create these effects, I first constructed a small box [12”x18”x18”] that would house the various stimuli. Attached to rear of the box is a simple circuit that connects a single 9V battery to a fan and a speaker, running through one switch. When switched on, the current passes through a small servo motor, powering a fan, then into a speaker which crackles with electrical activity. The spinning fan causes the light to pass through the box in short bursts, much akin to a strobe-light or Purkinje passing his hand in front of his eyes. The viewer on the other end in theory should experience a similar effect to that Purkinje describes; when one places the box in front of a light source and gazes in with their eyes closed, small flashes of colored light become visible. While I was not able to fully replicate the full effect, there were fleeting instances of evidence that confirm that this method of overstimulation can indeed induce hallucination. 75

Case Study 04

Daisen-In Zen Garden | Soami | e. 16th century | 1. “Zengarden Daisen-In” by Tom Schenau at flickr. com/photos/27606389@ N03/2984059212/

2. “Daisen-in karesansui3” by Loren Madsen at flickr.com/photos/lao_ ren100/2529085495/

ithin the Daitoku-ji temple complex in northern Kyoto2, the Daisen-In zen garden is one of Japan’s most famous. The larger complex was “founded in 1326 by the Rinzai Zen monk Shuho Myocho”3 with the garden itself “in 1509 by the Zen priest Kogaku Soko.”4 The design of the garden, usually attributed to the painter Soami, directly imitates the landscape with large rocks representing mountains and a cascade of white quartz representing a waterfall.5 The traditional Zen Garden functions to facilitate meditation and active participation with the environment. By organizing certain structures in accordance with Feng-Shui and imitating the landscape, the Zen Gardens are active manifestations of Taoist beliefs.6 I chose to include the Daisen-In in my research due to its intentions to capture the emotion of the natural environment and manifest it in an artificial environment. Ultimately the Zen Garden attempts to manipulate the psyche, causing one to feel that they are in nature. Just as Peter Zumthor with his Therme Vals uses architecture to evoke a certain set of phenomenal conditions, Saomi attempts to do the same.

1.”Daisen-In” by Ivanoff at commons.wikimedia.org/ wiki/File:Daisen-in2.jpg 2. Olds, Clifton. “Daisenin.” The Japanese Garden. Bowdoin College, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. learn.bowdoin.edu/ japanesegardens/gardens/ daisen/daisen-in.html. 3. 4. Ibid. 5. Photo01 shows the “cascade” and “mountain range” 6. Olds, Clifton. “Daisenin.” The Japanese Garden. Bowdoin College, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2012. learn.bowdoin.edu/ japanesegardens/gardens/ daisen/origins.html.

Interestingly, the Daisen-In seeks to create a very specific set of conditions, aligned with the aims of the Taoist religion. Saomi then takes the architectural framing one level further, designing a specific condition rather than facilitating a wide range of them as Zumthor does in Vals. To do so, Saomi emulates a specific set of conditions in hope that the architecture can manifest the same. 77

Reading3B

Manipulative Features of Planning Styles written by Tore Sager 1. Sager, Tore. “Manipulative Features of Planning Styles.” Environment and Planning A 33 (2001): 765-81. Print.

Tore

Sager in his research studies how the methods of planning and decision making can be intercepted by a manipulator, ultimately affecting the choices people make. Sager begins by introducing the concepts of cyclical decision making and the tyranny of majority rule. Cyclical decision, as described by Sager, is a democratic scenario with x amount of choices where each choice trumps another and has another that trumps it. Under a majority rule, a cyclical choice does not exist as a constant change of ideas but rather a substitution of the same idea under the guise of a different alternative. Despite a majority rule, Sager claims, “it is always possible to make people change their minds, and thus manipulation might pay off when a solid majority seems to exist for a possible solution.” In this sense, “the manipulated person is made less autonomous without realizing it.”

Throughout the rest of his study, Sager delves deeply into the technical and applied aspects of planning manipulation. Before going too far, he established a set of pre-existing rules and conditions that must be present to allow for manipulation. He states there first must exist a double-faced planning condition where there exists “(1) an institutional structure hampering manipulation and (2) a number of agenda-forming strategies which are particularly useful to manipulators.” He claims that manipulation works better in “unstable conditions in which majorities can be easily shifted,” and within these conditions “rules are a precondition to manipulation.” Lastly, he calls upon a theorem of social choice to establish a basic framework: “it is assumed that:

Within the tyranny of the majority, the opinion of the minority will never matter in a democratic stage as two votes for X will always trump one vote for Y, despite the perceived good of either side. This process ultimately creates no true choice but merely an illusion of choice that functions in a decision cycle. People believe that they are deciding for an alternative to X but really just decide for a substitute X. Through manipulating the planning process that leads to decision making, Sager claims to be able to break the cycle and alter the eventual outcome.

2. Decision rules should work on an unrestricted domain, meaning that any logically possible individual ranking of the alternatives is accepted.

1. Social choice is made only on the basis of the individual preference rankings.

3. Consistency means that there is no decision cycle. When alternative x is ranked higher than y and y is ranked above z, then x is ranked above z, making a definite choice possible.

ager then details four methods of planning: synoptic planning, incremental planning, communicative planning, and advocacy planning and how each can be manipulated. The first, synoptic planning, has an overall conception of the process with an end-goal in mind. These cycles can be manipulated through removing the unanimity of the alternatives and inserting a power bias. Sager states, “In many cases, one just has to weigh the anticipated effects of organizational features introducing a power bias on the one hand, and the features opening up the process and weakening agenda control on the other. The first can invite a director strong enough to impose his or her will on the collective, and the second promises benefits to crafty manipulators undermining the director’s power.” The second method, incremental planning, involves planning with low certainty and imperfect information. With such a situation, Sager claims that the typical decision follows the status quo and does not hold much hierarchical influence. Within incremental planning, “each decision maker divides the alternatives into two groups, those he or she approves of and those he or she disapproves of, and the decision maker does not distinguish among the options in each group.” Sager claims to manipulate this system, one must exploit the lack of conviction and alter the agenda at hand. The third method, communicative planning, deals with planning coordinated through public discourse. In this typology, all players are equal and must demonstrate complete transparency in order to produce a mutual consensus of ideas. Sager

claims this process can be fairly easily manipulated as the open state a person must exist in to produce a consensus also weakens their resistance to manipulative influences. The final method, advocacy planning, is the antithesis of communicative planning; the process is also a public forum but exists with the intention of introducing a bias rather than entering a level arena. This process is manipulation in itself as “power is concentrated with one client instead of with multiple groups of specialists, and if necessary, the agency director can overrule the ranking of the client.” ______________ As dense as this article may be, Sager provides valuable insight into the technical processes of manipulation. The journey through an building is deeply rooted within the planning styles he mentions in his essay. At each junction within, the individual must plan his route, making a decision based upon both a priori knowledge and in-the-moment social pressures. With the weaknesses of each possible rationalization process the individual runs through in deciding which path to travel exposed in this essay, a basic framework for manipulating the journey starts to manifest. By manipulating the journey, one can force a certain perspective on the individual, ultimately - as evidenced in the prior research affecting the person’s introspective perceptions. To remove the freedom of choice from the individual and leave them with an illusionary power is to make the manipulator’s will the manipulated’s. 79

