PROCESS III
architectural interface of the
ASSEMBLED & GROWN
CO NC LU S I O N S R E L E VA N T TO D E S I G N C anop y e xe m p l i f i c a t i o n – h o w th e s tru ctu ral g eo m etry i n ear ly it e r a t i o n s a p p e a re d to u n derm i n e th e n atu ral g ro wth . P lan t m o r p h o l o g y – i t was rath er abo u t cel ebrati n g pl an t m or p h o l o g y b y u t i l i z i n g an d ex po s i n g i t In s tead o f c l o si n g o ff t he can o py, l i m i ti n g l i g h t, th e can o py cov er e a c h p l a t f o r m o p en i n g th e cen ter to al l o w g ro wth of ter res tri a l sp e c i e s. U t i l i zi n g th e verti cal di m en s i o n to activ ate a s e q u e n c e o f b i o s ph eres th at ex ten d th e can o py al o n e. It ap p e a re d t o b e c o n tradi cto ry to wo rk wi th a co m pl ex s tr uctu r a l b o d y, f o r t h e s ake o f aes th eti cs , i t s h o u l d rath er be s tr u c t u r a l c o m p o n e n t s th at f aci l i tate s tag es o f g ro wth , or enh an c e n a t u r a l m o r p h o l o g y. The in t e n t i o n b e i n g t o e s tabl i s h bo th h o ri s o n tal an d verti ca l bios p h e re s, t h a t a re f a c i l i tated by th e s tru ctu ral g eo m etry and d is t r i b u t i o n . A n influ e n t i a l d e s i g n p a r am eter becam e th at i t s h o u l d be th e grow n t h a t g ro w s , a n d th e bu i l d f aci l i tates . So m eth i n g I retu r ned t o s e v e r a l t i m e s , an d s o m eth i n g I wi l l ex pl o re f u rth er in the l a st p a r t o f t h e p res en tati o n . It is r at h e r a b o u t c e l e b r a ti n g th e di vers i ty o f pl an t m o rph o l ogy, th an a c o m p l e x s t r u c tu ral g eo m etry. T h e s tru ctu re s h o u l d be min i m a l i n o rd e r t o f aci l i tate an d em ph as i ze g ro wth .
S U M M A RY This narrative unfolds the architectural investigation underlying the design process. Starting with the analogical interpretations of building a site- and thematic-specific vocabulary, and the thought process of the first canopy iterations being of purely pragmatic origin. Into the development and intention of conception of following iterations, reflecting on the complications in dealing with an organic element in architecture, defining the purpose and method of representation and what purpose the structural and the grown should serve.
CANOPY
BRANCHING PHOTOTROPIC - East West NEGATIVELY GEOTROPIC leaf stoma apical dominance lateral bud
RHIZOME SEQUENCE
HYDROTROPIC primary root secondary root lateral tertiary root internode
MYCELIUM
DECENTRALIZED NEGATIVELY PHOTOTROPIC GEOTROPIC station link clone cluster
N 400m
ANALOGICAL INVESTIGATION 1:1000
300m
200m
100m
0
100m
200m
300m
A N A LO G I C A L S I TE RE A D I N G Following the analogical intentions of the program, the site connections & geometry was analyzed with references to plant-specific traits. The intention being to use the analogical drawning as the foundation for placing the site as well as developing a thematic vocabulary. The drawings follow a vertical parameter of the canopy in top, and the rhizome root at the bottom. The canopy following light conditions on site, determining a phototropic behavior cutting the site in open areas with an emphasis on east west. The mycelium, being geotropic, following internal connections marking intensities and internal spaces. The Rhizome, being hydrotropic in accentuating the drainage outlet, following drainzones and expanding in void areas. Deploying an understanding of the outlet as being crucial to understanding the area, segmenting it into a sequence. Although the analogies prooved good for understanding the site-specific geometry, the extend of the analogical reading was problematic. When does the drawing stop, and how trustworthy is it, as it is a product of individual interpretation.
