KARA MOORE
PORTFOLIO
P ro j e c t s i n t h i s p o r t f o l i o h a v e b e e n c o m p l e t e d during UCLA D es i gn,
3
years
of
Department as
wel l
as
graduate
of
school
A rc h i t e c t u re
during
summer
and
at
the
Urban
internships.
Š 2012-2015
5
3
6
4
9
8 7
1
2
CONTENTS
M A SHR A B IYA / G l a m p i n g i n a R e m o t e S e t t i n g
001
PROXIMATE ENCOUNTERS / Genealogies of the Column
017
APERTURE
Window
039
STEEL HOUSE / California Living Inside Outside
061
LA
Te x t u r e
071
LOS ANGELES UNITÉ / Housing + Landscape
087
THE IMMERSED SELF / Design + Fabrication
099
VA U LT P R O J E C T I O N S / O b j e c t D r a w i n g E x e rc i s e
111
R E T O O L I N G T H E M O L D / E x e rc i s e s i n P l a s t i c i t y
119
B I ( h ) O M E / B a c k y a rd H o m e F u l l - S c a l e P ro t o t y p e
127
ARCHIZINES /
Tr a v e l i n g E x h i b i t i o n F a b r i c a t i o n
137
M A S S X / N e i l M D e n a r i A rc h i t e c t u re M o n o g r a p h
141
HIVE
HOUSE
/
/
Between
Occupying
Object
the
and
Karma Mashrabiya A d v a n c e d To p i c s S tu d i o A . U D U CL A | W i n te r 2 0 14 Cri t i c | Ge o rg i n a H u l j i ch
000 001
This “glamping” resort designed on the remote Indonesian island of Gili Meno, features seventy hotel pods of varying size. Designed with guidance from Karma Resorts owner John Spence, this project combines the business savvy of luxury hotel design with the geometric potential of Fumihiko Maki’s research on Group Form.
Group Form & Glamping THREE TYPES OF COLLECTIVE FORM Fumihiko Maki, Investigations in Collective Form, 1964
compositional form
mega form
group form
In the 1964 text, Investigations in Collective Form, author and architect Fumihiko Maki argues that the theory of architecture has naturally evolved towards creating a perfect single building. He argues that are accustomed to conceiving of buildings as separate entities and therefore we suffer from an inadequacy of spatial languages to make meaningful environments. In his text, Maki introduces the notion of Collective Form—for him this is not simply a collection of unrelated individual buildings but collections of buildings that have reason to be together. Further, Maki proposes three major approaches to Collective Form: Compositional Form, Megastructural Form and Group Form. First, Maki describes Compositional Form as being comprised of elements that are preconceived and predetermined separately (individually tailored buildings). Megastructural Form, by contrast, is composed of several independent systems that are capable of expanding or contracting. Though systems are engaged in contact, each maintains it’s identity and longevity as it engages with other systems. By contrast, Maki’s proposition of Group Form is defined as a more flexible urban organization as it is based on the scale of the human body where “parts” and “whole” are reciprocally autonomous and also connected through various associations.
G R O U P F O R M ; O P E R AT I O N A L C AT E G O R I E S Fumihiko Maki, Investigations in Collective Form, 1964
mediate
define
repeat
sequential path
W 1 4 / A . U D 4 0 1 . 2 / A D VA N C E D T O P I C S S T U D I O
GILI ISLANDS A REMOTE SETTING
Gili Trawangan
Gili Meno
Gili Air
This glamping resort design proposal is located on the Indonesian island, Gili Meno. Relatively isolated, Gili Meno is nestled between neighboring Gili Trawangan and Gili Air, just off the coast of Bali and Lombok. The island benefits from the influence of local Indonesian culture and, presently, remains only lightly developed.
Lombok, Indonesia
Maki’s definition of Group Form, in the context of architecture, asserts the possibility not only of aggregation but near aggregation and or complete disaggregation as a formal system. In extreme versions, formal clusters challenge long-held notions of part to whole relationships in architecture—rather than the whole being made up of many parts, there may be not just one but several wholes. The potential autonomy of each whole object (shape, form, outline, disposition) in relation to a larger cluster of objects, suggests potential for a formal ontology that is contemporary in its thinking and also classic in its posture. As urban developments in cities grow at a rate never seen before throughout history, our discipline of architecture fails to produce any underlying theory that can grapple with that which is not urban. Rem Koolhaas argues, however, that it is precisely in the countryside, or the “rural” environment where some of the most progressive and innovative aspects of our culture are being developed. While the idea of the “island” may be slightly different than Koolhaas’ definition of the “rural,” in it’s insularity and remoteness of the island implies a literal territorial or geographical disconnection from a mainland; as well as culture and identity. The following design project proposes an island development that introduces notions of architecture that incorporate form, landscape, and territory, so as to introduce a sort of “second nature”–a man-made ecology able to be integrated within the larger geography yet autonomous and self-sufficient from it.
VILLAGES: RURAL EXAMPLES OF GROUP FORM
Japanese Village from “ Japan by Air”
Village near Ayorou Niger, Africa
Labbazanga Village Mali, Africa
002 003
On the island of Gili Meno, a site strategy is initiated that employs group form to produce a legible and variable landscape of elements that can be read both as discrete entities and as contributing to local (cluster) and regional (neighborhood) effects. Through the sequential repetition of formally related elements, a grain pattern is established on the site that implicates both directionality and a hierarchy of activities within the extents of the site. An underlying skeleton of intersecting grid lines guide growth and establish a grain pattern on Gili Meno. Grid lines are first inscribed and rotated in plan to provide direction for the extrusion of pitched-roof profiles. At points of intersection, the shared spaces of extrusions are isolated to generate form. Both individual and accumulated elements are extracted to make up what, overall, can be described as a field composition. Frequency and orientation of grid lines in combination with subtle scalar shifts in the extruded profiles ultimately produce a variable set of elements that, though rarely identical, share common proportions and read as a legible formal sequence. Strategic subtraction of elements from the field further allows for the carving out of functional paths through the site and strengthens perception of adjacencies and linkages between elements in the field. Though the overall field composition is initiated in plan, (bird’s eye view) formal qualities are set in motion in elevation (at eye level). Articulation of the ground plane in particular directs travel through the site and makes clear linkages between elements, clusters and regions. Intermediate elements of accumulated form and voids too create meaningful interruptions in the grid sequence and allow for perception of the field to shift. In this manner while the entire field remains legible from above, it also takes on a sort of dynamism as formal density, scale and angle of view continuously introduce instances of difference.
3 - W AY P R O F I L E I N T E R S E C T I O N S
90 degrees
40 degrees
50 degrees
70 degrees
2 - W AY P R O F I L E I N T E R S E C T I O N S
40 degrees
50 degrees
INTERSECTING GRIDS / EXTRUDED PROFILES
W 1 4 / A . U D 4 0 1 . 2 / A D VA N C E D T O P I C S S T U D I O
6.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
9.00
10.00
12.00
8.50 3.50
7.00 9.00
10.00
3.00
3.50
6.00
2.50
5.50
8.00
2.50
5.50
8.00
2.50
4.50
7.00
2.50
5.00
1.50
3.50
004 005
SITE PLAN RESORT AMENITIES 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Mechanical / 240 sq m Engineering / 86 sq m Laundry / 80 sq m Restaurant / 230 sq m Staff Quarters / 70 sq m Conference Rooms / 80 sq m Tennis Court Massage Pavilion / 36 sq m Badminton Court Small Pool Bar / 23 sq m Management / 90 sq m Staff Quarters / 70 sq m Music & Event Space / 500 sq m Large Pool Wet Bar / 40 sq m Large Pool / 300 sq m Restaurant / 280 sq m Gym / 70 sq m Bocce Ball Court Spa / 155 sq m Small Pool / 100 sq m Kids Club / 62 sq m Yoga Pavilion / 70 sq m Reception / 53 sq m Public Beach Bar / 54 sq m
01
17 02 18
03 04 05 06
19 07 08 09
20 23 sq m
10 21 22
11 12
23
13 14
24
15 16
W 1 4 / A . U D 4 0 1 . 2 / A D VA N C E D T O P I C S S T U D I O
S I T E C I R C U L AT I O N A series of paths direct individuals through the resort. Surfaces change as individuals navigate public and private zones. Harder surfaces such as wood and concrete define the public areas while softer more loosely defined gravel paths direct guests to their accommodations.
DECK / BOARDWALK CONCRETE / STONE GRAVEL SAND / WATERS EDGE
008 009
UNIT MIX At this glamping resort a series of different pod types are arranged across the site. The largest units— the 2-bedroom suites—are located near the rear of the site. Tucked between the palm trees, this zone offers a secluded setting ideal for a family or private group. In addition, each of the 2-bedroom units also feature a private pool. The multi-level 1-bedroom loft units are distributed throughout the rear and front portions of the site. These versatile units pair well with the other unit types and are an attractive “add-on” option for a groups wishing to stay within close proximity to one another. Finally, a collection of single-story studios are located near the middle portion of the site. These units, like the 1-bedroom units, are clustered so that they frequently open on to a shared deck and pool. These units may be occupied by a single traveler, couple, or can be combined with neighboring units to form a more social vacation cluster.
2 BEDROOM 1 BEDROOM STUDIO AMENITIES
M E TA L PA N E L PAT T E R N S & S C A L E A series of steel panels define both a structural system and provide enclosure for the various hotel units. As a cladding system, the individual panels are perforated to allow for ventilation and varying degrees of privacy. Panels can be “built-up� or layered in wall and roof assemblies for additional privacy. A series of geometric patterns, inspired by regional Arab Indonesian tradition, are laser-cut or stamped into the metal surfaces.
W 1 4 / A . U D 4 0 1 . 2 / A D VA N C E D T O P I C S S T U D I O
“FOLD IN� STRUCTURE Pre-fabrication of the metal panels in a factory setting ensures accuracy as well as aids in the reduction of waste as material. Metal that is discarded during the manufacturing process can easily be collected and recycled. The folded edge detail of the factory fabricated panels also contributes to a reduction of waste as the this detail requires significantly less hardware to instal compared to a flat panel. Once shipped to the site, panels in most instances, can be fastened with out metal brackets or on-site welding. As shown in the adjacent illustration, panels can easily be connected via stainless steel lag-bolts and washers.
010 011
Typical Flat Panel Detail
VS.
Folded Metal Panel Detail
014 015
Proximate Encounters R e s e a rch S tu d i o A . U D U CL A | S p ri n g 2 015 Cri t i c | H e a t h e r R o b e rge
016 017
Through this year long Research Studio, an in-depth study of the column was undertaken to investigate it’s significance as a spatial marker. In response to extensive research on topologies and spatial arrays, a design project for an Arts and Architecture Library was formulated that explored the column’s capacity for a dual reading.
Genealogies of the Column TRANS-HISTORICAL GENEALOGY Data compiled during the research phase of this project was compiled into a trans-historical genealogy of the column and mapped case studies in relation to one another according to historical period, column type, and column array. This survey of historical periods also included a series of contemporary Japanese projects that the research studio visited with the support of a Charles Moore Traveling Grant.
Through this research studio, a genealogy of the column was constructed in order to define the manner in which the articulation of the column has tracked the disciplinary evolution of space. If space is understood as an absent medium relying on other architectural signifiers to articulate its presence, than the column can be understood as an important contributor to the definition of space. The column is thoroughly connected to spatial, tectonic, and material orders and, as such, embodies theoretical positions regarding these orders. Through the close reading of architectural case studies, the formal and conceptual implications of the column’s rich and varied history are made more apparent. As importantly, a close reading of historical precedents establishes a foundation from which a design project can be framed that articulates a contemporary position regarding the significance of the column. In this manner, through the framework of the research studio, a history of the column is both mapped and extended into a rich body of disciplinary thought.
Following the completion of the data mapping, each student in this research studio selected their own genealogy of the column by connecting the theoretical work of historical cases to one another in order to articulate a thesis for further design research. The thesis text in turn laid out the conceptual foundation for a design technique that each developed within a library design proposal. Research performed in collaboration with: Heather Roberge, Maria Sviridova, Kim Daul, Julie Ehrlich, Jacob Bloom, Yuan Dong, Ji Qu, and Emma Price.
Students in this Research Studio collectively organized over 200 case studies from 16 historical time periods in order to distill spatial qualities of the column, both as a topological object and an element in an array. Students in the studio devised a taxonomy of column types (including Mass, Surface, and Vector), as well as array types (including Linear, Perimeter, Gridded, and Matrix). The resulting data was then mapped in a trans-historical genealogy, revealing how column topologies and arrays have been linked to spatial, tectonic, and material orders over time. Ultimately, this collective research allowed students to hypothesize new speculations on the column’s future.