Case Study 05

Therme Vals | Peter Zumthor | 1993-1996 | 1. “There Vals” by jpmm at flickr.com/photos/ jpmm/4178079681/

et within the Swiss mountaintops in the Graubunden province, the Thereme Vals is a phenomenological masterpiece designed by Peter Zumthor. Set ovet a thermal springs, the project was completed in 1996 as an extension to the existing hotel. With strong notions of phenomenology and discovery, Zumthor describes the experience of the baths as: A designed negative space between the blocks, a space that connects everything as it flows throughout the entire building, creating a peacefully pulsating rhythm. Moving around this space means making discoveries. You are walking as if in the woods. Everyone there is looking for a path of their own.4 It may seem strange that I would include this peaceful reclusive masterpiece within the manipulation section. Yet manipulation, despite connotation does not necessarily warrant subversive ulterior intention. Rather than manipulating the mind, Zumthor manipulates the senses, guiding the individual through an intricate phenomenological journey. There exists no correct procession through the building, rather the individual is left to traverse with a brilliant sense of discovery and folly.5 One’s senses are overwhelmed with stimuli and at the same time are driven by the very stimuli.6 The echo of the water draws in one direction, while the fragrance of perfume draws in another.

1. “Vals Therme” by Timothy Brown at flickr. com/photos/atelier_ flir/2659152772/ 2. “Stairway” at archdaily. com/13358/the-thermevals/ 3. “Indoor Pool” Ibid. 4. O’Grady , Elena . “The Therme Vals / Peter Zumthor” 11 Feb 2009. ArchDaily. Accessed 16 Nov 2012. archdaily. com/13358 5. This indirectly references back to Sager’s article and his notions of decision-making and planning.

6. Sensory overload of course, references experiment04; albeit Zumthor’s delivery is far more eloquent.

Yet however great the sensation of chance finding, Zumthor designed the building with great intentionality. The journey, the sensations, the emotions: all of these are constructed. These notions did not happen by chance; instead they are the result of careful planning, testing, and inquiry deep into the psyche. An architecture that has the power to so deeply affect its occupant must be designed by an architect who possesses the ability to alter perception, to manipulate. 81

Reading3C

Work/Life/Work Balance written by Andrew Maynard 1. Rosenfield , Karissa . “Work/life/work balance by Andrew Maynard” 15 May 2012. ArchDaily. Accessed 22 Nov 2012. archdaily. com/234633

Architect

and principle of his own firm speaks out about the treacheries of the contemporary commercial architecture position in his article, “Work/Life/Work Balance.” Maynard discusses the standard of an architect suffering through long hours with little or no reward and the implications/causes of such. He postulates at first perhaps the reason the architect suffers is the illusion that one must suffer for the art or one feels the need to conform to office culture or even that the all-nighter-culture has been instilled from an early point. While all these may and probably do play some role in the development of the mentality, Maynard argues that the post-modern work environment and the belief of deferred happiness are the main culprits.

suffering will pay off in the long-term. He cites the following mentalities common throughout the profession: “If I work longer hours I will get promoted and paid better; I will one day start my own practice; We must suffer for our art; Long hours make the project better.” Each one of these phrases embody a sense of future gain in exchange for present suffering. Yet such a mentality is dangerously cyclical and eventually evolves to a state without any end point. When one only thinks of the future, the present becomes irrelevant. With such a mind set, one can never achieve any goal as all goals exist in a never-reachable future. For example, one desires X and suffers to achieve it, yet when they do, they now desire a greater X and suffer again; the cycle continues ad infinitum.

In the post-modern work environment, the employer is perceived to be an ally or a friend. Certain additions common to contemporary offices -break rooms, kitchens, lounges, free food/coffee -heighten this perception and according to Maynard ultimately denying the employee a right to protest. When the employer is no longer an oppressive force but rather a perceived equal, alters the psychology of the employee, causing the desire to resist to dissipate. For example, one is more likely to deny an enemy a favor than a friend. Thus, employers who mask themselves as allies ask favors and call upon the strength of a friendship to ask for more work rather than demand it like an overseer. Hence, by eliminating a perception of superiority, one is able to better manipulate a target person.

______________

The idea of differed happiness as discussed by Maynard revolves around the belief that the current 82

Maynard, in exposing the harsh realities of the commercial architectural environment demonstrates the subliminal manipulations present. By creating the perception of a leveled superiority, one is more likely to be submissive to demand and by shifting attention to future success, rather than present contentment, one is willing to accept suffering. These forms of manipulation are so familiar to us, yet most people do not even recognize them. While reading this article, I thought upon my own endeavors and was slightly taken aback that I have fallen into the same loops, using the same excuses as justification. Just as Tore Sager suggests in the previous article, it appears that offering the illusion of a freedom of choice is sufficient for removing the choice altogether.

How satisfied are you with your job?1

satisfied 19%

somewhat satisfied 16%

unsatisfied 44%

1. 2. 3. Adams, Susan. “New Survey: Majority of Employees Dissatisfied.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 18 May 2012. Web. 22 Nov. 2012. forbes.com/sites/ susanadams/2012/05/18/ new-survey-majority-ofemployees-dissatisfied/.

“At a time of high unemployment, lackluster job growth and major uncertainty in world financial markets, many employees feel stuck in their jobs, unable to consider a career move even if they’re unhappy....

somewhat unsatisfied 21%

...A lot of unhappy workers are staying put. But if employers want an upbeat, engaged workforce, they need to find ways to help employees feel challenged and rewarded by work. A couple of suggestions: offer more training and education. Also it pays to try to find a path up the ladder for current employees, and to help them know it’s available to them.”3

Do you want to leave your job?2

yes 65%

oing off of Maynard’s article, I thought it would be interesting to put his arguments to the test and survey workplace satisfaction. I happened to find a study done earlier this year by forbes and was a bit shocked by the results even though I thought they would be as so. Despite more than half of people being “unsatisfied” with their current job, only one third of them would consider leaving. Thus 50% of disgruntled employees appear to be falling victim to some degree of Maynard’s hypothesis. Even more interesting though was the advice forbes offers to employees:

35% no

In the last line, forbes suggests the very notions that Maynard claims cause the people to feel trapped in their positions in the first place. With this in mind, it seems all but true that he is correct. Subsequently this furthers Sager’s notions concerning the power of illusionary free will. 83

Vellum 4. Distortable At what point does formalism fail? Can an object inherently be of a certain nature, yet function to none such extent? This project is an exploration into the limits of form-based design and the breaking point of rationale. This is a challenge of formalism, in insight into the subjective mind and its perceived objectivity. When the perceived object does not align with the innate typology of it, what then is the nature of the object? There seems to exists a state of flux in which the object is neither its objective nor its perceived self. If this state can be allowed to exist then the construct of formalism holds no value and the construct of perception cannot exist independently. The purpose of this experiment is to exploit this state of flux and challenge the notion of formalism. One may ask themselves, what makes a table a table or what makes a chair a chair. Concurrent with my research, there appears to be two different rationales for designating a certain object as such: the form or the function. Thus a table is a table either because it looks like a table or it functions as a table. With the series of distortions I’ve imposed on the objects, there exists a set that functions as supposed without taking the supposed form and a set that takes the supposed form without functioning as supposed. The question is then can an object be itself without taking both form and function into account? If not, formalism cannot exist, and functionalism cannot stand alone.

