SITE TECTONICS Jonathan Wirjoprawiro
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CONTENTS Preface
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Esquisses Fill Cut Cut and Fill Equal Access Water Detention
4-9 10-15 16-23 24-33 34-41
Final Scheme
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Reflection/Additional Sketches
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References
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PREFACE Site Tectonics The University of Melbourne ID: 390261 - Jonathan Wirjoprawiro Lecturer: Nano Langheim Tutors: Dermot Egan and Chenyu Chiu
This subject introduces landscape as a three-dimensional space. Aspects of site grading and earthwork manipulation will be explored, including their experiential and functional implications. Site Tectonics also highlights the importance of landform modelling to the design vocabulary of landscape architecture, alongside principles of technical and representational techniques. All work was done in collaboration with Siyu Zhou. All site plans are 1:1000 unless labeled otherwise, and north is up the page.
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FILL
Esquisse One
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DOUGLAS HOUSE (1971-73) Richard Meier Harbor Springs, Michigan This assignment gave us a few opportunities when it comes to the experiential quality of the Farnsworth House within the site. Our primary precedent for this project was built in 1971 - the Douglas House near Lake Michigan, designed by Richard Meier. Like Mies van der Rohe, Richard Meier is also considered one of the major contributors to the International Style. As such, we believe that these two buildings share a lot of similarities in terms of its design and rationality. However, as you can see from these drawings, there is one significant difference; the site. The Douglas house is situated on a steep hill similar to the site that we have been given in this project, unlike the relatively flat ground surrounding the Farnsworth House, which makes it an ideal precedent. With this in mind, we thought we could extract and replicate a few of these concepts into our own design. Firstly, if you notice in our sections and plan, we have modified the Farnsworth house so that its approach is defined by a path from the north, stepping down onto the platform, and then down again into the house itself. We think that having the Farnsworth house nestled into the topography is a great way to achieve the contrast between the rectilinearity of the design and the organic environment. It will stay true to its original design by maintaining its transparency which allows for the utilisation of the natural backdrop.
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A B
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SECTION A-A
1:1000
SECTION B-B
1:1000
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CUT
Esquisse Two
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VILLA VALS HOUSE SeARCH & CMA Switzerland, 2009 Our precedent for this project is Villa Vals House which is an amazing house located inside a Hill in Switherland, and is designed by Bjarne Mastenbroek & Christian Mßller from the SeARCH & CMA firms in 2009. Villa Vals House shares a similar site as our project, as you can see, it is a hill. The house’s introduction of a central patio into the steep incline creates a large facade with considerable potential for window openings. The viewing angle from the building is slightly inclined, giving an even more dramatic view of the strikingly beautiful mountains on the opposite side of the narrow valley. The intention of the house is to remain concealed and unobtrusive to the natural beauty surrounding it, and gives a particular private and quiet place for the users. However, the shape of Farnsworth House is settled, if put the Farnsworth House inside the hill, lighting will be a problem. So, we think to cut part of the hill and like insert the Farnsworth House to the hill rather than build the house in the hill. When people see views through the openness of the house and the platform, it will be like the views of the picture (with railways) shows. Enhance a sense of transparent and explore the nature. The design we do, if you see the sections and plans, highly reserve the views in the front( the river). The house will be looks like a part of the hill or the extend of the hill, combine with the natural environment. Also the privacy will be highly protected by the nature backdrop in the back of the house itself.