F14 - S15 / A.UD 401A / RESEARCH STUDIO
BASIC COLUMN TYPES
018 019
B A S I C A R R AY T Y P E S
EGYPTIAN
CLASSICAL
Great Hypostyle Hall Deir el Bahari , Egypt
Parthenon Athens, Greece; 447BC - 438 BC
Temple of Hatshepsut Deir el Bahari, Egypt
Maison Carree Nimes,France; 16BC
F14 - S15 / A.UD 401A / RESEARCH STUDIO
GOTHIC
RENAISSANCE
Notre Dame de Paris Paris, France
Santo Spirito Filippo Brunelleschi
Noyon Cathedral Noyon, France
Palazzo del Te Mantua, Italy
020 021
E A R LY I N D U S T R I A L R E V O L U T I O N
MODERNISM
The Crystal Palace London, UK; 1851
New National Gallery Berlin, Germany
Biblioteque Saint--Genevieve Paris, France;1838-1850
Villa Savoye Poissy, France
F14 - S15 / A.UD 401A / RESEARCH STUDIO
P O S T- S T R U C T U R A L I S M
HIGH-TECH
HOUSE III Peter Eisenman Hardwick, Vermont, 1969-70
Unesco Headquarters Marcel Breuer, Bernard Zehrfuss, & Pier Luigi Paris, France
HOUSE III Peter Eisenman Lakeville, Connecticut; 1969-71
Palazzo Del Lavoro Pier Luigi Nervi Turin, Italy
022 023
Modernism & Proximate Encounters V I L L A S AV O Y E OFF GRID COLUMN PLACEMENT 01
At the Villa Savoye, Le Corbusier establishes a grid of columns set 15’-6” on center. While the house might easily have been constructed with a grid that was less dense, Le Corbusier intentionally spaced the columns so that he might be able to both deviate from the grid and also include columns of a relatively slender profile (10 cm). From the exterior elevations it appears, that Le Corbusier adhered to the increment of the grid, however, once inside the house it becomes apparent that he deviates significantly. Beginning at the front door, where one would expect to encounter a column, Le Corbusier instead replaces the grid intersection two off-grid columns. Studying the ground floor plan further, it is clear that this move is just the beginning. Out of a total of eight freestanding interior column grid points, Le Corbusier leaves just one column in place.
CENTRAL RAMP 02
Le Corbusier’s placement of the central ramp provides a means by which to direct individuals along a promenade architectural.
03
To accommodate the central ramp, Le Corbusier splits the interior column array. In plan, columns are added to incrementally mark and frame the ramp.
With the arrival of Modernism came a renewed awareness of space and an experimentation with compositional devices that affected its perception. Unburdened by ornament, abstracted architectural elements such as the column became a means by which an architect author was able to shape a distinct spatial experience. As an important structural and compositional device, the column presents itself during this historical period as having the capacity to oscillate between frame and figure—operating as both an entity array and an object. For the architect Le Corbusier, the piloti became a device by which to carry out a highly scripted spatial agenda. At the Villa Savoye (1931), Le Corbusier employs the piloti to mark, direct and contain space. From the exterior of the Villa Savoye, the perception of a regular three-dimensional array is communicated as a series of columns hold up a hovering volume and are expressed in elevation. A closer inspection of the plan, however, reveals that out of a total of twenty-five “would-be” columns, (a 5 x 5 grid), only two interior columns mark the original three-dimensional array.
01
+
-
02
03
F14 - S15 / A.UD 401A / RESEARCH STUDIO
single column on roof set-apart and extruded
column merges with wash basin at floor
column picks up the corner of central stair
ramp passes through and absorbs columns
Within the building interior Le Corbusier intentionally distorts the structural grid moving or adding columns with the ambition to direct individuals through a highly scripted promenade architectural. Though the structural grid does not pre-determine specific places in plan it does aid in the identification of spaces at the Villa Savoye. This is made evident in instances where Le Corbusier moves columns off-grid by way of, for example, defining a space occupied by the central ramp or in an another example, a column picks up the corner of a stair or two columns frame the main entrance. Le Corbusier also reasserts the figural qualities of the column when he detaches columns from the wall in the master bedroom and bathroom, and again at ground level where two columns foreground the main entrance against the arc of a swerving glass wall. The column, thus, at the Villa Savoye is presented both as a highly abstract structural entity in service of a spatial array, and as an object with distinct figural qualities made evident by the way it negotiates locally specific contexts. Le Corbusier calls attention to the column through its placement—at the Villa Savoye the column might be described as presenting itself as set apart, proximate, fused or absorbed in relation to other interior elements. P R O X I M AT E
FUSED
ABSORBED
Typical of Le Corbusier
Not Typical of Le Corbusier smoothing
024 025
C O L U M N A R R AY T Y P E S ARRAY 1 – Perimeter Array (30’) Thirty loosely spaced columns define the ground floor perimeter of this library. Each perimeter column is continuous and spans either two floors or a double height space. ARRAY 2 – Matrix Array (15’) Three interior zones are defined by tightly spaced matrix arrays. In these two-story zones, the primary library programs are located. While the spacing of the columns is tight, the floor to ceiling height in these three interior volumes is generous (20’ floor to ceiling height on both lower and upper levels) allowing ample natural light into the stack spaces. Secure administrative spaces, staff offices, and vertical circulation (elevators) are also located in these areas. ARRAY 3 – Diagonal Array (21’) The remaining interstitial zone of the library is stitched together by a diagonal array. The placement of the columns allows for multiple view corridors and freedom of circulation. More public oriented programs are located in this zone including library reception, reserves, information kiosks, media centers, theater and auditorium spaces, maker spaces and other library exhibition spaces.
The column’s capacity for a dual reading becomes a point of departure in this design for a 70,000 sq ft library. Though the columns in plan are identical and arranged in three regular arrays juxtaposed, a number of asymmetrical episodes are produced as columns negotiate interior elements in a highly specific and local manner. In plan, three different gridded arrays set up spatial sequencing that allows program to be broken up and disbursed across the site. First, three tight orthogonal 15’ column arrays are located on the site. Here the primary vertical circulation is located, as well as, the primary collections and administrative spaces. Adjacent, a looser 30’ perimeter array houses larger flexible meeting areas. A third 21’ array distributed along the diagonal (45 degrees) stitches together the remaining interior zone. Here, walls and vertical circulation take full advantage of the free plan and, on the ground floor, form broad sweeping arcs that frame alternating tight and loose spatial zones. Though columns rarely are removed or deviate from the underlying grid, interior elements such as walls, furniture, stairs fluctuate in their proximity to columns allowing for the reading of columns to oscillate between distinct figures and absorbed within the array.
A R R AY 1
A R R AY 2
A R R AY 3
F14 - S15 / A.UD 401A / RESEARCH STUDIO
026 027
M A P P I N G P R O X I M AT E R E L AT I O N S H I P S Local asymmetries are also produced as individual columns navigate wall partitions on the lower level and deep beams on the upper mezzanine level of the library. Walls and beams are intentionally offset to one side of the structural grid privileging a reading of the columns to one side of the planar element. Additional asymmetries are recorded as columns are characteristically pinched, fused, framed or swerved by interior partitions and deep beams as they navigate the arrays. H-18 / H-19
E-17
D-18
D-18
04
04
05 06
Axon-oblique drawings showing four column conditions. In the first diagram, a column picks up the corner of a stair. In the following three diagrams, a column is pinched by two walls, a column is expressed and, finally, a column is absorbed.
1
A
2
A-1
3
4
A-3
5
A-4
B C
(opposite page) Every column in the library—flattened plan drawing showing column to wall figure ground relationships between levels.
C-1
C-3
8
A-7
C-5
9
10
A-9
E-1
E-2
E-3
E-4
E-5
F
F-1
F-2
F-3
F-4
F-5
G
G-1
G-2
G-3
G-4
G-5
H
H-1
H-2
H-3
H-4
H-5
I
I-1
I-2
I-3
I-4
I-5
J
C-7
K-3
E-7 F-6
A-1
A-3
C-3
G-9
I-7
G-11
I-9
C-7
E-2
E-3
E-4
E-5
F-1
F-2
F-3
F-4
F-5
G-1
G-2
G-3
G-4
G-5
H-1
H-2
H-3
H-4
H-5
I-1
I-2
I-3
I-4
I-5
E-7
05
K-3
K-5
G-11 H-10
I-9 J-8
K-7
F-12
I-11 J-10
K-9
G-13 H-12
K-11
K-13
C-19
C-21
C-23
E-19
E-21
E-23
I-20
I-21
I-22
I-23
J-20
J-21
J-22
J-23
K-19 K-20 K-21 K-22 K-23
C-17
A-19
A-21
A-23
C-19
C-21
C-23
E-19
E-21
E-23
D-18 E-17 F-18 G-17
I-15
G-19 G-20 G-21 G-22 G-23 H-18 H-19 H-20 H-21 H-22 H-23
I-17 J-16
K-15
A-23
B-18
H-16
J-14
A-21
I-19
A-17 B-16
G-15
I-13 J-12
A-19
J-18 J-19 K-17
F-16
H-14
23
G-19 G-20 G-21 G-22 G-23
I-17
K-15
F-14
22
H-18 H-19 H-20 H-21 H-22 H-23
J-16
E-11 E-12 E-13 E-14 E-15 F-10
21
F-18 G-17
C-11 C-12 C-13 C-14 C-15
G-9
I-7
E-17
I-15
K-13
20
D-18
H-16
J-14
19
B-18 C-17
A-11 A-12 A-13 A-14 A-15
E-9
H-8
J-6 K-1
I-13
18
A-17
D-10 D-11 D-12 D-13 D-14 D-15
F-8 G-7
17
B-16
G-15 H-14
J-12 K-11
C-9 D-8
F-6
16
F-16
B-11 B-12 B-13 B-14 B-15
D-6 E-1
G-13
I-11
A-9
F-14
H-12
J-10 K-9
A-7
F-12
H-10
J-8 K-7
C-5
15
E-11 E-12 E-13 E-14 E-15 F-10
B-6 C-1
14
C-11 C-12 C-13 C-14 C-15
E-9
H-8
A-4
13
D-10 D-11 D-12 D-13 D-14 D-15
F-8 G-7
K-5
12
A-11 A-12 A-13 A-14 A-15
C-9 D-8
J-6 K-1
11
B-11 B-12 B-13 B-14 B-15
D-6
E
K
7
B-6
D
Map of every column in the library; column coordinates
6
K-17
I-19
I-20
I-21
I-22
I-23
J-18 J-19
J-20
J-21
J-22
J-23
K-19 K-20 K-21 K-22 K-23
F14 - S15 / A.UD 401A / RESEARCH STUDIO
A-1
A-3
A-4
A-19
A-21
A-23
C-1
C-3
C-5
C-19
C-21
C-23
E-19
E-21
E-23
K-1
K-3
K-5
A-7
A-9
A-17
B-6
B-16
B-18
C-7
C-9
C-17
D-6
D-8
D-10
D-18
E-7
E-9
E-17
F-6
F-8
F-10
F-12
F-14
F-16
F-18
G-7
G-9
G-11
G-13
G-15
G-17
H-8
H-10
H-12
H-14
H-16
H-18
I-7
I-9
I-11
I-13
I-15
I-17
J-6
J-8
J-10
J-12
J-14
J-16
J-18
K-7
K-9
K-11
K-13
K-15
K-17
A-11
A-12
A-13
A-14
A-15
B-11
B-12
B-13
B-14
B-15
C-11
C-12
C-13
C-14
C-15
D-11
D-12
D-13
D-14
D-15
E-1
E-2
E-3
E-4
E-5
E-11
E-12
E-13
E-14
E-15
F-1
F-2
F-3
F-4
F-5
G-1
G-2
G-3
G-4
G-5
G-19
G-20
G-21
G-22
G-23
H-1
H-2
H-3
H-4
H-5
H-19
H-20
H-21
H-22
H-23
I-1
I-2
I-3
I-4
I-5
I-19
I-20
I-21
I-22
I-23
J-19
J-20
J-21
J-22
J-23
K-19
K-20
K-21
K-22
K-23
028 029
UP
UP UP
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
UP UP
030 031
DN
DN DN
DN
ROOF PLAN / CUT THROUGH DEEP BEAMS
DN
DN
DN
UP
UP
MEZZANINE FLOOR PLAN
F14 - S15 / A.UD 401A / RESEARCH STUDIO
032 033
034 035
036 037
Occupying the Window A d v a n c e d To p i c s S tu d i o A . U D U CL A | F a l l 2 0 1 4 Cri t i c | Gu v e n c O z e l
038 039
In this design proposal for a house, the window is “refigured” from surface to volume. More specifically, the window operates as a threedimensional entity that is both an aperture and vantage point; negotiating the visual and physical proximities of variable programs within the house. While the traditional window “as surface” may have been static, the volumetric window offers the possibility to mobilize perspective.
Aperture House
LAKE COEUR D’ALENE A concrete shell house sits atop Tubbs ridge in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. Taking advantage of the a sweeping panorama, the house is positioned overlooking Lake Coeur D’Alene.
Within the single-family home, partitions and aperture play an important role in delineating degrees of privacy and publicity within the domestic environment. As individuals inhabit particular spaces, sensations of interiority or exteriority are perceived as result of spatial divisions at play. The window, in particular, is a device that both delineates and regulates boundaries between spaces. As an aperture, the window functions as a frame—delineating a definite other—that is, an interior or exterior spatial condition existing beyond the physical limits of a room, space, or individual. As perhaps the oldest element in the history of architecture that is operable, the window also negotiates this frame or threshold; weather it is open, closed, transparent or opaque, the window initiates opportunities for variable degrees of physical or visual connection.