Logical investigations can obviously be a useful tool. They must, “however, be informed by a sensitivity to the significance of the formalism and by a generous admixture of common sense, as well as a thorough understanding both of the basic concepts and of the technical details of the formal material used. It should not be supposed that the formalism can grind out results in a manner beyond the capacity of ordinary reasoning. There is no mathematical substitute. -Saul Kripke ”

Form follows function - that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union.

-Frank Lloyd Wright

Vellum Typologies Process Distortable

Vellum

Typologies and Forms 1. Anita. “Lorenzo Damiani Shows in Achille Castiglioni’s Studio.” Designboom. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2012. designboom.com/design/ lorenzo-damiani-showsin-achille-castiglionisstudio/. 2. Image 3 on next page 3. “Still Life with Chair.” Designboom. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2012. designboom.com/history/ stilllife.html. 4. Images 1+2 on next page 5. Experiment02 pages 34-37

hen initially considering a project for Vellum, I was drawn to divide between form and function. This typological schism has resonated throughout each section of my research and always seems to play a central role in my thesis. I studied the extents and limits of objective formalism and the degree that subjectivity plays in function. I observed the social implications that influence typologies. I demonstrated how manipulating form manipulates function. With all these notions in mind, I decided to attempt a project that tests out these theories. At first I studied the work of Lorenzo Damiani1, particularly his bending marble bench2. This bench holds the typical form of a bench but deceives in its function as one does not expect the marble to bend. Thus the form remains constant, yet the function does not. I question if this notion is taken to an extreme and an altered function becomes a lack of function - e.g. if the marble bent to the degree that one could no longer sit on it - could the bench still be called a bench? Likewise, is an object ascribed to a certain typology because it functions in accordance with the typology or because its form matches the typology? The more I considered these inquiries, I moved away from the questions of function and began studying questions of form. The altered function ideas mostly revolved around an object appearing to behave in a certain manner, yet actually functioning in an unanticipated contradictory manner. Yet these manifestations all appeared to be more of a cheap trick or quick illusion than a true analysis of formal / functional relationships.

Contrary to the altered function approach, the altered form approach allowed for a much more elegant solution. Immediately I was drawn to the work of Marcel Duchamp3 and his distorted series of chairs.4 Duchamp does the inverse of Damiani, creating an object that hold the form of a chair but obviously has a far different function or nonfunction. To implement this idea, I drew upon experiment02: folding form5, generating a series of furniture sets that could not function according to their typology even though their form matched up. From these series of tables and chairs, I chose three that interested me and began to rationalized the designs and devise a way to construct them. I had originally settled on cutting profiles or a waffle grid with the CNC router, then assembling the pieces afterwards. Yet with further thought, I decided against digital craft out of the desire to try my ability with constructing a complex form. With this new added degree of difficulty, I looked outside of profile cutting and instead decided to cast the distorted form. After doing some research into different casting materials, I decided on a GFRC concrete mix. The mix, which uses chopped fiberglass and acrylic admixture, allows for a thin, flexible slab. Given that a table made from concrete would be naturally heavy, the ability to pour at under 2” was essential. Over the next few pages, I’ll show how I first cut all the formwork, then poured the concrete, then finished and polished the slab, before finally attaching the table legs and delivering the piece to the show.

1. Marcel Duchamp, Untitled09 2. Marcel Duchamp, Splatter Chair

3. “lorenzo sitting on his ‘bending marble bench’” at designboom.com/design/ lorenzo-damiani-showsin-achille-castiglionisstudio/ 4. “Zaha Hadid Chair” at archdaily. com/129058/129058/

Vellum

Distortable development

1 Form Function 88

Vellum diagrams

Distortable

GFRC Concrete 2â&#x20AC;? GFRC Concrete +polyurethane +sealant -rebar Mahogany Legs +polyurethane

40% Sand 40% Cement 5% Water 3% Chopped Fiberglass 2% Acrylic Emulsion [no steel reinforcement needed]

Masonite Formwork MDF Boundary MDF Waffle Grid 89

Vellum

Process Formwork 1. MDF waffle-grid sections cut from template with jigsaw

2. Completed stack of MDF sections [2x6 short pieces + 2x3 long pieces]

3. MDF waffle grids assembled and glued together

4. Masonite section attached to the inside faces of the MDF wafflegrids

Vellum Pour

Process

5. MDF waffle-grids aligned on masonite base and attached in vertical positions

6. GFRC concrete mixed at a ratio of 40% sand, 40% cement, 5% water, 3% chopped fiberglass, and 2% fiberglass immulsion. Mix is then poured into formwork until full

7. Rough edges chiseled to straight line

8. Concrete tabletop is finished, sealed, then coated with glossy polyurethane.

Site 5. The City of Angels Location: Los Angeles, California, USA 00: Hollywood District 01: Griffith Park 02: Hollywood Sign 03: 34.13432° N, 118.321488° W

Mass Media Trendsetters and celebrities alike embellish the world of Hollywood. An eager populace stands at attention waiting to bend to the every whim of their popular culture; an ultimate subliminal perceptive vice.

Disparity Home to people from over 140 countries, speaking 224 languages, Los Angeles is the ultimate social experiment. Some of the most and least affluent people in the United States live within a few blocks of another, setting the stage for strife. “Relative depravation destroys the social cohesion within communities.”

Temporal Culture As quickly as one cultural derivation rises up, another comes into existence soon to replace it. With temporal idealism of the Hollywood phenotype spread across the multiple cultures in Los Angeles, there exists no definitive social standard, no cultural base-point, and no societal framework.

Iconography Instantly recognized throughout the world, Hollywood and its looming marker, captivate the masses. Standing the test of time, the icons of Hollywood have prevailed, facilitated by the enchanted public.

Site Site Section Analysis 24 Hours

“Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.” “Homeland Security” by Duca di Spinaci at flickr.com/photos/ bhikku/1187679/

-Marilyn Monroe

Site Section

The City of Angels Site History 1. “A Short History of Hollywood”, n.d. historicla. com/hollywood/history. html. 2. “1923: A Sign Is Born | The Hollywood Sign”, n.d. hollywoodsign.org/thehistory-of-the-sign/1923a-sign-is-born/.

Nestled in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains, Hollywood California, serves the world as a beacon of culture, imagery, and society. Seemingly synonymous with the region are celebrities, media, high-society, glamour, and the epitome of the American ideal. Backdropped by lush beaches and immersed in palm trees, the city exists as an artificial depiction of the ideal. Yet for every good side stands a bad and Hollywood is no exception.

the greater city of LA in 1910. In 1911, the Nestor Company, taking advantage of the abundance of open space and good weather, forever changed the composition of Hollywood, opening the region’s first film studio. Hollywood quickly embraced its new role as the leader in film, drawing many more studios while rapidly expanding outward from Hollywood Boulevard, transforming

Beneath the superficial lies a more unsavory side; to

the original settlements into commercial buildings

achieve the Hollywood idealistic portrayal of life, one

and subdivided housing. As with any other major

must succumb to the ebbing influences of the city’s

change, the redevelopment of Hollywood boulevard

cultural spheres.

was met with resistance as the older residents battled with the newer expansionists. Ultimately the

The term Hollywood was coined in 1886 by the wife

film industry won out, greatly developing the region

of prohibitionist Harvey Henderson Wilcox, who

over the next 40 years and transforming Hollywood

purchased a portion of the failed Rancho La Brea

into how it stands today.

for development. “Within a few years, Wilcox had

devised a grid plan for his new community, paved

Rising above the Hollywood skyline, at the peak of Mt.