400m
CANOP Y
BRANCHIN G
PHOTOTROPIC - East West NEGATIVELY GEOTROPIC leaf stoma apical dominance lateral bud
N 400m
ANALOGICAL INVESTIGATION 1:1000
300m
200m
100m
0
100m
200m
300m
400m
MYCELIUM
DECENTRALIZED NEGATIVELY PHOTOTROPIC GEOTROPIC station link clone cluster
N 400m
ANALOGICAL INVESTIGATION 1:1000
300m
200m
100m
0
100m
200m
300m
400m
RHIZOME SEQUENCE
HYDROTROPIC primary root secondary root lateral tertiary root internode
N 400m
ANALOGICAL INVESTIGATION 1:1000
300m
200m
100m
0
100m
200m
300m
400m
1.1 13
15
16
0.7
08
0.3
07
06
DAY
N
JUL
EA
R
65%
day
ligh
t-
AUG
sta rt
of d
ry s
eas
on
6
SEP
MAR
º 3,4
9,
6
FEB
OCT
JAN
sol
ar no
NOV on
AST ERC
33%
tart t-s
et of w
n
so sea
gh ayli
d
GROWTH SUN RAIN
S
N 340º
350º
330º
0º
10º
20º 30º
10º
320º
40º
20º
310º
50º
30º 40º
300º
21st jun solstice
60º
50º 290º
may/jul 70º
60º 70º
280º
apr/aug
80º
80º
W 270º
90º
90º
260º
E
mar/sep
100º
250º
17
7º
OV
DEC
15
16
YEAR
CL
MAY
E
APR
solar intensity
1.0
10
JUN
cloudy
1.0
11
14
W
clear
1.1 12
09
direct so lar i rrad 0.3 0.7 iatio 18 n 17
1.0
0.9
0.9 (k
²) /m 1.0 W
14
13
12
11
10
09
feb/oct
08
07
110º jan/nov
240º
120º
230º
130º 220º
140º 210º
150º 200º
190º
180º
170º
160º
S
SOLAR & SEASON
summarized exposure
21st dec solstice
DIRECTION turbulence and flow
EAST
Threshhold 3m/s
Threshhold 2m/s
NORTH
Obstruction
N
N
30 24 18 12 6 M/ S HO UR S 10%
VELOCITY MAGNITUDE
20% 30% 40%
CONTEXTUAL WIND ANALYSIS
VAULT SUSPENSION
RESEARCH SCAN
CULTIVATION CONDITION
BIOTOPE APPLICATION
1 s t C A N O P Y I TE RATI O N Conceived on the basis of infrastructural analysis, solar and wind studies, the first iteration of the canopy structure was split in two mirrored sections, one smaller than the other. Instead of closing off the canopy, limiting light, the canopy cover each platform opening the center to allow growth of terrestrial species. Expanding on the existing nature instead of covering it.
6
5
4
3
2
1
VELOCITY m/s at 4 m/s 7 6
0
5 4 3 2 1 N
S
CANOPY WIND STUDIES & AERODYNAMICS
0
1 s t I TE RATI O N The first iteration followed the contextual studies as well as programmatic distribution, setting up a vertical axis of Forest Floor, Understory and Canopy, as well as implementing the intersecting infrastructural strategy, emphasizing the natural void it envelops. The first iteration placed a chimney under a closed canopy, to use the stack effect for increased airflow. Something deemed both unnecessary and not in tune with the project.
1.1
1.1 12
11
1.0 10
1.0 0.9
09
0.7
08
0.3
07
06
DAY
E
controlled cultivation
passage
platform
seed vault
UND platform
platform
market
buslanes
NODE
MAIN GERMINATION
I
PEOPLE
DRY
REDUCED TRANSPIRATION
II
Hackelia Deflaxa
WATER
WET
DECREASED METABOLISM
III
Nyphoides Paltata
AIR
FLOWERING
GENETIC EXCHANGE
Lamourouxia viscosa
HORIZONTAL GROWTH
SEASON & ALTERNATION
SEED DISPERSAL
currated through nodes & stem
metabolism & reproduction
TRANSPORT & ADAPTATION
D E S I G N I N TE N TI O N as the iterations went on, the focus was on emphasizing the infrastructural and programmatic composition both horisontally and vertically. Emphasizing the void space in between, and utilizing the design elements efficiently and with the intention of each element adding to the overall design. Spanning accross the internal void, the structural architecture should unfold the internal space, and in the vertical displacement open up to the city. Contrary to deisgn methods on previous semesters, the introduction of plants meant that much of the design process was highly influenced by a reflective decision making, where the design should emphasize growth I couldn’t model. Instead it was questions of how the existing landscape should be used, and how passengers would move through it.
DESIGN R E F LE C T I ON As the focus of the design process became increasingly structural, with an emphasis on solving and composing the program as an open intervention, unfolding the urban natural void. The actual plants became somewthat neglected, and the landscape without variation became an illustration. At that point it became clear that the consequence of the conservation approach, meant that the process had to be more suggestive in what the place could become. Especially in terms of aesthetic experience and morphology. In that regard a series of design parameters was established.