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A B
A
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SECTION A-A
1:1000
SECTION B-B
1:1000
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CUT & FILL Esquisse Three
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BUNKER 599 Rietveld Landscape + Atelier de Lyon Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2010 This project is a modification of a former monumental bunker in Amsterdam. It is publicly accessible, and showcases a small part of a very significant history as people pass through this dramatic crevasse and peer inside the small spaces of the bunker. “The sliced up bunker forms a publicly accessible attraction for visitors of the NDW. It is moreover visible from the A2 highway and can thus also be seen by tens of thousand of passers-by each day”. In the same way, our scheme aims to showcase a significant piece of architectural history and arguably - the pinnacle of the international style - with Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House. It does so by attempting to create a very eye-catching long axis similar to a beaux-arts style of planning, and this axis could be seen from the road up north. Ramps are cut into the landscape perpendicularly to the contour lines to create this axis while also allowing pedestrian access into the site. Furthermore, we propose a man-made (or engineered) canal between the siting location of the Farnsworth house and the river. This grand architectural gesture would create a dramatic isolation between nature and built form, and it seemed appropriate for an experimental project like this with no cost restrictions. Furthermore, this scheme would turn the platform of the Farnsworth house into the bridging component between these two varying conditions. Therefore, we believe this transitional experiential quality between the approach and the isolated “island” is quite interesting. p. 19
p. 20 INITIAL SKETCHES/IDEAS
SECTION A-A
1:1000
A
A
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For us, this scheme received mostly positive feedback. I think we took a well-designed landscape idea from Bunker 599 and added our own unique twist to it. The tutor mentioned that it reminded him of a miniature representation of the line of the river itself, which relates this scheme back to the broader context of Melbourne. At this point it was revealed to us that we were supposed to have been developing our schemes for the esquisse excercises throughout the semester week by week. Since we really liked the underlying concept behind this scheme, we wanted to develop it further in the next weeks.
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EQUAL ACCESS Esquisse Four
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GAMBIER ISLAND RETREAT BattersbyHowat Architects Gambier Island, British Columbia, Canada, 2012 When we presented our ‘cut and fill’ esquisse, we came up with a very dramatic and bold design that cuts a straight path from the top of the slope to the river. This path was then intersected by a proposed canal that carefully positions the Farnsworth house as the bridge between the two varying conditions of nature and built form. So what does this mean for this week’s esquisse - which asks us to do a graded slope without cut nor fill? We looked at this project as a precedent; the Gambier Island Retreat by BattersbyHowat Architects. This remote project has a similar physical context - a fairly steep slope leading to body of water that screams for the building to act as some form of connection between the top and bottom.
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What is interesting to us in particular about this project is the sculpted pathway that “purposefully links together the architecture of internal rooms and outdoor spaces with discoveries of the site’s varied landscape features”. Similarly, if we can no longer achieve the direct path towards the water by means of cut or fill, we want to create a journey that allows people to slowly experience the site. At the same time, we would still retain some of our ideas from the previous esquisse. What this then creates is an interesting and dynamic landscape where a visitor would experience not only a gradation in the slope of the landscape, but also a correlated gradation in the speed at which they approach the river. So, while this brief asks us for something quite different - we tried to incorporate as much as we can from our initial design intent, by adding a few minor tweaks and alterations without too much compromise, and although this changes the look and feel of the place to some degree, we feel as though the overarching ideas have stayed the same.
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A
A
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The diagram on the right outlines the usage/programs that are designed for certain highlighted areas as a result of the graded path shown as the black curved line. As mentioned earlier, this scheme plays with different slope gradients in order to vary the speeds at which a visitor travels through the place. As before, this scheme simply outlines a specific graded path, rather than large areas for sports, etc.
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~2%
Recreation: (walking, sports, etc)
~5%
All-purpose activity (running, playing)
~8%
Resting place
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SECTION A-A
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1:1000
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ROOMBEEK THE BROOK Buro Sant en Co Landscape Architecture, Enschede, The Netherlands, 2003 This week’s task is to create a dry detention pond with a limitation of the surface area, also design an area of mounding surround the Farnsworth House which have both function of play and water detention. The Rommbeek the Brook is designed by Buro Sant en Co Landscape Architecture in Enschede, Netherlands. The site of Roombeek is a commercial street and also the urban core of the district. There is a small stream in this site. In the past, it flowed underground , now it has been restored and brought up to the surface again. This design use the rough structure Intends to remain the stream to the surface, the distinctive composition of sharp edged stepping stones give an interesting place for pedestrians by give the opportunity to play within the water. Now the water is considered to be a particular spatial feature which is part of the local urban environment and has become the district’s new central point.
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So for our own design, The detention pond have the width 5 metres which is a little shorter than the width of platform. Rainwater or ground water can be driven by the approach channel to the dry pond. Like the precedent, the base of the stream is treated with a rough structure and material that reduces the flowing speed of the water and creates a constant reflective pattern on the water surface. The pond actually has the slope, as its ends with the same height of the contours. Randomly shapes stepping stones refer to the randomness of natural processes. It will help people to getting close to the nature environments by engaging with water, playing on the stones above the detention pond.