Prospect Avenue (now Hollywood Boulevard) for his

Lee, the Hollywood Sign has served as city landmark

main street and was selling large residential lots to

since 1923. “Built by Los Angeles Times publisher

wealthy Midwesterners looking to build homes so

Harry Chandler as an epic $21,000 billboard for his

they could ‘winter in California.’” Appropriately, even

upscale Hollywoodland real estate development,

from its onset, Hollywood existed as an escape from

the Sign soon took on the role of giant marquee for

reality, giving those less-fortunate an opportunity to

a city that was constantly announcing its own gala

attempt the ideal. This mindset was broadly shared

premiere.” The sign, a massive advertisement for

and the new community garnered enough prosperity

real-estate was slated to only stand for 18 months,

to become independently incorporated in 1903, but

but with the rapid rise of the city, the sign became an

lack of water forced it to become encompassed by

industry icon and remained in place.

ust outside of Hollywood, in the affluent neighborhood of Los Feliz lies the second largest park in California, and the tenth largest municipally owned in the United States, Griffith Park. The site sits above the vertical thresholds of Hollywood yet underneath the height of the Hollywood sign. Started in 1882 as an ostrich farm by Col. Griffith J. Griffith, the park originally sought to lure Los Angeles residents to Griffithâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nearby residential developments. Griffith was convicted of shooting his wife in 1903 and decided to fund public works on his property upon his release in 1912 to reclaim his image. The results of such are the Griffith Observatory, constructed in 1935, the Greek theater constructed in 1929, the LA zoo in 1966, and the Autry National center established in 2003.

H - Terrence Donnelly O - Giovanni Mazza L - Les Kelley L - Gene Autrey Y - Hugh Hefner

The graphic below depicts each person who has sponsored the Hollywood sign and the letter theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve sponsored. Each donor gave $27,777 in 1978 as part of a campaign to save the sign.

W- Andy Williams O - Warner Bros. Records O - Alice Cooper D - Thomas Pooley 99

Burbank

Walt Disney Studios

Warner Bros. Studio Mt. Sinai Memorial Park

Grand Central

CA-134 Los Angeles Zoo

Griffith Park Hollywood Sign

Universal City

Woodbur

LA River

Glendale

Griffith Park Golf Course Bronson Canyon Park

Hollywood Reservoir Hollywood Hills

Roosevelt Golf Course Griffith Observatory Greek Theater

Los Feliz

Hollywood Bowl Hollywood Boulevard Sunset Boulevard

Hollywood

Felix Lawn Memorial P

CA-2

I-5

Cyp

Ivanhoe Reservoir

Thai Town

Santa Monica Boulevard

Silverlake Reservoir Little Armenia

Silverlake US 101

100

Pacific / Edison

Echoe Park

Dodger Stadiu

Site Section

Context + Topography Map

HOLLYWOOD

Park

prus Park

CA-110

Major Road Park Landmark Waterway Region 101

102

Site Section

[Off Page] Hollywood Sign

Adjacency Map 1. “Back to the Future II” by Tony Hoffarth at flickr.com/ photos/hoffarth/4000329556/

2. “Roosevelt Municiple Golf Course” courtesty Aspen Golf Club at http://golfweek.com/ news/2010/may/10/munigolf-layouts-needed-openspace/?print&popup=true

Observatory Bypass Tunnel

3. “Greek Theater” at greekhotelsandcruises.com/ wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ Outdoor-Greek-TheatreHollywood.jpg

4. “Griffith Observatory” by Aaron Stroot at flickr.com/ photos/astroot/5551589288/

Roosevelt Golf Course 4

Greek Theater

5. “Los Feliz” at greathomesinla.com/ community/area/ Los+Feliz+Real+Estate/

Griffith Observatory

Los Feliz Neighborhood

103

Site Analysis A

The City of Angels Mass Media

HOLLYWOOD

104

Tour Agencies

Movie Theaters

Night Clubs

Griffith Park

Project Site

Walk of Stars

Film Studios

HOLLYWOOD

Recent Celebrity Sighting1

Tourist Traps2

1. Data from : 2. Data From: virtualtourist.com/ thehollywoodgossip.com/ travel/North_America/United_ categories/celebrity-sightings/ States_of_America/California/ Hollywood-753140/Tourist_TrapsHollywood-TG-C-1.html

105

Site Analysis B

The City of Angels Disparity

Griffith Park 25 People White Black Asian Hispanic Other 106

“Race and Ethnicity: Los Angeles” by Eric Fischer at flickr.com/photos/ walkingsf/4981441877/

Data from neighborhoodscout.com/ca/ los-angeles/rates/#data

Safest

Best Education

Most Dangerous

Worst

Highest Property Value

High Appreciation

Lowest

Low

Data not available

107

Data from: Climate Consultant v4.0

Site Analysis C

The City of Angels Temporal Culture RELATIVE HUMIDITY

100%

80%

60%

.028

WET-BULB Temperature [째F]

20 25 30 35 40 45 50 mph

West

.024

50 mph 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10

.020

East

10% 20%

00 01

108

20%

MIN AVG MAX

.008

00 - Relative Humidity 01 - Temperature 02 - Hours 03 - Wind Speed

.012

10% 0% AVG 100%

.016

.004

30 20

100

110

1. 2. Data from: weather.com/weather/ wxclimatology/monthly/graph/90089

Average Rainfall2

6 in

4 in

3.92 3.12 2.43

2 in

Jan

Feb

Mar

2.33 0.91

0.26

0.09

0.01

0.04

0.24

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

110

108

110

112

100

Temperature [째F]1

106

70 68

60 48

40 30 20

35 28

105

Nov

Dec

100

79 73

60 49

78 64 53

64 51

59 52

50 41

Record High

1.04

102

107

0.66

47 38 24

Average High

Average Low

Record Low 109

Site Analysis D

The City of Angels Iconography August, 1989

Courtesy: Google Earth 110

May, 1994

December, 2003

March, 2011

1950s

Today 1

1. “Hullywood Sign” by Bob Beacher at commons. wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Hullywod-Sign.jpg

Hollywood Sign

2. “Hollywood Sign” by Scott Catron at commons. wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:HollywoodSignJAN09. jpg 3. “Hollywood Bowl” by MTLA at flickr.com/photos/ metrolibraryarchive/ 3213446051/ 4

Hollywood Bowl

4. “Hollywood Bowl” by srd515 at flickr.com/photos/ stevedevol/5906973234/ 5. “Grauman’s Chinese” by MLTA at flickr.com/photos/ metrolibraryarchive/ 3213202817/

Grauman’s Chinese Theater

6. “Grauman’s Chinese Theater” by Michelle Lee at flickr.com/photos/ michellerlee/5153630658/ in/photostream/

111

“James, I think your cover’s blown!” by Ludovic Bertron at flickr. com/photos/23912576@ N05/2962194797/