F 1 4 / A . U D 4 0 1 . 1 / A D VA N C E D T O P I C S S T U D I O
OCCUPYING THE WINDOW In lieu of designing a house composed primarily of windows with fixed frames, this house instead features a primary interior volume that moves. A concrete shell containing the main living room area of the house slowly rotates; tracking a full panorama over the course of a day. As the interior shell rotates, Vantage point and aperture constantly change rendering the primary volume of the house a sort of giant aperture or window. W I N D O W A S S U R FA C E
WINDOW AS VOLUME
boundary between spaces (operable) frame
threshold between spaces (operable) aperture
In this design proposal for a house, the window is “refigured” from surface to volume. More specifically, the window operates as a three-dimensional entity that is both an aperture and vantage point, negotiating the visual and physical proximities of variable programs within a house. While the traditional window “as surface” may have been static, the volumetric window offers the possibility to mobilize perspective. Rather than looking through a fixed frame, individuals occupying the window, in a sense, occupy a camera.
S U R FA C E
FRAME
VOLUME
flat
perspective
lens
040 041
DYNAMIC INTERIOR SHELL 4
4
4
0°
3
1
1
3
150°
3
1
75° 2
2
POSITION 1 / 0°
POSITION 2 / +75°
2
POSITION 3 / +150°
4
75°
To determine a range of motion for the interior occupiable shell, a circular opening at one end is positioned to frame the landscape beyond. To capture the full extents of the site panorama, in plan, the occupiable interior shell rotates around a central pivot point 150 degrees. As the shell rotates, it pauses in three distinct positions (Positions 1-3). Upon reaching Position 3, the front half of the interior shell separates from the rear and rotates 75 degrees towards the shell interior. The circular opening tips up pausing, finally, to frame the sky above (Position 4).
POSITION 1 / 0°
3 1
2
POSITION 2 / +75°
POSITION 3 / +150°
POSITION 4 / +150° / + 75°
POSITION 4 / +150° / + 75°
F 1 4 / A . U D 4 0 1 . 1 / A D VA N C E D T O P I C S S T U D I O
S TAT I C EXTERIOR ENVELOPE To determine the form of the exterior envelope, the motion of the interior rotating shell is tracked and marked with simple extrusions that document desired views and points of access. At Positions 1-3, two extrusions are modeled–a cone and a cylinder. These extrusions, plus a wrapped silhouette of the rotating interior shell, are subtracted from a solid mass producing a form that is inscribed with the specific voids that will accommodate the rotating interior shell and preserve desired views and points of access.
POSITION 1 / 0°
POSITION 2 / +75°
042 043
POSITION 3 / +150°
F 1 4 / A . U D 4 0 1 . 1 / A D VA N C E D T O P I C S S T U D I O
044 045
046 047
POSITION 1 / 0째
3
1
75째
2
F 1 4 / A . U D 4 0 1 . 1 / A D VA N C E D T O P I C S S T U D I O
048 049
POSITION 2 / 75째
3 1
75째
2
F 1 4 / A . U D 4 0 1 . 1 / A D VA N C E D T O P I C S S T U D I O
050 051
POSITION 3 / 150째
3 1
75째
2
F 1 4 / A . U D 4 0 1 . 1 / A D VA N C E D T O P I C S S T U D I O
052 053
POSITION 4 / 150째 / +75째
75째
4
3 1
75째
2
F 1 4 / A . U D 4 0 1 . 1 / A D VA N C E D T O P I C S S T U D I O
054 055
T W O - PA R T M O L D DESIGN & CASTING 01
A two-part foam mold is assembled via laminated 3” CNC-milled foam sections. When the two halves of the mold are combined, the cavity between is filled with Hydrocal (glass fiber reinforced concrete) producing a cast object that takes on the precise geometry of the house design. Composed of ”base” and ”lid,” this two-part mold is designed to capture both the complex geometry of underside of the house, as well as, the exterior curvature of the roof. The two-part process allows the mold to be removed without damaging the cast object–i.e. no “undercuts” trap the final cast form.
02
Hydrocal is mixed by hand in 5-gallon buckets. This white-gypsum cement mixture is selected for it’s superior strength–it is reinforced with glass fiber–and it’s favorable curing time–it begins to set within 25 minutes.
03
Before casting begins, the twopart mold is prepped with Vaseline and sealed with duct-tape and straps. Three holes are drilled at exterior“high” points in the mold and plugged with drinking straws. When Hydrocal is poured into a funnel at the highest point of the mold, the additional holes will allow trapped air and excess water to escape the mold.
+
01
02
03
F 1 4 / A . U D 4 0 1 . 1 / A D VA N C E D T O P I C S S T U D I O
056 057
PHYSICAL MODEL PHOTOGRAPHS 01
East Elevation Position 1 / +0°
02
West Elevation Interior volume rotating between Position 2 & 3 / +105°
03
South Elevation Position 2 / +75°
04
West Elevation & Roof Position 4 / +150° / +75°
05
Southwest Corner Perspective Position 1 / +0°
01
02
03
F 1 4 / A . U D 4 0 1 . 1 / A D VA N C E D T O P I C S S T U D I O
058 059 04
05
California Steel House Co m p re h e n s i v e S tu d i o A . U D U CL A | W i n te r 2 0 14 Cri t i c | B e n R e f u e rz o
060 061
Located on Rose Avenue, near Venice Beach in California, this proposal for a steel house design incorporates an ambitious amount of program into a relatively compact site. The proposal features two parallel structures, each spanning the full length of a gently sloping lot. In each of the main volumes, both residential and commercial spaces are planned.
Steel House
Living Outside Inside Located on an “up and coming� neighborhood near Venice Beach in California, this project on Rose Avenue incorporates an ambitious amount of program into a fairly compact site. The design features two parallel structures, each spanning the full length of a gently sloping lot. In each of the main volumes, both residential and commercial spaces are planned. Between the parallel structures, a green space is carved out that allows ample light and air to pass through the site. In this semi-private garden zone, a series of perforated screens offer a veil of privacy for building occupants while, simultaneously, allowing individuals to experience some degree of proximity. At the far southeast corner of the site, a two-bedroom private residence is planned that can be accessed via a stair located roughly 2 ft below street level in a sunken garden. Inside the steel and concrete structure, individuals are greeted by an open floor plan that includes a kitchen, living room and outdoor patio. In the main living area, a stair leads individuals up to a second level where an office and bedroom are positioned on either side of a double-height space that overlooks the dining area and garden zone. A roof deck can also be accessed via a second upper-level stair that transports individuals up to a generous outdoor deck and barbecue area. Adjacent to the private home is a combination commercial space and second floor studio. The commercial floor plan is intentionally left loosely defined so that it may be occupied as either one long volume or as two separate properties. The upper-level studio space is accessed via a stair that brings individuals up to a light filled second-story space that spans the full length of the block.
A LL E Y
6TH AVE
RUTH AVE
RO SE A VE 0 4
8
16
W14 / A.UD 415 / COMPREHENSIVE DESIGN STUDIO
K
architecture + design
STEEL HOUSE FLOOR PLANS
kara moore 360.790.0007 1225 pepper street los angeles, ca 90034
A
PLAN / Ground Floor Commercial space(s) and entrance to private residence.
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
105'-11" 1 10'-10 1/2"
11'-7"
10'-0"
A 3.1
10'-0"
10'-0"
5'
5'-2"
4'-7"
5'-10 1/2"
KA R
10'-0"
A
CHELLE M MI E OR O
reflecting pool
1 2
2
w.c.
A 3.1
10'-0"
01
A 3.1
entry
kitchen w
dining
7'-11"
50’-0”
3
wood deck 3’-2”
3.1 4.1
4 2’-6”
4.1 commercial unit cooking school
inside outside house
5
10’-0”
10'-0"
PLAN / Roof Level Outdoor lounge spaces.
2’-7”
4.2 4.1 commercial unit produce shop + retail space
5
patio
6 4’-0”
5'-7 1/2"
6 w.c.
7
14.0123
1
A 3.1
PLAN | Ground Floor Scale 1/4” = 1’
0
2.5
5
10
A1.1
01
architecture + design
K
kara moore 360.790.0007 1225 pepper street los angeles, ca 90034
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
105'-11" 1 10'-10 1/2"
11'-7"
10'-0"
A 3.1
10'-0"
10'-0"
4'-10"
5'-2"
4'-7"
CHELLE M MI
5'-10 1/2"
A
E OR O
KA R
10'-0"
1 2
10'-0"
A 3.1
bedroom
master bathroom patio
floor plans
office
4'-0"
2
3
7'-11"
open to below
49'-4 1/2"
062 063
2
A 3.1
4
6'-0"
2’-6”
4.1
2’-7”
4.2 4.1
5
5
10’-0”
10'-0"
roof deck
6 5'-7 1/2"
4’-0”
6
7
14.0123
1
609 e + 603 e rose ave venice, ca 90291
studio bed / bath
inside outside house
studio living / dining
A 3.1
PLAN | Second Floor Scale 1/4” = 1’
0
2.5
5
10
A1.2
02
architecture + design
K
kara moore 360.790.0007 1225 pepper street los angeles, ca 90034
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
105'-11" 1 10'-10 1/2"
11'-7"
10'-0"
10'-0"
A 3.1
10'-0"
4'-10"
5'-2"
4'-7"
CHELLE M MI
5'-10 1/2"
A
E OR O
KA R
10'-0"
1 2
2
A 3.1
10'-0"
A 3.1
floor plans
roof terrace and entertaining area
4'-0"
2
7'-11"
49'-4 1/2"
3
4
6'-0"
2’-6”
4.1
2’-7”
4.2 4.1
5
7
1
A 3.1
609 e + 603 e rose ave venice, ca 90291
4’-0”
6
inside outside house
6
14.0123
10’-0”
10'-0"
5
5'-7 1/2"
03
floor plans
4'-0"
2
609 e + 603 e rose ave venice, ca 90291
PLAN / Second Floor Studio rental apartment and second floor of private residence.
6'-0"
02
living
d
garage
PLAN | Roof Terrace Scale 1/4” = 1’
03
0
2.5
5
10
A1.3
GROUND FLOOR PLAN 6 0 9 E R O S E AV E N U E VENICE, CA A
B
10'-10 1/2"
11'-7"
5'-10 1/2"
10'-0"
C
1 2
10'-0"
A 3.1
kitchen w
garage
d
4'-0"
2
7'-11"
50’-0”
3
6'-0"
4 commercial unit cooking school
10'-0"
5
5'-7 1/2"
6 w.c.
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
105'-11" 1 10'-0"
10'-0"
A 3.1
10'-0"
5'
5'-2"
4'-7"
reflecting pool
2
w.c.
A 3.1
entry
dining
living
064 065
wood deck 3’-2”
3.1 4.1
2’-6”
4.1
2’-7”
4.2 4.1
5
10’-0”
commercial unit produce shop + retail space
patio
4’-0”
6
7
1 A 3.1
TRANSVERSE & LONGITUDINAL SECTIONS 6 0 9 E R O S E AV E N U E VENICE, CA
I
G
5'-0"
T.O. FIN. RF. 3'-0"
EL. [+22’]
11'-0"
T.O. FIN. RF. EL. [+19’]
T.O. FIN FL. 1
8'-0”
EL. [+8’]
1'-6"
GRADE EL. [0’] T.O. FIN. FL. -1 EL. [-1’-6”]
F
10'-0"
E
10'-0"
7
6
5
4’-0”
10’-0”
4.2
2’-7”
3
11’-3”
2
4’-0”
1
10'0"
066 067
10'-0"
T.O. FIN. RF. EL. [+29’]
10’-0”
10'-10 1/2"
A
T.O. FIN. RF. EL. [+19’]
10’-0”
11'-7"
B
T.O. FIN. FL. 1 EL. [+9’]
9’-0”
10'-0"
C
ALLEY EL. [+1’-6”] GRADE EL. [-3’-0”]
3'-0"
D
01
01
Front commercial space adjacent Rose Avenue rendered as a produce market and a cooking school (background).
02
Rear commercial space rendered as a cooking school
03
View of upper level studio bedroom and breezeway
W14 / A.UD 415 / COMPREHENSIVE DESIGN STUDIO
02
068 069
03
LA HIVE Co m p re h e n s i v e B l d g S tud io A . U D U CL A | S p ri n g 2 014 Cri t i c | R o g e r S h e rm a n
070 071
A counterproposal to the traditional tower project—this thirty-story design for a hotel in Century City, Los Angeles competes in scale with its neighbors, however, also seeks to undo what one might argue is the traditional “exterior versus interior” paradigm common to high-rise building types. The design, instead, explores a particular formal tension by resisting a singular reading through strategies such as recalibration of scale and exploration of the ambiguity that exists between solid /void and part /whole. Ultimately, the design seeks to capture the visual and spatial potential of what might be termed as the “loose figure”— operating formally between object and texture.