ASSEMBLED & GROWN HOST - OCCUPANT
Through the project the relationship of the host body, and the residing growth is being questioned. A choice made was that the building doesn’t grow or mimic a plant, it follows rather a scheme of succesion, one that cannot be predicted in a single point in time. To define a set method of temporal change through a modular or expansive approach is self-contradicting, as it doesn’t regard the aquisition of new technology and ad-hoc interchangeability. Instead it is the grown that grows, forming structures of it’s own, and like a front lawn cut and controlled as deemed necessary. The notation investigates the friction of a designed 3 dimensional framework, and the growth within it, suggesting that it is not the complexity of form that matters, but the regard of plant morphology.
EPIPHYTES
CLIMBERS
TERRESTRIAL
AQUATIC
FLORAL STRA TA ENDEMI C MORP HOLOGY
DESI G N PA R A M E T E R :
A MIN I M A L B U I LD I N G B O DY TH AT E M P H A SI Z E T H E D I V E RS I TY O F P L A N TS It is rather about celebrating the diversity of plant morphology, than a complex structural geometry. The structure should be minimal in order to facilitate and emphasize growth. For the purpose of the investigation the diversity was limited to 4 categories.
EPIPHYTES
CLIMBERS
TERRESTRIAL
AQUATIC
There are well over 15,000 epiphytes in the tropical realm alone, and over 30,000 worldwide as well as numerous uncataloged species. The term epiphyte describes a plant which, like a parasite, grows on a host, but unlike a parasite, takes no nutrients from the host tree itself.
Lianas are vines that begin life on the ground as small self-supporting shrubs and rely on other plants to reach the light-rich environment of the upper canopy. Because lianas use the architecture of other plants for support, they devote relatively little to support and structural instead allocate more resources to leaf production and stem/root elongation for rapid growth.
The Amazon is particularly rich in trees and plants, with more than 40,000 species that play critical roles in regulating the global climate and sustaining the local water cycle. All have adapted to the abundant rain and often nutrient-poor soils. To defend themselves from herbivores some have developed tough leaves, resins or latex outer coats enabling them to resist many predators. Nonetheless, many of the plants and trees are valued for what they produce – timber, compounds valued in agriculture and medicines such as curare, bres including kapok, rubber, and food for both the people living in the Amazon and the wider world.
Most prominent of the aquatic plants in the amazon, is the Giant water Lily (Victoria Amazonica). The lily is well defended from fish and other animals by sharp spines on the flower buds, leaf stalks, and underside of leaves.The lily pads have tremendous buoyancy from a web-like structure of veins – all filled with air.
BE
RS LIM C
HIGH DRAINAGE
TERRA FIRME
LOWLAND
IGAPÓ
FLOODED
VÁRZEA
SEASONALLY FLOODED
DESI G N PA R A M E T E R :
A BUI LD I N G T H AT RE GA RD S A V E RTI C A L & HORIS O N TA L D I S T RI B U TI O N O F H A B I TATS, I N O R D E R TO C U RATE SE N S ATI O N The intention being to establish both horisontal and vertical biospheres, that are facilitated by the structural geometry and distribution.
STAGE
03
STAGE
02
STAGE
01 B
A
F
30m
C
D
A Germination B Planting/attaching C Net Skin Membrane D Walkway E Counter Pulley F Wire
E PI PH Y T IC CU LT IVAT ION
E
DESI G N PA R A M E T E R :
A B UI LD I N G T H AT D O E SN ’ T L O O K L I K E A PL A N T B U T FAC I LI TATE P L A N T M O RP H O L O G Y & C U LTI VATI O N An influential design parameter became that it should be the grown that grows, and the build facilitates. The cultivation types I was looking for don’t exist, so by going through growth phases, plant morphology & with reference to last semesters device phase, new architectural modules where conceived as the proposed strategy. The cultivation module facilitates growth stages, as epiphytic seeds are germinated in the dark center, moved to the planting position, attached to the skin membrane, that over time and as the plant get grows moves out on the canopy through a pulley-system, deploying the plant with the possibility of drawing it back in for harvest and analysis.
EPIPHYTIC CULTIVATION MODULE
TENSION CABLE
FASTLANE WALKWAY
WAITING / VIEWING PLATFORM
STRUCTURAL PYLON
BUSLANE BARRIOS
BUSLANE CENTRO
SHADED WALKWAY CONSERVATORY
SEED BANK