112

24 Hours: A State of Surveillance T

he site originally intended for this project was the Hollywood Sign and its immediate surroundings. Yet when I searched the sign’s website to figure out how to travel up there for the 24 hour site analysis I was met with this discourse: “Question: how can I hike to the sign? Answer: You can’t.” Perfect. As if the blunt answer doesn’t provide enough insight into whether one can hike to the sign, the site continues to list the ‘security features in place for “your own protection.” These include but are not limited to a razor wire perimeter fence, infrared cameras, and my favorite, helicopter patrols. Obviously a helicopter patrol is needed to protect the hapless citizen from themselves. Yet rather than be discouraged, I found this as an opportunity to explore an interesting aspect of today’s society, the state of surveillance. We exist in a world where someone always is watching us; our cell phones provide constant tracking of our every whereabouts, we carry with us cards that immediately identify us, and we even willingly provide personal information on the web. Seeing as I could not physically travel to the Hollywood Sign for analysis, I decided the better option would be to travel to a location where I could be the one surveying. I drove up to Griffith Park - a site I chose due to its proximity and views of and to the sign - early in the morning with the intention to study both the states of watching and being watched. To analyze watching, I hiked to the peak where the Griffith Observatory sat and examined various viewpoints out into the city. From these viewpoints, I later went and recorded the total visible distance, or the areas able to be surveyed. Later in the afternoon, I began to analyzed the state of being watched. To do so, I set off clusters of balloons in different regions of the park ten minutes apart. At each subsequent release point, I tracked both the visibility of the current cluster and the previous. Using the viewpoint measurements from the state of watching, I calculated the vicinity of which each cluster could be viewed at each release point. 113

HOLLYWOOD

114

nce atop Griffith Observatory, after parking at the Greek Theater and hiking up, I realized the area had incredible view of the entire LA region; yet most of the people I observed taking photos were captivated by the Hollywood sign, rather than the vista. I wondered why and how weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve become so detached from nature such that a series of nondescript letters on a barren hillside held more significance than an unparalleled viewpoint. The affect of mass media on society appears to have much more of an impact than I had thought. With these thoughts in mind, I began to quantify the expanse of the views from the observatory, noting the distances and scope of the panorama. I decided to note four views in particular; with each viewpoint, I attempted to note the scenery from the perspective of the sign, as if I was the sign looking down over the population of LA. Albeit, I did choose to include one perspective toward the sign as to give some sense of location. Viewpoint A: The first viewpoint is the typical view of the sign seen from the Griffith Courtyard. As this is the only viewpoint observed of the sign and not from the sign, I analyzed it first as a basepoint. Viewpoint B: The second viewpoint is taken from the far western balcony on the first floor of the Griffith Observatory deck. From this view the panorama stretches from the ocean at Santa Monica to the distant mountains, just east of downtown. Viewpoint C: The third viewpoint was noted from the rear [south] promenade on Griffith Observatory. From this view, one can see the full expanse of LA, from Glendale to Santa Monica. Viewpoint D: The final viewpoint is of the eastern view from the Griffith Courtyard. I found this view to be the most interesting of the four as it shows the transition from the wilderness of Griffith Park into the urbanized zone of downtown. The park exists within a strange edge condition that I have not seen in many other locations.

Analysis01: Viewpoints HOLLYWOOD

HOLLYWOOD

115

+4,544’

+45’

+800’ +90’

+5,467’ baseline

+13,866’ +3,000’

baseline

View Point A : Griffith Courtyard [4,544’]

116

View Point B : Griffith West Balcony [13,866’]

+50,482’

+32,325’ +27,390’

+7,985’ +645’

+6,860’

+570’ baseline

View Point C : Griffith Rear Balcony [50,482’]

baseline

View Point D : Griffith Observatory Descent [32,325’]

117

HOLLYWOOD

118

eeing the vast expanse of city and derivatively, people, the sign is able to look down upon, I decided to perform a second experiment testing the inverse. Just as the sign ominously watches from above the city, masses of people swarm the streets attempting to catch a glimpse of it. Just as the previous set of analysis dealt with measuring distances with viewpoints, I wanted this inverse analysis to do the same. In order to measure the distance in which something can be viewed, I had to establish a marker that could be noted from throughout the surrounding area. To do so, I assembled clusters of red balloons that when released would hover at a height visible from a distance. I took inspiration from the old German song, 99 Luftballoons [literally meaning Red Balloons] that tells of a cluster of red balloons released by two small children. The balloons, picked up on radar by the neighboring USSR were mistaken as a missile attack, prompting a swift counterattack, eventually leading to all out war and destruction. I find it very interesting that a simple misinterpretation of what a person sees can lead to such dire consequences. In the spirit of distorted perception and surveillance, I traveled around the Observatory Loop, releasing balloon clusters at four different points. Release Point A: The first point I released a cluster was near the entrance of the park at the Greek Theater. The balloons at this point would first be visible by the cities to the east: Glendale, then Pasadena, then Arcadia. Release Point B: The second release point was at the top of the loop in the overflow parking area of the Observatory. From this point, the areas behind Mt. Lee would see the balloons: the LA Zoo, then Burbank, into North Hollywood. Release Point C: The third locale was on the way out of the park on the downgrade at a small turnoff. From this point, the observatory is the most visible given it and the southern regions a glimpse: the observatory, then Hollywood, and perhaps even Downtown. Release Point D: The final release point was at the park exit, in the parking lot used by hikers who attempt to climb up to the observatory. The cities to the west would have the best view of this cluster: the Hollywood Hills, then Beverly Hills, then Bel-Air.

Analysis02: 99 Red Balloons

HOLLYWOOD

D 119

Release Point A : Greek Theater [2:20pm]

120

Release Point B : Observatory Plateau [2:30pm]

Release Point C : Observatory Downgrade [2:40pm]

Release Point D : Park Exit [2:50pm]

121

Program 6. The Path to Enlightenment en-light-en-ment 1. the awakening to ultimate truth by which man is freed from the endless cycle of personal reincarnations to which all men are otherwise subject 2. life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct and wisdom and meditation releases one from desire and suffering and rebirth sub-vert 1. To undermine the character, morals, or allegiance of; corrupt. There always exists a certain nagging sensation within each person that yearns for existential meaning. What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? What is my purpose? Some look for answers within, citing their own existence as purpose enough in itself. Some look externally, becoming a part of something larger, something more meaningful. And still some realize that there is no purpose and the existence of life is an absurdity. Many have attempted to justify any of these preoccupations but the solution is a phantom, an impossible end-goal. This greatest of desires also exposes an equally great vulnerability. Given that people are willing to sacrifice anything for substantiation - e.g. martyrs, jihadists, monks who spend their lives in silence - one who offers substantiation holds enormous power. Ethics aside, there exists a great opportunity to significantly alter prejudices of humanity by altering the context in which we frame our lives.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.â&#x20AC;? Joshua 22:5

Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment.