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SECTION A-A
1:1000
SECTION B-B
1:1000
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For this idea we also received valuable feedback. One thing to note in this case is that the vertical surfaces that eventually lead to the pond would not be so flat, even if it was rock, due to erosion. Another is to be mindful and critical of the precedent we have chosen for this scheme. One thing that people might find wonderful about Roombeek the Brook is the way that the density of the stepping stones vary throughout the pond, and that gives it another layer of intricacy for when people are using it - which parts of the pond can you step across? and in which parts are the stones too far apart? While we wanted our stepping stones to be accessible by people, we felt that the size and shape of it was quite restrictive in terms of carrying out that idea of density and scarcity.
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DESIGN INTERVENTION Assessment Two
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Precedents & Design Process Previous esquisse: The ideas for this design is an extension and redesign from our 'Cut & Fill' esquisse idea. As the BUNKER 599 shows, we like the straight access; it is like a cut, simple but interesting. However, we were disappointed to find out that the tutors thought this was “too simple�. They suggested to do curved or zig-zagged series of ramps. Essentially, we felt that we had to completely discard our previous precedents and development. By having ramps and paths that are not straight, I felt that it defeated the purpose of this simple grand architectural gesture, and the symbolism behind it would also be lost. Along with the requirement for water detention ponds, we had difficulty incorporating our previous ideas into a new scheme. The best course of action for us at this point was to start over.
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Development: The river is located at the bottom of the site, and it is a very important part and feature of the site, providing opportunities and ideas for designing. So we try to incorporate our design with the river. Then we extracted ideas from the Governors Island which is a design project in 2007, New York. It is under construction and it is an extraordinary new public park that embraces all of New York Harbor, its ecology, its history, its culture, its magnificent beauty. It is surrounded by water and steeped in the natural and cultural history of the estuary. Then we came up with the idea of creating an island, like the precedent. The main activity areas are surrounded by water. The man-made canal looks like a river, which isolates the house from the other part of the site. Instead of using the straight ramp as the access to the river bank, we use a Z-shaped ramp. It would be more interesting and gives more opportunities to let the visitors have a better view of the whole site. A rough digital model (next page), shows the original design. The house is constructed above a platform which is float above the spherical water pond, and let the water flow underneath the platform and goes into the canal finally.
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Arrows indicate the flow of water
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We also tried to bring back the ideas from our “cut” precedent; Villa Vals, to nestle the Farnsworth house comfortably inside the landscape. By doing this, we believe we can really open up the views toward the river and frame the scenery more beautifully. However, when we came to further the design, We found that it is difficult to overcome the landscape degeneration. As the water wash the surface of the spherical water pond, The materials will be moved with the water flowing into the carnal. The platform will no longer stay balance and unable to hold the house anymore. At this point, we also decided to discard our idea for the canal, because it didn’t seem as feasible for a water detention system.
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The final design: Again we came up with a new design, with ideas taken from the Qiao yuan Park located in Tianjin. The goal for this project is to create a park that can provide a diversity of nature’s services for the city and the surrounding urban residents, including: contain and purify urban storm water; improve the saline-alkali soil through natural processes; recovery the regional landscape with native vegetation; provide native environmental landscapes and natural systems education, achieve landscape sustainability and create a cherished aesthetic experience. Paths, ramps and bridges are linked together and alternately used and all surround the water ponds. People could easily access the water and enjoy the view with water interaction. Similar to the precedent, our overall aim is to incorporate Farnsworth House as a part of surrounding natural environment, creating several water ponds in the site intend to make the site more active and make a link to the water feature (the river) at the bottom of the site; building ramps round the ponds could lead visitors to view the entire natural scene.
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Reason for choosing location of Farnsworth House: The house are located on the top level where the contours are dense. Putting the house at this place could reserve as much the existing natural slope of the site, make the site looks like built by the natural process. At the same time, as our ramps are accompanied by water ponds, visitors will have a high level of interaction with this water features. It will give people a sense that they are going downhill when they walk on the ramps and looking at the views. Furthermore, the house will become a commanding point of the site, which emphasises the house itself and without disturbing the natural backdrop view. The design of the ramps act as an extension of the Farnsworth house, with landings that serve as viewing platforms. Hence, this provides a sense of continuity as a person journeys through the breathtaking site, and adds to the cohesion of the overall scheme.