Between Object and Texture A particular Los Angeles precedent—John Portman’s Bonaventure Hotel— and it’s ability to produce an experience rooted in a deep interior space was an initial precedent that informed the design. The Bonaventure Hotel’s inner chamber is undeniably the main event and, is made possible by the hard reflective surfaces that define the exterior envelope. While Portman’s interior space may be explicitly private, the design of this project seeks to produce an alternative condition of interiority that is explicitly public. Similar to Portman, this is carried out through a central chamber, however, it deviates as it is not enclosed. Two distinct pedestrian experiences inform the reading of a “loose figure” in this project. First, visitors coming up from the planned Metro Purple line spill out into a submerged courtyard framed above and below by an accumulation of block-like volumes. From the street, a second pedestrian experience occurs as individuals encounter a looming object that appears to grow upward and outward. Moving closer, the individual blocks that make up the overall design become more apparent it is clear that this is not a building but rather a “building of buildings” with ample air, light and space lingering in between.
Westin Bonaventure Los Angeles, California John Portman & Associates (1974-76)
S14 / A.UD 414 / COMPREHENSIVE BUILDING DESIGN STUDIO
072 073
Treasury of Atreus Mycenae, Greece (1250 BC) Architect Unknown
Corbel /‘kôrbel/ an architectural member that projects from within a wall and supports a weight; especially: one that is stepped upward and outward from a vertical surface.
30 28 26 24 22
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S14 / A.UD 414 / COMPREHENSIVE BUILDING DESIGN STUDIO
ROBOTS WRESTLE ELEVATORS FLR 2B-14
ELEVATORS FLR 2B-14 RETAIL
HOTEL VALET RAMP TO GARAGE
RETAIL RETAIL
GROUND FLR LOBBY
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PRIMARY HOTEL ELEVATOR
FLOOR 14 Hotel Lobby & Transfer Level
ELEVATORS FLR 2B-14
RETAIL
PASSAGE TO UNDERGROUND PARKING
While the overall hotel/office/retail composition is made up of an accumulation of block primitives, the intent is to produce a composition that can also be read as a figure (or in this case figures). While the robots above appear to be in literal tension with one another, the diagram serves to highlight a broader notion that a design might operate in formal tension “object and texture.”
RETAIL
RETAIL
ELEVATORS FLR 2B-14
ELEVATORS FLR 2B-14
RETAIL MAIN COURT (OPEN TO ABOVE)
ELEVATORS / FLR 2B-14 PLANNED TRANSIT CENTER (LA METRO PURPLE LINE)
FLOOR 08 Office Space
FORMAL LOGIC: CORBELLING TOWERS On the corner of Constellation Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars, this mixed-use design for a hotel, office and retail space starts, more or less, in line with the city grid. At ground level four towers spring and, for the first 10-stories, climb upward and outward remaining distinctly separate (each with it’s own elevator core and vertical fire circulation. As the primitive block volumes pile, they begin to corbel and also to gently rotate until, on three sides, they meet producing a navigable “ring” around the circumference of the building. From this point forward the blocks continue to weave and twist, and the overall figure begins to contract until it reaches its highest point at the 30th floor—culminating with a tight foursided arrangement of blocks with a closed-perimeter. The “blocks” that make up the project are intentionally designed to be particularly “thin”—each is only 32’ and varies between 32 and 96’ in length. This shallow depth of the block primitive is beneficial on the office and retail levels as it allows for flexible partitioning of interior spaces and ample natural light exposure. On the upper levels, this depth allows for an arrangement of hotel rooms that face outward and are accessed by a single loaded outdoor corridor circling the interior of the “hive.”
Floor 30 Hotel Suites
Floor 24 Hotel Suites
HOTEL
HOTEL
ELEVATORS FLR 14-22
ELEVATORS FLR 14-26
Floor 14 Hotel Lobby & Transfer Level
ELEVATORS GROUND LEVEL
HOTEL LOBBY PRIMARY HOTEL ELEVATOR
HOTEL
ELEVATORS FLR 14-24
OFFICE
OFFICE
OFFICE
Floor 08 Office Space
OFFICE
S14 / A.UD 414 / COMPREHENSIVE BUILDING DESIGN STUDIO
Hotel
Circulation Ring (meeting of 4 towers) Corbel + Rotate
Dome
Retail + Office
Elevator Transfer to Hotel and Upper Hemisphere
Tower 1
076 077
UPPER HEMISPHERE
Tower 2
Tower 3
LOWER HEMISPHERE TOWERS
Tower 4
or main elevat
HOTEL LEVEL - FLR 24 9 Standard Rooms 1 Micro-room 4 Suites Spa & Lounge
S14 / A.UD 414 / COMPREHENSIVE BUILDING DESIGN STUDIO
078 079
HOTEL LEVEL - FLR 30 2 Standard Rooms 6 Suites Conference / Meeting Area Outdoor Lounge
PROGRAM DISTRIBUTION 01
Beginning two levels below grade, retail spaces are programmed in the block primitives up to level 4.
02
Office spaces are accommodated between floors 4 and 10 as the blocks twist and corbel outward.
03
The point at which the blocks produce a connected ring is the location of the hotel lobby. From here, guests can transfer to a secondary set of elevators that will bring them to their hotel room and other related programmed spaces above.
HOTEL
01
OFFICE
02
R E TA I L 03
080 081
L AY E R I N G M AT E R I A L I T Y As the majority of horizontal circulation happens around a void space that is public, lines of sight and materiality inevitably become significant. Accordingly, on the upper levels of this project a bright pink and red transparent paneling system is introduced that obscures direct lines of sight into hotel room doors and, paired with painted red walls produces a blurring effect. From the exterior, the project is clad in a fritted white glass that, during the day, largely obscures the interiors from view. At, night however, the backlit hotel rooms glow revealing silhouettes of individuals within. Finally, the rich color treatment of the interior circulation corridors also glows a deep red beyond. Both by day and by night, the material choices foreground and background the building bringing about conditions of phenomenal and literal transparency. Paired with the organizational logic of the corbelling towers, the interplay between solid and void and part and whole produce a pleasing misalignment of vision and form.
01 Eighth-inch section model composed of eight, two-story “blocks.� The model opens up along the long axis of four stacked volumes revealing an elevator core. In the model, ceiling surfaces and the interior walls lining the outdoor circulation corridor are painted a bright red. This, in combination with a white frit pattern painted on the exterior surfaces, causes the entire assembly to take on a pink glow. 02 In this night rendering hotel rooms are lit foregrounding the silhouettes of occupants within. The hive glows red as the surfaces of the interior circulation are illuminated.
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S14 / A.UD 414 / COMPREHENSIVE BUILDING DESIGN STUDIO
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1
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Los Angeles Unité L a n d s c a p e & B u i l d i n g Stud io A . U D U CL A | F a l l 2 0 1 3 Cri t i c | R o g e r S h e rm a n
086 087
In the following housing and landscape design proposal, a site plan is developed that appropriates efficient aspects Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation “housing unit,” however, consciously re-configures the pattern of aggregation to take advantage of Los Angeles’ sunny and largely “low-rise” landscape. While the scale and proportions of the Unité unit remain unchanged in this proposal, the floor plan, as well as the density and orientation of the units is reconfigured.
Between Object and Texture In this landscape and building design project, a critique of Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation serves as a point of departure for planning a large scale housing project. Perhaps one of the most interesting and important aspects of Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation is the spatial organization of the individual residential units. Unlike most large-scale housing projects that feature a double-stacked corridor, Le Corbusier’s design features a series of identical units that efficiently interlock and span the full width of the building section.
01
Unité d’Habitation Le Corbusier 1947 - 1952 Marseille, France
At the Unité d’Habitation, apartments are accessed via an “internal street” that connects alternating double height living spaces. Apartments are stacked in such a manner that the required number of corridors is reduced to occurring just once every three floors. By keeping the apartment units narrow and providing a generous double height interior living space, le Corbusier produces a module at the Unité d’Habitation that is not only remarkably efficient but also desirable—emphasizing “an open volume rather than an open plan.”
U N I T É D ’ H A B I TAT I O N M O D U L E T Y P E S / C I R C U L AT I O N
Unité d’Habitation Stacked Modules
“Bottom Up” Type B
“Top Down” Type A
“Flipped” Type C
T R A N S F O R M AT I O N O F U N I T É D ’ H A B I TAT I O N M O D U L E & FA C A D E 1
2
3 3
2
1
Adaptation of Unité Maximizing Facade
F13 / A.UD 413 / LANDSCAPE & BUILDING DESIGN STUDIO
02
Model of Unité d’Habitation. Apartment units alternate “topdown” and “bottom up” as they plug into a concrete frame.
03
In his design for the Unité d’Habitation, le Corbusier envisioned a “city within a city.” Accommodating nearly 1,600 residences, the building features 18 floors organized efficiently so as to accommodate a dense collection of living, as well as communal and public spaces.
02
03
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04 04
Unlike most housing projects that feature a double-loaded corridor, the Unité d’Habitation features housing units that span the width of the entire building. In his design, le Corbusier alternated the units in such a manner that circulation corridors were required only every three floors.
In the following housing and landscape design proposal, a site plan is developed that appropriates efficient aspects Le Corbusier’s Unité “housing unit,” however, consciously re-configures the pattern of aggregation to take advantage of Los Angeles’ sunny and largely “low-rise” landscape. While the scale and proportions of the Unité unit remain unchanged in this proposal, the floor plan, as well as the density and orientation of the units is reconfigured. In lieu of organizing units so that they share a party-wall along the long section, units are rotated 90 degrees so that they interlock and share a party-wall along the short section. This radical shift in orientation necessitates a re-thinking of circulation and, as such, a series of “blocks-types” sharing a common stair are designed. Ultimately, the introduction of “block-types” with shared circulation contributes an important intermediate social space to this large scale housing project and provokes an opportunity for more localized neighborhood interaction. Further, the re-orientation of the long and shallow proportions of the Unité unit also encourages occupants to, at times, to circulate “up against the glass” and heightens visual proximity, ultimately blurring the line between public and private domains.
F13 / A.UD 413 / LANDSCAPE & BUILDING DESIGN STUDIO
Private Stair Internal Circulation
Shared Vertical Circulation Stair to Upper Units
Party Walls
Open Facade
BLOCK 1 5 units 4 floors
BLOCK 2 (1)A + (4)B (2 upper stair)
5 units 4 floors
090 091
BLOCK 3 (3)A + (2)B (2 upper stair)
5 units 4 floors
(2)A + (3)B (1 upper stair)
Private Stair Internal Circulation
Shared Vertical Circulation Stair to Upper Units
Party Walls
Open Facade
BLOCK 4 5 units 3 floors
BLOCK 5 (1)A + (4)B
4 units 3 floors
BLOCK 6 (4)B
4 units 3 floors
(2)A + (2)B
A X O N O F B L O C K A S S E M B LY A N D S H A R E D V E R T I C A L C I R C U L AT I O N 5
3
6
4
9
8 7
1
BLOCK TYPE #2 5 units (3)A + (2)B 4 floors (2 upper stair access)
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F13 / A.UD 413 / LANDSCAPE & BUILDING DESIGN STUDIO
2 bedroom 1 bath + office
3
2 bedroom 2 bath + office
1.5 bedroom 3 bath + office
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1
1.5 bedroom 3 bath + office
2
1.5 bedroom 3 bath
5
1.5 bedroom 2.5 bath + office
1 bedroom 1 bath + garage
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2 bedroom 3 bath + office
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2 bedroom 2 bath + office
9
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03
F13 / A.UD 413 / LANDSCAPE & BUILDING DESIGN STUDIO
LOS ANGELES U N I T É D ’ H A B I TAT I O N 01
Eighth-inch scale model made up of nine interlocking units. Each apartment is based off of the original Unité d’Habitation proportions. In this design, however, the orientation of the units is flipped so that what was formerly a party wall becomes a long exposed facade.
02
Site model showing how the interlocking units spread themselves linearly across a site in Culver City. The subtle misalignment as seen in plan permits maximum access to light while also an increased degree of privacy as the units are never lined up to face each other directly.
03
Close-up of a section drawing showing the interlocking units and the rhythm of the programmed spaces within.
094 095
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F13 / A.UD 413 / LANDSCAPE & BUILDING DESIGN STUDIO
04
Close-up view documenting lines of sight between housing block configurations. The view corridors are traced with paths that encourage residents to take advantage of the open space.
05
Section drawing documents the full length of the longest housing “bar” featured in the site plan.
06
Colorful wallpapers help to differentiate one unit from another. As each apartment is quite shallow –just under 14’– (identical to le Corbusier’s design) individuals occupying the apartments would have opportunity to curate an interior that could be made partially visible from the garden / street.
06
096 097
07 07
The elevation above features units that are intentionally staggered, accomplishing two tasks: first, the spaces left open between party walls serve as spaces to enter or park cars on the ground floor and provide open patio spaces on elevated levels. The staggering of units is also necessary to create shared circulation cores to allow access the upper units.
08
In addition to employing le Corbusier’s “top-down” and “bottom-up” configuration of units, this design also features a third variation that is tipped over or a “flipped” unit that provides a generous single-story floor plan.