Morihei Ueshiba

Program â&#x20AC;&#x153;Saint Helier pilgrimage 2006 câ&#x20AC;? by Man Vyi at flickr. com/photos/39904966@ N00/191090607/

Diagram Breakdown Implementation

Program

The Path to Enlightenment Program Diagram Right View Right Intention Right Speech Right Action Right Livelihood Right Effort Right Mindfulness Right Concentration

1. “Grasping Hand” by Skesis at flickr.com/ photos/skesis/3120084815/ 2. “Dharma Wheel” by Shazz at wikimedia.org/ wikipedia/commons/d/df/ Dharma_Wheel.svg

124

Program Introduction

the left is the typical pictorial representation of the “eightfold path”4 that each pilgrim follows on the quest for enlightenment. As represented on the previous page, each step involves the “righting” of a certain aspect of the pilgrim’s life. In a sense, the process seeks to manipulate one’s current conceptions of the world through altering their perspective -- a true manipulation of the three research sections respectively. While this process aims for spiritual enlightenment, the same process can be extended to any practice. Consider an “eightfold path of architectural enlightenment” or even an “eightfold path of cultural enlightenment.” The person on the path is otherwise unaware of the end-goal, as enlightenment entails a revelation. If one were to know of the secrets incarnate before the revelation, then the enlightenment really wouldn’t be very enlightening at all. Thus the process involves a mass of followers blindly stumbling toward an unknown end-goal on a path completely based on the teachings of another. Despite the absurdity, Buddhism is one of the largest religions in the world, commanding over 350 million people.5 There seems to be such a great desire for meaning that people willingly delve blindly into the great abscess. Not to demean any of these people, of course, as many of history’s greatest are men of faith, but its intriguing that this desire exists.

A New Mecca

1. “srinivasan_burma” by Rom Srini at flickr.com/photos/ romsrini/4194684396/ 2. “Hajj 2008” by Al Jazeera English at flickr.com/photos/ aljazeeraenglish/3085843162/ 3. “Black Friday Lines” by Mia Gant at flickr.com/photos/ miagant/5203504570/ 4. “The Eightfold Path.” The Eightfold Path. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. thebigview.com/ buddhism/eightfoldpath.html. 5. “Buddhist Studies: Number of Buddhist World-wide.” Buddhist Studies: Number of Buddhist World-wide. N.p., 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. buddhanet.net/e-learning/ history/bud_statwrld.htm.

It seems to follow that there exists a devious opportunity to exploit this great quest for meaning by offering enlightenment in exchange for traveling a certain path. As evidenced in the past by fanatical religions and dangerous cult followings, people are willing to turn to anywhere for answers. This proposed project will attempt to harness this opportunity, using architecture to manipulate the path of enlightenment both through subversive and obvious means. Let’s create a new Mecca, let’s change the world. 125

Program

The Path to Enlightenment Pilgrimage

126

Program Introduction

Right View The beginning and the end of the eightfold path, the right view is a step of wisdom that allows the pilgrim to realize the path before them. Right Intention The second step is the gaining of control that allows the pilgrim to commit mentally and emotionally to the journey. Right Speech The third step is the first step in the realm of ethical conduct leading to moral disciple. To complete the step, the pilgrim must learn to control their speech in an appropriate manner. Right Action The fourth step is the control of the pilgrimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bodily actions in a similar manner as that of the right speech. Right Livelihood The fifth step is the ability for the pilgrim to live their life according to a certain set of values and make a living accordingly. Right Effort The sixth step and the first of the mental development can be seen as a precursor to all the other steps: it requires the pilgrim to appropriate a purposeful effort in completing their journey. Right Mindfulness The seventh step is the ability to see things as they are with clear consciousness. The pilgrim must Right Concentration The final step is the directedness of the mind toward a single point. To achieve this level and complete the journey, the pilgrim must harness their mental force and be able to direct it outward.

The Path to Enlightenment

n the map to the left, the journey through Griffith Park is noted, starting at the park entrance by the Greek theater, traveling up to the observatory summit, then descending to the park exit. Overlaid are the steps to enlightenment of the eightfold path. To achieve nirvana, the pilgrim embarking on the eightfold journey must complete each step, gaining a particular mental ability at each point.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Eightfold Path.â&#x20AC;? The Eightfold Path. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. thebigview.com/ buddhism/eightfoldpath.html.

The New Mecca Project uses each step as a building within the complex; each building is a manifestation of the points along the journey. People coming to New Mecca seek enlightenment, offered generously by the wise overseers who resign at the summit in Griffith Observatory. The Pilgrim begins their journey at the park entrance, traveling constantly upward through each building with hopes of reaching the level of the overseer. Yet once the final building is reached and the pilgrim completes their spiritual journey, they find themselves no closer to the pinnacle. Rather they see nothing more than the long descent back to reality in front of them. At this point, the enlightened individual journeys back into society to spread their newfound lifestyle with the masses. All the while, the overseers watch from above, dictating what is fed to the pilgrims along their journey. These individuals are the highest bidders, those who wish to see their view of society imposed. The impositions can be morally grey as one can hold a vision of utopia while another sees desires dystopia. These are the people of power, those who start a revolution. These are the people that change the world. 127

Program

Program Breakdown The Path to Enlightenment

Mindfulness

Yoga Center

Livelihood

Classroom

Action

Workshop

Speech

Theater

Realization

View

Reintegration

Reconciliation Arena

Effort

Intention

128

Meditation Room

Gymnasium

Welcome Center

Deception

Scholarship

Enlightenment

Concentration

Descent

Subversion

Executive Offices

Surveillance

Observatory

Program Actualization

Restroom

1000sqft

600sqft

Meeting Rooms

600sqft

Media Center Executive Office

100sqft Classroom

2000sqft 750sqft

Metalshop

500sqft 200sqft 1600sqft

2000sqft 5000sqft 100sqft 200sqft 200sqft 1000sqft

R&D

Backstage

Seating

1000sqft

Promenade

Stage Janatorial Women’s Locker Room

1600sqft 1500sqft

750sqft

Observatory

Woodshop

750sqft 250sqft 5000sqft

500sqft

Program Breakdown

Men’s Locker Room Studios Weight Room

Courts

10000sqft 100sqft 200sqft

Meditation Grounds Confessional Chapel

Mechanical

Office

Screening Room

Reception

2000sqft

Yoga Studio

open

Descent 129

Program

Program Implementation Scholarship Enlightenment

Deception Realization

Reintegration 130

Scholarship Enlightenment

Deception

Realization

Reintegration 131

Installation 7. ZIP Designed as an experience to exhibit thesis books, Professor Karen Lange’s fifth year studio (Studio400) at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), San Luis Obispo, was assigned a collaborative installation project to showcase their previous personal research and transition into the design phase of their individual thesis projects. Nineteen students worked tirelessly through the zipping, snipping, and stitching of the zip ties together composing an intricate three-dimensional fabric that could be swirled onto itself to create multiple experiences within a small storefront space. Entry portal, tubular book receptacles, undulating ceiling and walls, and vortex initiate a reading room, book storage, and entry foyer. The installation was intended to showcase the thesis work done during the Fall 2012 quarter. The students each produced a book of design research, which related specifically to his or her developing project. The installation was constructed primarily of cable ties, looped and tied together, to create a fabric. This fabric eventually encompassed an entire gallery “storefront” space. The design was developed over the course of three weeks culminating in a four- day installation period where students meticulously turned 250,000 cable ties into a fabric. The fabric was then tailored into an undulating surface that wrapped and curled into a cavernous room, displaying the thesis books. ZIP ultimately promoted visitor interaction with the fabric’s prickly surface, through books, light, music, color, and conversations, which allowed visitors to become involved in the students’ theses. Studio400 brought forth the concept of a storefront installation exhibit as a spatial experiment while using limited materials as the construction medium. The zip tie fabric unraveled to lure and signal visitors towards the entrance of the gallery where they are squeezed through the aciculate portal before entering the reading room. The installation’s central vortex expanse defined reading space with varying levels of seating. The installation intended to transport visitors from the mundane concrete reality of the building to a finely detailed space housing hand crafted books in an environment of subtle yet plastic enclosure.