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2 1
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+TW 13.000 +BW 7.700 +FPL 8.925
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+FPL 8.270
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+4.255
+2.755
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Plan 1:500 10
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S E C T I O N A - A
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S E C T I O N B - B
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RAMP DETAIL SECTION 1:50
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We chose to design a composite steel-timber ramp for our scheme. This decision to use steel came about mainly because we wanted to replicate the tectonics of the Farnsworth house to some degree, and pay homage to Mies van der Rohe’s unique lightweight design. However, for a design that is in direct contact with the water detention ponds, it is vital to detail it so that the steel posts and footings reach adequate bearing capacity. The joints of the members should also have adequate tolerances to account for movement. In this case, we also need to pay close attention to the finish of the steel, to make it as durable as possible against water.
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REFLECTION
Development and Progress
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The next few pages will show my concept sketches for scheme throughout the semester and summarise the ideas behind them. Yellow shows approximate sun path, red shows pedestrian circulation, purple shows intended views, and blue represents water. For the “fill” esquisse, we simply wanted our design to command the landscape on a high “cliff”, while maintaining the visual effect of the natural backdrop. p. 68
For the “cut� esquisse, we nestled the Farnsworth house into the landscape, which isolates and shades the house and frames views to the river.
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For “cut and fill” we experimented on really dramatic axial planning and two intersecting “lines” to create a strong visual effect, highly influenced by Bunker 599.
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For “equal access�, we designed a graded slope which modified the previous esquisse slightly by redirecting views and regulating the speed of the journey down to the river.
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For “water detention�, we turned the enormous crevasse into a shallow pond, and randomly placed stepping stones. This wide catchment area is effective in slowing down the flow of water, as well as becoming a more interactive space for visitors.
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For the final scheme we tried to incorporate many of the precedents and development from previous esquisses.
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This sketch shows our development and idea for what is essentially a spherical boolean into the landscape, as a water detention pond. This ended up being really infeasible.
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Final scheme: - join ramps with the house and platform for continuity and cohesion - take advantage of landings as viewing platforms by elevating the ramps - use water detention ponds as part of scenery for the journey - cut into the landscape to add additional circulatory space behind the house.
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Here is a screen-capture from one of the early stages of modelling for our final design. I had just carved out the water detention area from the landscape. I made this geometry by patching a series of contour lines that I drew based on the shape I wanted it to take on the plan. p. 76
This image was taken at a later time in the modelling process, after having created the open area around the Farnsworth House, as well as further developing the ramps, and contouring the site. p. 77
SITE TECTONICS
is a subject that combines landscape design, technical drawing, presentation skills, and knowledge of the natural as well as the built environment. Throughout this semester, I have tried to embody five key concepts in landscape design involving cut and fill, access paths and grading, as well as water detention and land rejuvenation. I was disappointed that we could not further develop the scheme from esquisse three, because that was my favourite. We had to compromise and change a lot to get to our final product, but hopefully this journal showcases the process and development that we went through as a series of logical decisions to fit the criteria of the subject. Having said that, I was pleased with the result of the final scheme as it extracts many great ideas from well-known precedents to create a cohesive narrative of the landscape. By using a combination of Rhinoceros, Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, I was able to 3D model the schemes and extract the desired plans and sections. I used Illustrator mainly to adjust the graphics such as lineweights, fills and colour coding, adding entourage, and for annotation/labelling. Autodesk’s 3DStudioMax was also used for the second esquisse.
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FILL: This esquisse mainly taught me about how to document our designs. The tutors were really helpful with pointing out drawing conventions and other elements of our presentation that were missing. In terms of fill as a subject matter, I learned about spatial effects that it can have on a site, and I also learnt about how it can introduce new problems. For example, with the Farnsworth House, we would need to extend the footings a lot lower to reach adequate bearing capacity of the ground because the filled soil may not be strong enough. Also, when filling to create such a steep slope as we have done in our scheme, we would probably need some sort of retaining wall - otherwise there are problems such as erosion and the angle of repose for the particular type of soil.