08
Immersed Self Te ch n o l og y Core S tu d i o A . U D U CL A | S p ri n g 2 013 Cri t i c | Ne i l De n a ri Partners | Steven Matti & De ri k Wo o d s
098 099
At John Lautner’s Chemosphere House (1960), an essential experience occurs from the point of view of a “relaxed viewer” gazing out across the Los Angeles skyline. The following design proposal demonstrates a particular interest in creating a perceptual experience rooted in a deep interior. To accommodate the “cineramic” or immersed viewing subject, a large physical model was constructed to capture a sweeping gaze and undermine the notion of a single or privileged point of view.
John Lautner’s Chemosphere House
V I L L A S AV O Y E LE CORBUSIER, 1928-1931 MODERN PROMENADE
At the Chemosphere, an essential experience occurs from the interior point of view of a “relaxed viewer” gazing out across the Los Angeles landscape. For the last century, two subjects have dominated discourse on spatial organization in architecture; first the static viewer fixed in Cartesian space and, second, the subject in motion following the path of the Modern promenade. In both instances, perspective techniques capture a subject’s attention directing vision towards specific focal points. Architect John Lautner, deviates from both Cartesian perspectivalism and the Modern promenade in his design for the Chemosphere as his accommodate a third type of viewer—the “cineramic subject.” Don Yoder describes in a dissertation on Lautner that, “This relaxed viewer finds freedom and pleasure in the enveloping ‘widescreen’ frames.” The cineramic subject is not restricted to read space from a single or series of 01 predetermined points of view—rather, at the Chemosphere the subject experiences space through a gaze, absorbing visual content through what art historian Erwin Panofsky describes as a “spheroidal” field of vision. Unlike a perspective-based experience, spheroidal vision operates as the eye continually scans back and forth. At the Chemosphere, Lautner further encourages a spheroidal reading in his choice to design a completely columnless interior space. He introduces the possibility for overlapping lines of sight and multiple points of view.
S13 / A.UD 401 / TECH CORE STUDIO
CINERAMIC VIEW & PERIPHERAL VISION Vision is transported as the octagonal plan stretches continually towards the periphery. Gazing through a columnless interior space, the viewing subject absorbs visual content through what art historian Erwin Panofsky describes as a “spheroidal” field of vision.
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CINERAMIC SECTION & RADIAL TECHNIQUES At the Chemosphere, in both plan and section vision is activated through a radial planning technique. The building envelope features no true vertical surface— rather, Lautner punctuates a series of glu-lam ribs that arc toward an upturned floor edge. Between the glu-lams, horizontal glass panels are installed that distinctly oppose the bevel of the floor. The bevel, in effect, pushes the interior spatial experience outward towards a panoramic view of the horizon. Lautner further plays up the periphery in his choice to integrate seating and built-in cabinetry. The subject’s field of vision sweeps radially, arrested only by the extents of the architecture as it serves to frame a foreground.
A sharply defined roof and ground plane at the Chemosphere anchor a viewing subject in space and fame the sweeping landscape beyond. Vision is transported as the octagonal plan stretches continually towards the periphery and a distant horizon. At the Chemosphere Lautner makes a particular choice to tilt all of the glazing inward at the top of the fame restricting the occupant’s field of vision. Lautner states, “I purposely sloped the glass to in so when you stand up against it you can’t look straight down. You are forced to look at the magnificent view.” In tilting the glass at the Chemosphere, Lautner suppresses the perception of a “middle ground.” Gazing through a 65’ interior space, furnishings and occupants populate an intimate foreground condition while Los Angeles populates a distant background. The effect of using the architecture to frame the surroundings “all at once” collapses the spatial experience into a distinct background and foreground experience. Ultimately, Lautner employs this technique to produce a “floating sensation” and the perception of infinite space.
Reflections of the Immersed Self
2
In this design proposal, we were particularly interested in creating an interior-based condition that absorbed a viewing subject’s gaze and privileging no single point of view. In our building envelope design we turned to the aerospace industry to create a building section that was thin and smooth so as to accommodate a viewing subject’s sweeping gaze. Similar to John Lautner’s Chemosphere, we chose to conceal the high tech between surfaces choosing a carbon fiber monocoque assembly with corrugated carbon fiber fused between two stressed skins.
0
1
5
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PLAN VIEW INCLUDING SERVICES
1
S13 / A.UD 401 / TECH CORE STUDIO
01
Interior rendering simulating internal reflections and doubling effect of the panorama.
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Axon view of the corrugated carbon fiber structural system.
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View of section cut & carbon fiber corrugated rib pattern.
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Front view including mirror wall & interior bevel wall.
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102 103
01
EXPLODED CARBON F I B E R A S S E M B LY 1
8 mm Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic Sheet; 3K Plain Weave; 32 Layer QuasiIsotropic Ply; Symmetrical Layup: 0/90,45/45,0/90; Gloss Finish: 0.005” Epoxy, Gel Coat; Carbon Reinforced Epoxy Matrix
2
5 mm Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic Sheet; 3K Plain Weave; 20 Layer QuasiIsotropic Ply; Symmetrical Layup: 0/90,45/45,0/90; Gloss Finish: 0.005” Epoxy, Gel Coat; Carbon Reinforced Epoxy Matrix
3
2 mm Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic Sheet; 3K Plain Weave; 8 Layer QuasiIsotropic Ply; Symmetrical Layup: 0/90,45/45,0/90; Gloss Finish: 0.005” Epoxy, Gel Coat; Carbon Reinforced Epoxy Matrix
4
Reflective Wall Surface; Mirror Finish; Attached to Carbon Fiber Sheet
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5 mm Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic Sheet; 3K Plain Weave; 20 Layer QuasiIsotropic Ply; Symmetrical Layup: 0/90,45/45,0/90; Gloss Finish: 0.005” Epoxy, Gel Coat; Carbon Reinforced Epoxy Matrix
6
5 mm Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic Corrugation; 3K Plain Weave; 20 Layer Quasi-Isotropic Ply; Symmetrical Layup: 0/90,-45/45,0/90; Gloss Finish: 0.005” Epoxy, Gel Coat; Carbon Reinforced Epoxy Matrix
7
5 mm Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic Sheet; 3K Plain Weave; 20 Layer QuasiIsotropic Ply; Symmetrical Layup: 0/90,45/45,0/90; Gloss Finish: 0.005” Epoxy, Gel Coat; Carbon Reinforced Epoxy Matrix
8
Floor to Ceiling Glass; 11.5 mm Laminated Glass; Butt Glazing
9
M16 Titanium Bolt and Nut; 16 mm Shank Diameter; 11 Threads per Inch
10
5 mm Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic Sheet; 3K Plain Weave; 20 Layer QuasiIsotropic Ply; Symmetrical Layup: 0/90,45/45,0/90; Gloss Finish: 0.005” Epoxy, Gel Coat; Carbon Reinforced Epoxy Matrix
11
2 mm Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic Sheet; 3K Plain Weave; 8 Layer QuasiIsotropic Ply; Symmetrical Layup: 0/90,45/45,0/90; Gloss Finish: 0.005” Epoxy, Gel Coat; Carbon Reinforced Epoxy Matrix
12
Base Isolator Bearing Plate (5 mm Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic Sheet and Corrugation Sandwich Panel)
13
M16 Titanium Bolt and Nut; 16 mm Shank Diameter; 11 Threads per Inch 1/2” Steel Shim
14
Lead Plug (3” dia.)
15
Base Isolator Housing (8” dia.)
16
Foundation Bearing Plate
17
Non-shrink Grout
18
12” x 12” Concrete Footing Foundation
1
2 3
4
5
6 7
8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
S13 / A.UD 401 / TECH CORE STUDIO
05
Longitudinal Section Including Floor Cantilever
06
Transverse Section Including Mirror Wall (far left)
104 105
05
06
07
Physical Model Detail: Faceted Glass Facade
08
Physical Model Detail: Cantilever
09
Physical Model Detail: Atmosphere & Faceted Window (Dual Reflection of Niguchi Table)
10
Large Wall Section & Unfolded Surfaces Diagram
09
07
08
S13 / A.UD 401 / TECH CORE STUDIO
106 107
10
S13 / A.UD 401 / TECH CORE STUDIO
108 109
Vault Projections I n tro d u cto ry S tu d i o A . U D U CL A | F a l l 2 0 1 2 Cri t i c | H a d ri a n P re d o c k
110 111
In the following drawing and design exercise, a foreshortened bay at the Church of the Jacobins becomes a significant formal entity that informs a series of projective drawings. Departing from the precedent analysis, this exercise ultimately produces a formally related object.
Vault Formal Analysis & Projections The Church of the Jacobins, built by the Dominican Order in the early-mid 13th century in Toulouse, France is a unique example of late-Gothic style. The church was built in four phases; each successive plan building upon the previous design either by maintaining or discarding particular proportions and geometry. The first church plan, completed 1235, was erected on a site that encouraged a structure that was long and wide. This site-specific configuration, along with the Dominican Order’s lack of funds led to the original design that featured a flat wooden roof, supported by an internal asymmetric colonnade. The presence of the colonnade running the length of the church produced an intriguing dual-nave and asymmetric plan. Subsequent phases of construction included a two-bay extension of the flat roof wooden structure in 1252, as well as the addition of a radially symmetric star-vault and repositioning of column centers in 1390. The present day Church of the Jacobins continues to feature a largely symmetric design, however, upon close inspection a truncated bay between the church chevet and main body lingers as a clue to the set of vestigial proportions that have driven the design and construction of the church throughout history. Church of the Jacobins Chevet Toulouse, France 18th century
F12 / A.UD 411 / INTRODUCTORY DESIGN STUDIO
F O R M A L A N A LY S I S O F REFLECTED CEILING Five diagrams of reflected ceiling plans including four realized church designs (Phase I, Phase II & Phase V), as well as, one symmetric unbuilt proposal (Phase IV) at the Church of the Jacobins. The adjacent sequence of diagrams illustrate shifting geometries and proportional relationships present within the nave of the Church of the Jacobins throughout history. Beginning in Phase I, a distinctly asymmetric colonnade is constructed. The initial bay depth “C” is establish and informs, in Phase II, proportions of a two-bay flat roof addition. In Phase III, an additional chevet extension is added to the main body with proportions derived bay-width proportion “B.” In Phase IV, an ambitious design proposal is established which aims to vault the entire church and impose an alternate set of proportions to produce a largely symmetric doubleheight space. Ultimately, in Phase V, a vaulted design is constructed that includes a shifted symmetric colonnade, as well as a radially symmetric star-vault with a bay width determined by the proportion and corresponding star-vault radius, “R.” At the intersection of the chevet and main body, a single vestigial asymmetric proportion “C” is preserved and operates as an interesting moment of tension and transition.
Phase I 1229-1235
Phase II 1245-1252
Phase IV proposed, 1390
Phase III 1325-1335
8
8 9
R
H
B 9
C 8
7
7
C
C
7
7
7
6
6
6
5
5
5
4
4
4
3
3
3
2
2
R
H
C 8
112 113
Phase V as built
C
C 6
6
H
2
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
H
C 1
1
A
B
1
A
B
A
B
H 1
1
R
R
R
R
WORMS-EYE AXONOMETRIC 01
Before applying the column center and boundary shifts, the church chevet is first divided into two territories—one that will be shifted and another that will remain unaltered. The latter area remains static so as to serve as a reference that the latter can be measured against.
02
With each shift, the vault fragment expands or contracts in section affecting the seams between vault surfaces. Microarticulations include subtle changes—specifically, rib and voussoir proportions — that are forced to either compress or stretch as the seams between vault surfaces no longer align.
01
BOUNDARY SHIFT 03
Transverse bay-width proportion “R” (Phase V ) is extended in the adjacent diagram in order to initiate a return to a more asymmetrical chevet plan. The proportion “R” is lengthened so that it matches a precursor asymmetric transverse bay-width proportion “B” (Phase I-III).
02
03
04
COLUMN SHIFT 04
In lieu of placing the star-vault central column at radius “R” (Phase V) the following superimposition illustrates changes in the chevet proportions and geometry when the column is shifted and to match foreshortened bay-depth proportion “C” (Phase I-III).
Situated directly between the chevet and apse, the foreshortened bay at the Church of the Jacobins is a significant formal entity that has become increasingly muted in recent planometric iterations. The diminished presence of the truncated bay is a due in part to the gradual imposition of symmetry on the church’s double-nave plan. A column and boundary change within the church chevet is executed in order to reintroduce asymmetry to the church plan. Upon performing the shifts to half of a vault fragment, scalar changes can be measured in both plan and in section. Additionally, more subtle effects are produced at the scale of the fragment’s ribs and voussoirs. The slight skewing of the in the vault fragment’s voussoir and rib proportions affect the overall geometry of each piece and intriguingly affect the logic and stability of their assembled positions.
F12 / A.UD 411 / INTRODUCTORY DESIGN STUDIO
SCALAR RETURN TO ASYMMETRY Scalar effects of the vault fragment boundary and column shift measured in plan and section.
114 115
PROJECTED OBJECT TECHNIQUE 09
A projection technique is initiated, first, by distilling center points from the vault voussoirs and then extracting arcs from the vault ribwork.