Installation Zip

134

135

136

137

138

139

Section Show 8. Duality While not quite a section through a building, this presentation offers a dissected view of the ideas that founded the final version of my project. Using image mashups and rough renderings, a scene is created that shows a couple walking along a single path before diverging into two opposing paths: the path of vice and the path of virtue.

The Hollywood skyline looms in the distance and the observatory is always watching what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing. The billboards rise out of the picturesque mountains pushing in one direction and the clergy hikes the slopes pushing in the opposite direction. The journey presented is a microcosm of society with each possible action having a duality of results and possibilities. Nothing is ever really as it seems.

two paths exist... which one would you take?

The The Path Path ofof Vice Vice

The The Path Path ofof Virtue Virtue

Section Show Duality

The The Path Path ofof Virtue Virtue

concentration | distraction

mindfulness | wrath

effort | drowsiness

livelihood | gluttony 4

action | sloth

speech | concealment 2

intention | envy

view | pride

The The Path Path ofof Vice Vice

Choose Choose your your Path Path ofto Enlightenment Enjoyment

8 7

concentration | distraction

mindfulness | wrath

effort | drowsiness

livelihood | gluttony 4

action | sloth

speech | concealment 2

view | pride

intention | envy

8 7

1 8

Detail Show 8. Techtonics

To form the complex geometry that exists in my project, series of interconnected systems are implemented. In the detail show, I demonstrated two of them, the cladding system and the now defunct subfloor system.

For the cladding system, the entire building shell is panelized into triangles which are supported by a spanning boxruss for the ceiling and roof and structural glass beams for the front and back.

For the subfloor system, steel ibeams are attatched to the concrete form of the interior which then have typical steel decking + concrete topping.

glazing 2’ x 5’ x 1” tempered glass panels

daylighting opening open above to allow sunlight into interior

circulation opening full clearance and ADA accesible slope

services opening MEP runs from underground ducts

retaining wall CMU blocks beveled top course

drainage / walking grate 1/8” steel louvers + 3” steel supports

ground level packed earth

148

Detail Show

Section Overview + Door Detail + Cut Detail door panel 3” thick wooden panel painted black

mullion HSS 2” x 2” x 1/8” voronoi pattern

interior glazing 1” thick frosted tempered glass panel

door handle steel bar

door frame 6” thick metal frame

area of section cut colored programmatic blocks

149

Detail Show

Cladding Detail + Exploded Axo + Panel / Spider Detail

150

flashing connection HSS steel tube 4” x 4” x 1/4”

structural glass wall height 2” thick tempered glass

box truss 1” diameter steel tube

perforated panel 1” thick triangulated PVC panel

spider glazing clip detail below

151

Detail Show

Subfloor Detail + Exploded Axo

152

floor cover hardwood floor panels

ceramic tile 4” x 4” fixed to plywood with mortar

plywood sheathing 4’ x 8’ panels bolted to joist

floor cover hardwood floor panels

concrete subfloor 3” lightweight concrete topping

steel deck 1/4” light gage bolted to joist

steel W section W35 girder + W6 joist

concrete panel 12” thick precast formed to interior shape

grate premolded metal form inlayed in concrete

153

Design Development 7. Dichotomy Initial Design Moves:

With the introduction of opposing “vice” spaces, the “virtue” spaces needed to react in someway to the intersections. Under the influence of a crossing opposite program space, the corresponding structure dips into the ground. Both metaphorically and phyiscally, the dichotomy of opposites seek to drag the other down.

Not to just simply react to another, the dialectical spaces intertwine at the intersections; both diving into the ground and weaving into the other. At these intersections, those on each path commingle, both seeking to corrupt the others and avoiding corruption themselves.

At each intersection of vice and virtue space, the building dives into the ground, pulling the surrounding structure down with it. Within each of these ‘cones’ lies the main circulation cores for the varied interior spaces. This noted atrium is at the intersection of three types of spaces: the nuetral lobby, the gym [virtue] and the night club [vice]. As a result there exists three intertwining structures that link the structures together.

Design Development Development Design Redesign

Design Development

Site Analysis Reach Development

Griffith Park Project Site

156

Reach

Observatory Grounds

The rings etched into the map represent the spread of ideas from the observatory onto the city below. Having an aerial view of the entire city, those in the observatory can maintain a constant state of surveillance.

Park Road + Trail

Reach

Design Development Site Circulation

Site Analysis

Arrivals Guests arriving at the facility would enter by foot, public transit, or by vehicle northbound on Vermont Avenue into the park entrance. Along the road is a series of existing parking spaces that can be expanded to accommodate additional traffic. Vermont Avenue will be closed north of Vista Del Valle Road due to the placement of the facility.

Griffith Park

Departure

Observatory Grounds

The exit at Fern Dell Drive is reserved for the few that complete the enlightened path and are send forth to spread their teachings to the public. For those still in progress on their journey, they exit back onto Vermont Avenue, returning out through the entrance.

Park Road + Trail

Project Site

Site Entry / Exit Site Circulation 157

Design Development

Form Program Development

158

Surfaced Connections

Disconnected

Filleted Connections

Stepped

Smoothed Connections

Filleted + Stepped

Program The Eightfold Path to Enlightenment is manifested in 8 seperate â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;plateausâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, each distributed at equal distance along the path from the theater to the observatory. On the left, the arrangement and connection of these nodes is manipulated and explored. 159

Design Development

Form Exploration Development

‘Vortex’ Program

Woven ‘Vortex’ Program 160

Degenerative Form

Degenerative Form Implemented

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Spiderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Form 161

Design Development

Stair Project Atrium Development

162

163

Design Development

Review 02 Renderings Design

164

165

Design

Review 02 Drawings Design

Gym Circulation Core Buffet

Enlightened Corrupted

Lobby

Vertical Circulation Elevator Core First Floor Plan

Section AA

Taken through back bar at DASHED line in 6th floor plan Looking East 166

First Floor Mezzanine Plan

Second Floor Plan

Third Floor Plan

Fourth Floor Plan

Fifth Floor Plan

167

Design

Iteration 01 Diagrams Desgin

168

Circulation Diagram

Structural Diagram

Floorplate Structural Member ‘Virtue’ Space Program Diagram

‘Vice’ Space

169

Design

Iteration 02 +TSplines Redesign

170

Interior Bridging

Exterior Bridging

171

Design

Iteration 02 Form + Program Redesign

Site Rendering 172

Program Diagram

Structural Systems

173

Design

Iteration 02 Drawings Redesign

Ground Floor Plan Elev: 0’

Rendered Floor Plans 174

First Floor Plan Elev: 12’

Second Floor Plan Elev: 25’

Third Floor Plan Elev: 40’