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CUT: For this esquisse, we tried to refine our model-making skills; and although it was still nowhere near as nicely done as the laser cut models, there were a lot of improvements with accuracy and the speed of production. We were also introduced to 3DSMax, a software I had been completely unfamiliar with to start off with. I learnt a bit more about how parametric design can be done using its list of operations and tweaking various things on the digital model. In the end, I still found 3DSMax to be very difficult to work with, especially when having to edit each point in the model at times, and we weren’t extensively taught how to render either. I was also reminded to be extra critical of the precedents we chose, and how its historical background may not have anything to do with our design intent, even when the physical form seems to have a clear relationship.
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CUT AND FILL: With this esquisse I learnt about how a design concept can relate to the broader context of the city, because of the tutors’ feedback on our design. I also learned about how cut and fill can be used in conjunction with each other to create very beautiful landscapes and completely change the existing scenery. With this esquisse especially, we were asked to pay close attention to the documentation of the new scheme in relation to the existing slopes
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EQUAL ACCESS: The lecture for this esquisse was very interesting, and taught me about different slope gradients and how they could impact on the way we use spaces. In class we were also taught about grading and created graded paths. It was a bit more complicated than what we had been doing before, but it was a great concept to get my head around and very useful for all landscape design. We tried to incorporate some of these ideas for our esquisse to create a variety of experiences as one travels from the top of the hill to the river. I learnt that by grading the site a certain way, we can speed up or slow down the movement of pedestrians within the spaces.
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WATER DETENTION: Designing water detention ponds was a completely new concept for me, which is quite surprising because I am undertaking the Bachelor of Environments degree. I had learned about water detention systems in buildings and some natural environments as well, but I think Site Tectonics really broadened my horizon in terms of how it exposed me to the different ways it can be designed. Unlike the very utilitarian use of water detention systems in buildings, the design of the landscape in this case can have a high level of interactivity (which we tried to do for our esquisse), and it could even be the main feature of the design. I also learned about how these land rejuvenation schemes can be graphically presented as a series of images of what the landscape may look like in different stages of its recovery, and it can be very convincing to the client or critic.
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FINAL SCHEME: Most of all, for the final few weeks I learnt that design development doesn’t necessarily need to show obviously on the drawings of the iterations. Although our final scheme looks nothing like the first few esquisses, I felt that it embodied a lot of the knowledge and feedback we received throughout the semester. I also tried to improve a lot on my technical skills by adding more complex geometries in the digital model on Rhino, and I was quite pleased with the result of the detention pond. In retrospect, I question whether having the features of all five esquisses in one scheme was necessary. I think the idea for the final scheme was to incorporate all if not most of the topics we covered, but I feel that it might have cluttered the design a bit, and leaves less room for variety of designs within our cohort.
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THROUGHOUT THE TUTORIALS: We learnt various technical skills both on the computers and on paper. On paper, I learnt how to extract sections from contour plans. Although this was tedious, by lining up the plans to the sections and drawing grid lines, we were able to draw fairly accurate sections. We even went further to tweak the scales of the sections to create exaggerated sections, which can be useful when it comes to presentations and diagrams. We also learnt about how presenting a section diagrammatically can mean that the section cut is not straight at all, but instead shows a journey through winding paths represented on a two-dimensional surface. I also learnt about general things like landings and railings for ramps, how to grade sites, etc. A lot of the tutorials really reinforced the content of the lectures.
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Reference List AD Classics: Douglas House / Richard Meier, accessed 07 Aug 2012, retrieved from http://www.archdaily.com/61276/ad-classics-douglas-house-richard-meier/
Villa Vals / SeARCH & CMA, accessed 23 Aug 2012, retrieved from http://twistedsifter.com/2010/02/house-inside-a-hill/
Talerddig cutting through the Cambrian Mountains, Wales in 2001, accessed 23 Aug 2012, retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut_(earthmoving)
Bunker 599, accessed 23 Aug 2012, retrieved from http://www.rietveldlandscape. com/en/projects/7 Gambier Island Retreat, accessed 12 Sept, retrieved from http://www.homedsgn. com/2012/05/22/gambier-island-retreat-by-battersby-howat-architects/ Roombek the Brook, accessed 11 Sept, retrieved from http://www.landezine. com/index.php/2011/06/roombeek-the-brook-by-buro-sant-en-co-landscapearchitecture/
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