10
Lines are projected from the voussoir center points and extended normal to the curvature of the extracted arcs. All voussoir center points are projected in a linear fashion towards the center of the corresponding vault.
11
The projected lines eventually intersect and, when read together, the collection of lines began to form an implied curve.
12
08
09
10
To visualize the space between the projected lines, neighboring lines are lofted to create a series of overlapping planes. At points of intersection an implied surface is produced via the assemblage of planar surfaces.
11
Through a process of projection, subtle proportional differences between shifted voussoir and rib geometries are interpreted and transcribed to produce an a formally related object. To fully appreciate the subtleties of the derived object and its surfaces, the object is arranged as an assembly of four separate entities. Though the formal object may be embedded with the logic of the voussoir and rib geometries, it also appears provocatively dissimilar to the original vault fragment from which it was derived.
F12 / A.UD 411 / INTRODUCTORY DESIGN STUDIO
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Retooling the Mold Te ch n o l og y S e mi n a r A . U D U CL A | W i n te r 2 0 13 Cri t i c | H e a t h e r R o b e rge
118 119
In a design climate that increasingly prioritizes digital tools, an intimate knowledge of form as learned through the process of making seems to be less and less common. In addition, while access to 3D printers and numerically controlled devices may be on the rise, these tools are limited in their capacity to economically produce serial copies of designs. Through this technology seminar, students were asked to explore the potential of digital tools not simply for their ability to produce “one-off” objects, but rather to investigate their capacity to produce a “non-standard” mold capable of casting a series of objects.
Exercises in Plasticity In a design climate that increasingly prioritizes digital tools, an intimate knowledge of form as learned through the process of making seems to be less and less common. In addition, while access to 3D printers and numerically controlled devices may be on the rise, these tools are limited in their capacity to economically produce serial copies of designs. Through this technology seminar, students were asked to explore the potential of digital tools not simply for their ability to produce “one-off” objects, but rather to investigate their capacity to produce a “non-standard” mold capable of casting a series of objects. The following project utilizes a flexible silicon skin patterned so that it may be reconfigured to produce a series of different vessels. Informed by a simple array of rigid triangular panels mounted via nylon screws embedded in the silicon skin, the possible variations of form from this flexible mold are nearly limitless. In order to produce urethane vessels with an even wall thickness, a rotational casting system machine was devised. Ultimately, the greatest opportunity and challenge of this flexible mold system emerges as the mold and casting technique introduce a near infinite set of influences that can affect the expression of silhouette and the details of any one casting.
M O L D A S S E M B LY A N D M AT E R I A L S :
pour a thin silicon sheet
place screws
01 02 03 04
06
05
01 02 03 04 05 06
Binder Clip Wood Stick Silicone Skin Triangle Panel Screw Metal Strap
place triangle panels
secure panels with nuts
W13 / A.UD 289.3 / TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR
A
B
C
D
120 121 #12 #2 #7 #8 #11 #1 #5 #8 #3 #5
#6 #9 #2 #9
#4 #6 #9 #8 3"
#12 #3 #6 #11 #4 #9 #5
#8 #9 #1 #10
#10 #5 #5 #9
#7 #7 #6 0 1/4" #5 #3 #7 #8 #10
#10 #4 #4
01
/8"
#12 #5 #3
#2 #13 #6 #2 #4
#9 #7 #10
#14 #7 #3 #13
#1 #5 #11 #8 #10 #11 #8
#5 #12 #4 #3
#14 #8 #1 #14 #14 #11
Purple Pattern Red Pattern Blue Pattern Green Pattern
#1 #6 #6#7
#11 #1 #11 #10 #9 #13 #13 #8 #2 #12
A B C D
1"
#5
#2 #14 #13 #13 #1 #1 #10 #3
#4 #4 #12 #3
R O TAT I O N A L CASTING MACHINE 01
A wooden handle is fixed to a medium pulley threaded with a rubber belt. As the machine handle is turned, the rubber belt rotates around a larger pulley mounted to the support frame and a smaller pulley that rotates driving a rod and miter gear. With each rotation of the wooden handle, the pulley, belt and miter gear assembly set into motion an inner and outer wood frame rotating around two axes.
02
Close-up of the large pulley. This pulley is mounted to a metal rod that is fixed to a wooden handle. Each turn of the handle correlates to one rotation of the pulley.
03
Side view of the rotational casting machine. The smaller pulley (lower left of image) is mounted to a metal rod and allowed to spin as the outer wooden frame turns.
M O L D P R E PA R AT I O N ( O P P O S I T E PA G E ) 04
Rigid triangles are set against the flexible silicon skin and fixed via screws that are embedded in the poured silicon sheet.
05
Powder pigment is painted on the silicon skin. This treatment will affect the final coloration of the cast urethane.
06
The edges of the silicon mold are fixed to one another via a predetermined pattern. To keep the flexible skin from collapsing in on itself, the embedded screws are once more utilized as they are attached to an outer metal cage.
07
The entire mold assembly is attached to the interior wood frame of the rotational casting machine via zip-ties.
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W13 / A.UD 289.3 / TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR
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W13 / A.UD 289.3 / TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR
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Backyard BI(h)OME W i n te r 2014 - S p ri n g 20 15 CO L L A B O R AT I O N | c i t yLAB & K e v i n Da l y A rc h i te cts
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Envisioned as a potential solution to Los Angeles’ housing shortage, the Backyard BI(h) OME is a lightweight flexible accessory dwelling unit designed to occupy the existing footprint of a typical backyard. In just under 500 sq ft this temporary structure features a dual bedroom/ living room space, bathroom and micro-kitchen. Designed to be both low-cost and low-impact, the Backyard BI(h)OME is semi-permanent and readily recyclable—capable of adapting to a family’s shifting needs.
Backyard BI(h)OME To realize the first full-scale prototype of the Backyard BI(h)OME a team of UCLA students worked closely with architect Kevin Daly and engineer Ben Varela (Workpoint Engineering) to design and engineer the an efficient structure. The final design features a lightweight steel-pipe frame, plywood shear-wall panels and an exterior skin system composed of two translucent layers of ETFE. An interior matrix of cardboard tubes between the layers of ETFE adds thermal performance, as well as offers variable degrees visual permeability. Finally, a set of LED lights incorporated in the inner layer of the envelope system efficiently light the interior and the exterior has the potential to be printed with photovoltaics. As the cityLAB academic fellow, I was involved in the design and fabrication of the Backyard BI(h)OME, as well as had a chance to learn more about the planning and policy implications of the project through my prior involvement in cityLAB’s “Backyard Homes” study. During the design and construction phases of the full-scale prototype, I was asked to serve as a project manager leading the student team and working closely with architect Kevin Daly and his office. In addition to overseeing the design, construction and installation of the BI(h)OME, I was also solely responsible for project documentation and coordinating the project’s tight schedule.
Micro-Kitchen Sliding Partition Shower Stall
Flippable Bench Murphy Bed Composting Toilet Pedestal Sink
W 1 4 - S 1 5 / C I T Y L A B + K E V I N D A LY A R C H I T E C T S / B A C K Y A R D B I ( H ) O M E
BI(H)OME PROTOTYPE I N S TA L L AT I O N The first BI(h)OME prototype was designed and fabricated on the UCLA campus. In June of 2015, an opening reception was held and featured a hosted conversation by Frances Anderton of KCRW’s “DnA: Design with Architecture.”
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STEEL FRAME The BI(h)OME prototype features a lightweight frame composed of bent sections of 1-1/2”steel conduit. Working with the staff of UCLA facilities, the student team was able to bend all of the steel tube on the UCLA campus. In total, the frame featured 25 bent frames, each composed of 5 tube sections. Each member was designed so that it featured a single bend (radius) and would lie flat. To assemble the frames, tube sections were secured to one via larger diameter steel tube “collars” and set screws.
Frame
Member
Developed Length (feet/inches)
L1 (feet/inches)
1
8'-0"
6'-2 1/2"
2
5'-1 ¼"
5'-1 1/4
3
9'-5 ½“
4
L2 (feet/inches)
Deg (degrees)
R (inches)
A 67.4
9'-0 1/4"
--
9'-0 1/4"
5'-1 3/4"
89.2
9'-0 1/4"
7'-2"
7'-1 3/4"
--
9'-0 1/4"
5
8'-4 ¼"
6'-5 1/4"
58.4
9'-0 1/4"
1
8'-3 ¼"
6'-1 1/4"
51.6
9'-0 1/4"
2
6'-4"
3'-2 1/2"
38.1
9'-0 1/4"
3
9'-5"
6'-1 1/2"
103.9
9'-0 1/4"
4
8'-4"
4'-11 3/4"
26.1
9'-0 1/4"
5
8'-11"
7'-0 1/4"
66.8
9'-0 1/4"
1
9'-9 ½"
7'-7"
88.6
9'-0 1/4"
2
7'-2 ¾"
3'-10"
41.9
9'-0 1/4"
3
8'-4 ½"
4'-5 1/4"
70.7
9'-0 1/4"
4
7'-2 ¾"
5'-9 3/4"
29.7
9'-0 1/4"
5
9'-6"
7'-3 3/4"
1'-0"
86.4
9'-0 1/4"
1
8'-7 ¾"
6'-9 1/2"
1'-0"
63
9'-0 1/4"
2
4' -7 ¾"
3'-0 3/4"
1'-0"
41.9
9'-0 1/4"
3
9' - 8 ¾"
5'-8 1/4"
3'-8 3/4"
97.8
9'-0 1/4"
4
4'-10 1/4"
4'-5 1/2"
1'-0"
29.7
9'-0 1/4"
5
9'- 0"
7'-0 1/4"
1'-0"
71.1
9'-0 1/4"
1
9'-3/4"
7'-5 1/2"
1'-0"
88.1
9'-0 1/4"
2
5'-2 ½"
3'-7 1/2"
1'-0"
43.3
9'-0 1/4"
3
8'-0 ¼"
4'-0 3/4"
3'-1"
63.2
9'-0 1/4"
4
6'-8"
5'-2 1/2"
1'-0"
32.5
9'-0 1/4"
5
9'-5 ½"
7'-3 1/4"
1'-0"
87.8
9'-0 1/4"
1
9'- 0"
7'-0 1/2"
1'-0"
71
9'-0 1/4"
2
4'-7 ½"
3'-0 1/2"
1'-0"
43.3
9'-0 1/4"
3
10' -0"
5'-2 1/4"
3'-7"
90.1
9'-0 1/4"
4
5'-4 ¾"
3'-11 1/2"
1'-0"
32.7
9'-0 1/4"
5
9'-0 ¾"
7'- 0 1/2"
1'-0"
75.7
9'-0 1/4"
1
9'-6 ½"
7'-4"
1'-0"
88
9'-0 1/4"
2
5'-0 ½"
3'-5 1/2"
1'-0"
43.7
9'-0 1/4"
3
7'-9"
3'-8 1/4"
3'-3 1/2"
56.8
9'-0 1/4"
4
6'-1 ¼"
4'-7 1/4"
1'-0"
35.9
9'-0 1/4"
5
9'5"
7'-2 1/2"
1'-0"
90
9'-0 1/4"
1'0"
80.9
9'-0 1/4"
1'0"
36.1
9'-0 1/4"
B
C
D
E
F
G
H 1
9'-1 3/4"
2
4'-11 3/4"
7'0-1/2" 3'5-5/8"
W 1 4 - S 1 5 / C I T Y L A B + K E V I N D A LY A R C H I T E C T S / B A C K Y A R D B I ( H ) O M E
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W 1 4 - S 1 5 / C I T Y L A B + K E V I N D A LY A R C H I T E C T S / B A C K Y A R D B I ( H ) O M E
END WALLS / S H E A R PA N E L S Working with engineer Ben Varela (Workpoint Engineering) we determined that the BI(h)OME frame required additional shear support. For the first prototype installation, we selected to fabricate a basic stud wall clad with water-jet cut stained plywood panels.
S PA C E S AV I N G & M U LT I - P U R P O S E FURNITURE Inside the BI(h)OME several of the built-in furniture components were operable including a Murphy Bed and this Bench that rotates so that visitors can sit facing the interior or exterior of the structure.
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backyard BI( h ) OME
backyard BI(h )OME In addition to participating on the Backyard BI(h)OME student team working on the design and fabrication of the first full scale prototype, I was also involved with the project through a fellowship with cityLAB—a UCLA based urban think tank. Working with cityLAB, I also had the opportunity to work on the publication and press materials related the BI(h)OME installation. I was responsible for designing a pamphlet (see right) that was circulated to generate press and funding for the project. Additionally, I assisted Dana Cuff in putting together a publication of extensive research performed during the prior Backyard Homes research project sponsored by the Haines Foundation.
Can Los Angeles become more sustainable, liveable and biodiverse even as more housing is built?
Making it’s debut at the L.A. Urban Nature Festival at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
The Backyard BI (h) OME is a microcosm of UCLA’s Grand Challenge, addressing LA’s goals to be water and energy sufficient while encouraging biodiversity.
june 27-28 EXTERIOR OVERHANG + WALL CAVITIES building envelope can provide optional home for bats, bugs, or birds ETFE BUILDING ENVELOPE an innovative building skin made from ETFE shades and protects interior spaces while collecting solar energy via photovoltaics COMPOSTING TOILET low maintenance and conserves energy GREY WATER COLLECTION SYSTEM water from kitchen can be collected for use watering surrounding vegetation
Introducing an ultra-modern and lightweight accessory dwelling unit serving as a habitat for both you and the backyard biome!