Restaurant

Gynmasium + Locker Rooms

Spa

Woodshop + Metalshop

Lounge

Classroom

Burlesque

Theater + Dressing Room

Bar

Yoga Studio

Masquerade

Confessional

Club

Meditation Center

175

The Hot Zone 7. Dichotomy the building located in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, contains two distinct sets of programmatic elements. there exists the righteous - areas that help one better themselves e.g. a gym or a classroom - and the wrong - areas that allow one to indulge e.g. a bar or a buffet. within the void of the superstructure exist programmatic blocks of each variety, suspended by a concrete web that all crash and interconnect with another. the juxtaposition of the right and the wrong and the ability to observe and be observed by converse sides of the compass makes for an intriguing proposition. is the path one is set on really the path they desire or are they merely acting as a product of their environment? when both ends of the same spectrum are introduced oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s convictions will be challenged, either confirming and strengthening their original

intentions or discarding false intentions for those of a better fit.

embelishment enlightenment

indulge indulge clarity clarity enjoyment enjoy ment practice practice ethical ethical vice visceral

visceral virtue

two paths exist... which one would you take?

dichotomy

Exterior Rendering : Overview 180

181

Exterior Rendering : Approach 182

183

Interior Rendering : Club 184

185

8 8

5 5

2 2

186

The Hot Zone

Overview Program + Circulation Dichotomy

3 4

INDULGE

PRACTICE 2

1 1 188

The Hot Zone

Section Longitudinal Dichotomy

4 4

189

2 2 Burbank

Hollywood

Glenda

Griffith Park

7 3

4 6

190

6 Silver Lake

ale

Roosevelt Golf Course Griffith Observatory

Greek Theater

Immediate Context Map griffith park observatory loop with programmatic color overlay greek theater and fields

Cypruss Park

hiking trails project site 191

trailhead viewpoint | downtown - culver city - santa monica

observatory viewpoint | culver city - santa monica - coastline

192

The Hot Zone

Diagrams Site + Context Dichotomy

193

The Hot Zone

Diagrams Site + Context Dichotomy

civic areas | Griffith Observatory | Greek Theater | Roosevelt Golf Course residential areas | Los Feliz neighborhood project site | parking lot + field adjacent to the Greek Theater footprint | the building footprint is derived from the contours of the site. the outline is cut into the topography then lifted 30â&#x20AC;&#x2122; to form the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s massing

194

195

196

The Hot Zone

Diagrams Program Dichotomy

Program Diagram classroom | four classrooms for learning life values

spa | area of relaxation for forgetting lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worries

pulpit | stage and back stage for learning ethical conduct

theater | space to entertain and be entertained

workshop | metalshop and wood shop to control bodily actions

lounge | day club for loafing in absolute serenity

gym | weight room + pool + track for grasping physical control

buffet | dining room for indulging in exquisite cuisine

locker rooms

kitchen

yoga studio | two studio spaces for honing mental purposiveness

bar | fully stocked state of the art bar for letting loose

chapel | small confessional for clearing conscious

masquerade | costume shop for anonymous action

meditation center | quiet room for harnessing mental force

club | venue for electronic concerts and mesmerizing sounds 197

The Hot Zone

Diagrams Circulation Dichotomy

vertical circulation | elevator shaft + fire stair circulation route A

circulation route B

entry through front door in SE

entry through front tube

walk through lobby to elevator core

travel through central connecting tube to elevator core

pass through atrium A toward back wall

take elevator to lounge level

enter rear section through central connecting tubes

enter lounge from core

take elevator to top floor

exit out front tube

exit out front tube 198

vertical section vertical circulation circulation route A circulation route B horizontal section

199

The Hot Zone

Diagrams Structural Dichotomy

2’ thick cast in place concrete for structural columns

1’ thick cast in place concrete for cantilevering elements

3’ thick cast in place concrete for foundation

vertical concrete form cantilevered concrete foundation concrete steel mesh 200

steel mesh is formed into the shape of the structure. lightweight concrete is then sprayed onto the mesh in multiple coats until the appropriate thickness is achieved. in order to support the concrete while it is curing, a steel support structure is erected to support the cantilevers and overheads.

steel mesh 201

Cladding Section ceiling panels | 1” thick triangulated perforated steel panels; 1” offset between all panels roof box truss | 3’ deep, 1” diameter box truss that supports the roof panels and spans the building roof panels | 1” thick triangulated reflective PVC panels; sealed at the joints structural glass | 2” thick tempered glass, spaced 5’ O.C.; supports glass panels and front panels flashing joint | 4” HSS section that connects the glass panels to the ceiling panels spider clip | connects glass panels to each other, connects to the front box truss, and holds structural glass glass panels | 5’ x 2’ sections, spanning entire front and rear faces of the building front box truss | 3’ deep, 1” diameter box truss that connects front panels to the spider clips 202

front panels | 1” thick triangulated perforated steel reflective panels

The Hot Zone

Diagrams Cladding Dichotomy

Cladding Overview dual layer roof panels | perforated ceiling panels + translucent PVC roof panels rotated panels | reflective panels rotated based on sun exposure gradient channel glass translucent PVC panels

203

The Hot Zone

Diagrams Cladding Parameterization + Ecotect Dichotomy

Average Annual Absorbed Radiation [Watts x hours / m2] 7077

6473

5870

Ecotect Analysis Both the front and rear surfaces of the building, represented in this color, on the previous page are exported from Rhino as autoCAD interchange files that are subsequently imported into Ecotect. Ecotect uses these surfaces as solar collectors, performing an insolation analysis over the period of an entire year from 9 am 204

to 6pm. The insolation analysis was set to measure the Average Annual Absorbed Radiation, measured in Watthours per square meter. Simply put, the amount of heat from sunlight, the surface gains on average per hour throughout the year is mapped onto the surface via the gradient above.

Angle of Rotation 60

Grasshopper Translation The data from the previous analysis is then imported into grasshopper using spreadsheets. The surface is then panelized into small trangular sections. The data from the spreadsheet is then remapped from the lows and highs for radiation [5870Wh/m2 to 7077Wh/m2] angles of rotation [0 degrees to 60 degrees]. Areas

of the surface that receive greater solar gains throughout the year have panels with less rotation as to block the sunlight, while areas that receive less solar gains throughout the year have panels with more rotation to allow more sunlight to pass into the building. 205

206

Atrium Rendering : Stage 207

208

Atrium Rendering : Lobby 209

210

Interior Rendering : Gymnasium 211

â&#x20AC;&#x153;With me, illusions are bound to be shattered. I am here to shatter all illusions. Yes, it will irritate you, it will annoy you - that's my way of functioning and working. I will sabotage you from your very roots! Unless you are totally destroyed as a mind, there is no hope for you.â&#x20AC;? -Osho

the building located in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, contains two distinct sets of programmatic elements. there exists the righteous - areas that help one better themselves e.g. a gym or a classroom - and the vicious - areas that allow one to indulge e.g. a bar or a buffet. within the void of the superstructure exist programmatic blocks of each variety, suspended by a concrete web that internally crashes and interconnects. the juxtaposition of the right and the wrong and the ability to observe and be observed by converse sides of the compass makes for an intriguing proposition. is the path one is set on really the path they desire or are they merely acting as a product of their environment? when both ends of the same spectrum are introduced oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s convictions will be challenged, either confirming and strengthening their original intentions or discarding false intentions for those of a better fit.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to extend a special thanks to everyone who helped with putting this project together: thank you to my parents for their support, thank you to Karen for her guidance, and thank you to Studio400 for being awesome.