Grand Challenges
PLANTED WALL + EDIBLE LANDSCAPE provides food for humans and non-human inhabitants GABION FOUNDATION rock walls provide habitat for small critters like lizards RECYCLE LIGHTWEIGHT CONSTRUCTION steel frame, floor and certain core elements can be recycled
Developed as an extension of cityLAB’s Backyard Homes study, the Backyard BI (h) OME is an ultra-modern, lightweight accessory dwelling unit that has the potential to meet the current demand for 100,000 additional housing units in Los Angeles while also serving as a biome by providing habitats for many species.
Giving opportunities Natural History Museum Backyard BI (h) OME ANGEL Help us build a demonstration of the first backyard BI (h) OME in Los Angeles!
$ 75,000
Next Backyard BI (h) OME BUILDER Help spread the vision of the backyard BI (h) OME in Los Angeles where it will be on view and systematically studied!
$ 125,000
Next Backyard BI (h) OME RESEARCHER
backyard
BI(h )OME
as a future infill housing strategy...
Contribute to research on the performance of the second generation of the backyard BI (h)OME by supporting a dedicated 1-year student fellowship.
$ 35,000
Honorary cityLAB Los Angeles FELLOW Contribute to the project, as well as cityLAB’s other important architecture and urban design investigations in Los Angeles.
$ 25,000 The BI (h) OME is flexibly designed to meet the needs of almost any household (housing for an elderly parent, a returning college graduate, a rental unit, etc.) while maintaining the benefits of easy maintenance and affordability. The environmental impact of the structure over its entire life cycle is between ten and a hundred times less than a conventional auxiliary dwelling.
cityLAB DONOR cityLAB welcomes gifts of any size for its core programs and student researchers.
$ ________ Gifts of various amounts support: Ɋ training of future leaders in architecture, planning, and urban design Ɋ bringing scholars, designers and communities together in collaborative workshops Ɋ convening decision and policy makers to advance innovative urban solutions
for more information
core team Dana Cuff, PhD Director, cityLAB
Jon Christensen Senior Fellow, cityLAB
Ursula Heise, PhD Professor, UCLA
Kevin Daly, FAIA Principal, KDA
citylab@aud.ucla.edu tel: 310-797-6125
Dana Cuff, Director dcuff@aud.ucla.edu
W 1 4 - S 1 5 / C I T Y L A B + K E V I N D A LY A R C H I T E C T S / B A C K Y A R D B I ( H ) O M E
UCLA STUDENT TEAM Dee Chang, Garth Britzman, Lyo Liu, Andrew Akins, Kara Moore, Dami Olufoweshe, Adrien Forney, Katie Chuh, Trenman Yau, Ciro Dimson (not pictured: Sarah Johnson, Mark Lagola, Nawid Piracha)
134 135
ACHIZINES Exhibition M a rc h - M a y 2 0 1 3 U C L A A . U D i n c o l l a b o r at ion wi t h A CH I Z I NE S
136 137
In the Spring of 2013, UCLA’s Department of Architecture was selected to host ACHIZINES—a traveling art and architecture print exhibition. Curated by Elias Redstone and initiated in collaboration with the Architectural Association (AA) in London, this exhibition featured over 90 architecture magazines, fanzines and journals from over twenty countries. At each location along ACHIZINES tour, printed materials were displayed in a unique manner. For the UCLA exhibition, tables and stools were CNC-fabricated to closely resembled furniture that was designed for the inaugural AA show. In total, nine 3/4” Baltic Birch tables and thirty-six stools were assembled.
ARCHIZINES
W 1 4 - S 1 5 / C I T Y L A B + K E V I N D A LY A R C H I T E C T S / B A C K Y A R D B I ( H ) O M E
138 139
162
MASS X
163
CASEY K APL AN GALLERY
EXTENDED SPACE
44
166
MASS X
CONSTRUCTING GRAPHIC EFFECTS
N 05 Sophia, Lily, and Mirabelle Alan watch television in the lower living room. All the elements that make up this space, the wrap-around full-height glass, the double V braces, the disappearing sliding doors, the levitating cabinet, and the band of color that lines the ceiling, conspire to not only blur liminality but also the sense of what constitutes the digital and physical. The cause / effect relationship between, for instance, the glass and V braces (transparency = loss of lateral stability against which the braces compensate) or the TV as window to another world (temporarily negating the surrounding nature) indicate the terms by which the design is defined, such as ambient vagueness and graphically continuous.
1T0020
3.30m 5.80m
1.74m
2.46m
2.19m 9.00m
00m 01
05
MASS X
R 03
FN 01 Eric Alan and Rhonda Voo participated in a study on domestic culture conducted by a team of UCLA professors that culminated in the 2012 book, Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century. Using ethno-archaeological methods of research over a nine-year span beginning in 2001, the book examines the effects of material accumulation, visual chaos, changing patterns of use, and new social arrangements within the single-family home. R 01 The challenge: put five family members together in a small footprint that would feel “expansive and light,” not penal or claustrophobic. R 02 / R 03 “Before” views of a shared bedroom for two daughters and the living room. The Alan-Voos are an exceptionally tight-knit, expressive, and ultimately democratic family, supportive of both the individual and the collective, a way of life that lead to the laissez-faire interior design method: anything goes! At the time, no color was off limits and no object was without its right to exist within the house. Nothing, until their final purge, ever saw a trash bin or a Goodwill donation center. Before design intervened, the house was the ultimate accommodation for everything but them. N 01 The Alan -Voo family in their new kitchen, 2007. This space operates as a hangout zone where family members congregate, mingle, and rub elbows. Here, laundry is folded, homework is completed, jokes are told, and texts are even sent to others within the house!
Beyond the Domestic World They sent us an email. They expressed great respect for the few projects we had built R 04 and hoped that we could help them design their new adult house. They called it “The Happy New House” because they already knew that it would bring them a lightness of being that would make them happy. All the objects had stolen a bit of that happiness, but now they hoped that architecture itself would restore those lost feelings. Their real lives would be the only things on display (except for a few highly curated objects). Included in the email was a “brand concept” for their family. It turns out that he is a well-known film marketing creative and she is a well-known artist and illustrator and, together with their three curious and talented daughters, they had an idea about how architecture could help shape their identity going forward. With the domestic realm making incursions into the work environment, they thought, why shouldn’t the reverse happen? Work, play, school, hobbies...for them, it was all mixed together. We’d never seen anything like it from a residential client. So the problem presented us was beyond the domestic requirements of four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Our job was to find a new sensibility, an ambient condition, where they could “float” in a trans-spatial world. It would have to be digital, physical, domestic, commercial, institutional, public, private, Zen, abstract, graphic, psychedelic, empty, and full, all at once. They said that they were like a blank slate, open to anything, except they did have one simple request: no colors except white and gray should be used inside, while any color could be considered outside—a complete inverse of their existing house.
N 08
157
MUFG SHIBUYA
158
MASS X
Core Out, Then Expand After considering a number of strategies (tearing down, building up, cutting in half), they decided that an addition to the front, a cored-out public zone in the existing house, and an addition in the rear yard would work best for their timing, budget, and program. They had a concern for the transformation of the street view of the house, R 05 especially as they had tended to use the front garden more than the year yard, 7 feet below the floor of the house. Taken together, we imagined this like slipping a new 16 foot wide house underneath the roof of the old house (see axonometric below), a move somewhere between the deft cuts of a sushi chef and the rough cuts of Gordon Matta-Clark. The front addition N 02 was conceived as a customized entrance experience, an expansion of the dining and kitchen zones, and a connection to the front garden. The rear yard extension contains their new bedroom and bathroom (upper floor) and a new living space connecting the interior to the garden. The remaining footprint of the existing house is given over to their three daughters, each now individual owners of private bedrooms, while the garage still has cars exiled to the driveway, but in this case in favor of an art studio for the family. On two sides of the rear yard extension, setbacks governed the placement of the volume, but on the north side, a mysterious sixth family member had a say. They told us how much they loved their seventy-year-old voluptuous coral tree in the backyard. They said that it was like another family member, perhaps like a lovable uncle who never left after a visit long ago. Of course we had no intention of removing it. Instead, we designed for and around it, shaping windows in the bedroom according to the arborescent profiles. N 03 When they lie in their bed or cook in the kitchen, these specially designed windows frame the coral tree whose veiny roots are contained by a low concrete wall.
R 05
N 02
R 05 Street view of existing house before...and after. A modest pre-war house becomes the site for an ongoing architectural experiment (see below). For now, the surprise for the frequent groups of students and architects who visit the house is all in the back. There is a certain pleasure they take in this.
N 01
ALAN - VOO FAMILY / THEIR BRAND CONCEPT Family Brand Attributes
01 02 03 04
Artsy but not artsy fartsy Cultured but not elitist Spontaneous but not disorderly Creative but not obsessively so
05 06 07
Informal but not messy Into Macs + iPods but not techie Enjoy the finer things of life but not extravagantly
Strategy
01 02 03 04
Stay connected as a family Grow as individuals Live in “the now” Encourage the enjoyment of momentary pleasures
05 06 07
Remain flexible Anticipate family’s future needs Connect to the natural environment
Tactics
01 02
Create privacy realms for individuals Create public realms to encourage “elbow rubbing” opportunities Provide multi-use “flex space” for varied family activities Create a sanctuary to counterbalance the daily stress of the outside world
05 06
Eliminate clutter Connect to backyard by creating an outdoor living area Provide ample and convenient storage
03 04
07
N 02 The original scope included an addition to the front of the existing house. The Alan-Voos wanted the new design to not only eclipse the image of the old house, they wanted new architecture to literally greet them from the driveway. The door splays off from the grid of the house, setting up a more fluid threshold between inside and outside. The envelope splits into two performative surfaces: a lower vertical wall that sets up the plan movement and the roof and its microcantilever that compresses in section.
The Future / Part II One day, after their daughters have all gone to college and moved away, the house will be completed. The old house will be removed, making way for another future, the next revision to the American Dream. No doubt they will ask architecture to lift them even higher in their weightless ambience.
With an eye towards the future, the Alan-Voos decided to add the front addition to the final transformation of the house. The shocking difference between the plainspoken existing house and the unabashed and colorful fluidity of the new will ultimately disappear, making way for a unified arrangement of custom components. Or maybe we will produce a new difference again...
159
A
B
17 13
09 12 08
12
+7'- 11"
11
N 03
-0'-0"
B
08
06 +1'-8 1/8"
02
05 +0'-0"
04
+0'-0"
06
01 -1'-8"
05 03
02
-5'-4 1/2"
01 04
R 04 It was, as we were told by the Alan-Voos, the sky blue ambiance of l.a. Eyeworks that sent them in our direction. The atmospheric effects of the space had taken hold of them on their frequent visits to the showroom (all five family members wear Eyeworks glasses). That the space is “clean but not minimal” was of particular attraction for them. More than that though was their visionary sense that a commercial space could be a blueprint for a domestic one. The comfort they saw in the space connected them to a seamless world where public and private and domestic and commercial are not perceived as distinct realms.
168
MASS X
169
02
02
PLAN / LONG SECTION EXISTING 01
03
01 02 03 04 05 06
RENOVATED GARAGE
05
307.07 SQ. FT.
Rear yard extension for lower living room and upper bedroom and bathroom for the parents Window shaped by coral tree profile Excavated patio / interior floor extension Existing house foorprint Cored out kitchen / dining zone Front extension
BEDROOM 121.33 SQ. FT.
06
03
BEDROOM
07
04
167.95 SQ. FT. BEDROOM
02
ADDITION BATHROOM 54.72 SQ. FT. DINING ROOM
08
MASTER BEDROOM
09
169.50 SQ. FT. MASTER BATHROOM
250.93 SQ. FT.
54.50 SQ. FT.
KITCHEN 245.93 SQ. FT.
112.50 SQ. FT.
AL AN-VOO HOUSE
01 AV CABINET BY POLIFORM FERRO MATTE LACQUER AND ALLUMINIO FINISH 02 BED FRAME BY POLIFORM FERRO MATTE LACQUER FINISH
05 OPERABLE SKYLIGHT BY ACRALIGHT WITH SKYLIGHT MOTOR BY TRUTH HARDWARE 06 REFRIGERATOR BY SUB-ZERO 36” WITH FREEZER #736TCI
03 WALL LIGHT BY ARTEMIDE
07 SUN TUNNEL BY VELUX
TALO 21 MINI WALL - WHITE FINISH 04 SHADE BY SMITH AND NOBLE
14” DIAMETER #TSF 014 08 KITCHEN CABINET BY POLIFORM
GRAND CELL HONEYCOMB SERIES - CHINA WHITE
A XONOMTERIC OF ADDITIONS & SUBTRACTION
R 04
FERRO MATTE LACQUER AND ALLUMINIO FINISH
01m
170
MASS X
5
10
171
TH-0503 / HL23 NYC Location: Project Ty pe: Progra m Ty pe: Size:
NEW YORK / 40.7480° N, 74.0046° W Com mission Multi-Fa mily Residential 3,650 Sq uare Meters
“In New York the air was charged and crackling and shorting out with opinions, and we pretended we had some. Everyone in New York had opinions. Opinions were demanded in return. The absence of opinion was construed as opinion.”
HAPPY NEW COLORS 2014 12
06 05
+0'-0"
+0'-0"
11
07 06 04 10
05
14’-7 1/4” 13’-1 1/2”
9’-2 1/2”
07
13
08
E
15’-0 3/8” 3’-7 1/2”
-5'-6"
14
09
D
8’-6 1/4” 3’-2 1/4”
01
15
N 08
C 54’-11 1/4”
16’-9 3/8” 7’-11”
16
03
N 09 Like a terminal or switching station, the kitchen is at the nexus of all spaces.
-0'-0"
-4'-9"
-7'-6"
A
13
Light green and light blue, separated by a fluid, migrating reveal, amplify and subtly reflect similar colors of the sky and greenery surrounding the house.
184
+1'-8 1/8"
+0'- 4"
01
+0'-0"
10
N 08 What is it? An addition or an extension? It is both. It is both a volume that plugs on and one that, like an elastic membrane, is inflated from within. Outside, it is a temporary collage whose blunt connection will be relieved when the final phase is complete. Inside, the rippling whiteness of space makes every effort to dismiss the joint between new and old.
HL23
02
08
07
172
+7'- 11"
+6'- 7"
10
N 05
AL AN-VOO HOUSE
06
+7'- 3/4"
09
N 07 The cantilevered stair and its acrylic guardrail were designed to support movement and life with the least amount of material possible. When bounding up and down the 1” x 12” steel tube treads, they can feel a slight deflection, like a series of miniature diving boards floating over a pool of liquid space. It is a sensation that reminds them of their physicality and of the sense that architecture too has a nervous system.
160
14’-7 1/4”
07
05
+8'-3 3/4"
11
N 06 If the living room is like an interior garden, then the garden beyond is a form of borrowed scenery, a technique used in traditional Asian landscape design. Here, it is the fuzei principle (“appearance; air”) that captures and presents the ambiance of the space within.
MUFG SHIBUYA
E
15’-0 3/8” 08
+12'- 6 1/4"
+11'- 2 3/8"
N 10 / N 11 In a moment of verticality within a horizontal flow, the sky space (named by the Alan-Voos) is a double-height interstitial zone between the upper level of the kitchen within the footprint of the existing house and the split floor levels of their bedroom, and the lower living room at garden level. With windows on two ends and three skylights above, a constantly changing array of shadows moves across the smooth white surfaces of the walls and ceilings. It is an animate space, at once oceanic and atmospheric. They say it is like a space in flux, always slowly shifting.
18
13
D 54’-11 1/4”
8’-6 1/4” +12'- 11 1/4"
+9'- 5 5/8"
03
SKY SPACE 14
The house is constructed from conventional structural and material assemblies, but their specific use here creates graphic effects that both reveal and conceal these modes of construction. A hybrid steel frame/ wood stud infill wall system is quite common in California, especially when copious amounts of glass are used. All exposed steel is painted silver, to codify its metallic nature, while the exterior surface of sand finish plaster persists in a resistance to material recognition. Its flatness and smoothness is only a substrate for the paint color on top. White drywall on the interior serves the same graphic purpose.
C
16’-9 3/8”
+11'- 3 7/8"
04
6’-1 1/2”
R 02
AL AN-VOO HOUSE
SERVICE AREA WAITING AREA
01 D-101
R 01
- Jonathan Lethem, Fear of Music
INFORMATION ATM VESTIBULE
2005: A New Way of Life They came across an alarming statistic: Americans have 3.1% of the world’s children, but they buy 40% of the world’s toys. It shocked them. Then they looked around their house and asked, “Do we live here or does our stuff live here?” FN 01 The answer seemed painfully obvious: they were living in an erstwhile playground, a chaotic world of memories and untold trips to the toy store. The house had been given over to an adolescent order that they knew had reached its conclusion. They were waking up from a certain part of the American Dream. What started out as a common story of sovereignty (ownership of your own home) and humanity (having kids) gradually turned into a mild nightmare where all they saw were toys and objects and knickknacks coming out of the woodwork at an alarming rate. Another Barbie, another travel mug or ten? Another needlepoint pillow? Indeed, the dream and reality had become one. A new dream would have to begin. An urgent decision was made: they would invest in architecture and divest of clutter. No middle ground. Everything but the kids would have to go. They still wanted all the memories but without the vessels in which they were stored, so they turned to the digital world, a place that they had always felt was as much a part of their lifestyle as the objects that surrounded them. Pictures would be digitized to be viewed later at their discretion on new wall-mounted flat screen TVs. Grandma’s little table would find a safe place to land. Only a few deeply cherished things would be kept to remind them of their days as a young family. Everything else would go to the cloud or remain in their memory banks, recalled on demand. They weren’t looking for austerity in their consumerist cleanse however. They didn’t want architecture to discipline them or be too minimal. They simply wanted a house that they could actually see, one that would constantly lift their spirits and free them from the sensibilities of the past. In the future, the house would really be their one true possession. With their daughters then ages 16, 13, and 8 (the youngest two sharing a renovated garage), the time had come to not simply expand their 1000 sq. ft. 1940 house, they would also ask for a more mature living environment. They wanted an “adult” house.
LOS ANGELES, CA / 34.0731° N, 118.3994° W Com mission Single Fa mily House 195 Sq uare Meters
167
ENTRANCE TO 2nd FLOOR ENTRANCE GROMMET
05 06
16’-3 3/4”
FAMILY BRANDING
“Becoming excessively conscious of the air around you contains the seeds of a claustrophobe’s panic attack: what starts as noticing that there’s lot of space between you and the objects around you— breathing room—might switch to the sudden apprehension that air’s giving you no margin at all. The stuff is pressed in close on all sides, following you, boxing you in.”
01 02 03 04
MODEL NUMBER MATERIAL PRODUCT TRADENAME
Location: Project Ty pe: Progra m Ty pe: Size:
1.90m
PLAN / 1F
156
02 D-101
CASEY K APL AN GALLERY
TH-0502 / ALAN-VOO HOUSE
MUFG SHIBUYA
09
165
N 05
155
03 D-101
FIVE RECTANGLES OF WHITE SPACE MERGE SEAMLESSLY UNDER A CONTINUOUS FIELD OF LIGHTS. NOTHING MORE. NOTHING LESS. THE GALLERY IS A SUBSTRATE FOR CULTURE. MASS X
1T0010
MASS X
03
OVERLEAF Twin (inside, left / outside, right) Choisystyle axonometrics of the original design of the façade. Proposed as an insulated glass curtainwall with 4-point spider connections, the white frit with fading dot openings (erased windows) provide opacity, while the main entry vestibule is conceived as an “elastic” form of excessive three-dimensionality crafted in flat and cast aluminum panels. As a void/negative on the exterior, and a solid/positive on the interior, the entrance is an architecturally androgynous figure, a reflection of the hard and soft versions of money.
N 04
01
154
02
MUFG SHIBUYA
02 01 A
N 02
153
5.96m
MASS X
04
03 8.76m
R 03
N 07
B
N 02 Deep focus shot of the façade lurking behind wires, traffic lights, signage, and uninterested commuters.
152
N 08 On the second floor, the meeting rooms associated with the Private Banking Office are shaped by ceiling emergent surfaces with glass infill interior elevations. A horizontal band of perforated aluminum at eye level to the seated clients, dampens and absorbs sound, making the room whisper-quiet and free of graphics—a Zen chamber in which to make calm, levelheaded decisions about money.
What is the deep structure that lies behind the surface appearance? It changed at least the mood if not the structure of the ritual of discussing or obtaining money. As a sign, the façade’s primary role is to say, “I am NOT a bank.” In fact, we thought it said, “I am not anything until you decide it’s a bank, or a money salon, or...” Its “composition,” i.e. placement and sizing of openings were determined from the inside, but the way they were inserted into the flat, white surface was customized from the outside. The main ATM hall entrance is a 3D ‘suctioning device’ made with cast aluminum panels. Next to it, on the street level, is an extruded escalator hall entry. Above, two windows, one long, one square, both with radial corners, use a fading dot frit producing “erased out” figures.
R 03 Late Bibinba-style gyarus (girls) or Oneegyaru in Shibuya. The names of these styles change so fast that even these girls don’t know exactly what they represent, but they do belong in Shibuya. Here, one enjoys the photographic moment, the other less so. Also, “Watching Girl“ by the Japanese pop group Shonen Knife was put into rotation in the office.
MUFG SHIBUYA
N 07 The teller hall, with its pink and blue backlit counter. These are not brand colors, making the space less a reminder of the corporate structure of the bank and more a space of pure ambience. Here, the teller is not a bureaucrat, but a friend.
N 03
The façade is, in effect, a non sequitur, and as it does not exactly belong to the building or the style of commercial storefronts in the area, the façade is set free to enter the consciousness of the city.
R 01 / R 02 At night, Shibuya Crossing and the labyrinthine inner streets of the district are a non-stop blur of bodies and messages.
42
0T0030
N 06 “Erased” interior window with etched band for privacy. This graphic strategy was an attempt to make a more ambiguous relationship between the protection (of money) and the exposure (of people).
8.50m
N 03 / N 04 / N 05 The 15 × 20 m white, painted metal panel façade is patched into a grey metal panel building, an effective detachment of the PBO (new image) from the larger, more anonymous Mitsubishi Building (old image) above. The PBO was not strictly an invention of Mitsubishi but rather a new strategy that had emerged in the banking industry as a whole. The PBO is experience economy applied to an institutional service economy.
USED TO B BANK.”
0T0030
05
3.30m
R 02
N 01 Located on the south side of the Yamanote line, the site is adjacent to, but separate from, Shibuya’s famous Zebra Crossing, giving the project an odd form of seclusion within the chaos. The new project replaced an old branch in the same location.
PLAN Japan is a cash-based society. Credit cards are rarely used for anything other than online or superexpensive purchases. The ATM hall consists of a long information desk that snakes around central columns, the escalator access to the PBO above, a long queuing zone, and thirty cash machines. Beyond, the space splits into a smaller hall with waiting area and counters in one bay, and the “back of the house” office area in the other. Like many interior retrofit projects, the footprint of the existing building dictated the placement of program and interior elements. Since we typically avoid making exotic plan shapes anyway, these constraints did not pressure our ambitions.
R 05
R 04 / R 05 Casa La Moraleja, near Madrid, 1973 by Miguel Fisac. We were not aware of this project until 2012 via research carried out in the office on the work of Fisac. Although unknown to us then, we include it here not only for the obvious reference to the door and window openings that appear in our work, but also for its vastly different qualities of skins. Whereas MUFG Shibuya is metallic and in search of abstract, graphic flatness, Fisac’s fabric-filled, white, concrete walls, in their buoyant three-dimensionality are completely different and can be retroactively related to a number of projects in this book, including the façade of the Endeavor Screening Room. CF P 132
Façade: The Empty/Full Signifier With literally only 30 cm of projected depth away from the building line with which to work, the façade is a taut, white metal panel skin with four openings, two entry portals on the ground floor (ATM hall), and two flush windows on the upper floor (PBO). We asked the client for as much opacity as possible, clearly working against the standard commercial storefront logic of total transparency. At first we asked for one door as the only opening. We argued that blankness was commercialism in reverse: less information = more curiosity; a technique associated with the discrete worlds of luxury brands. From the outset, our client, Mr. Wada from MUFG, worked like a record producer. He understood our concepts and at each presentation he just said, “Make it more cool!” Whether or not this strategy worked as planned, the bank doubled its business within six months of opening. Like a film director whose first movie is a box office success, we were given the green light on four more flagship PBO’s.
C
R 01
6.60m 8.50m
Reactionary Design There was no other way to approach it than to react against what was there. It was just too overwhelming, too chaotic—an attack on the senses. All you could do was close your eyes and imagine nothing, and even then, given the relatively small scale of the project, would that much nothing have any serious effect? How could we design a façade that was better than one of those elaborate neon signs that hovered above?
N 01
09 08
- Joan Didion / The White Album
07
N 06
02
06
05
04
04 03
03
02
02
01
01
45
01
WALL SECTION DETAIL 01 01
MASS X
Maximum Building Envelope
102'-0"
Lin e
ne
gh
Li h
Hi
ig H
218
1.56’
9.08’ 11.17’
10.94’ 1.56’
B A C
A
A
B
B
1.56’
11.83’
1.56’
A A A A A A A
N 42
223
HL23
224
PANEL
“A”
PANEL “B”
161º
MP12
B A C
MP14
B A
B A C
C B A C
A C B A C B A C
B A C
B A
B A C
11.00’ 11.00’ 11.00’ 11.00’ 33.00’ 11.00’ 11.00’ 11.00’ 33.00’ 11.00’ 1F +0,00’
R 22
166º
R 22 Steven Holl’s 1989 book, Anchoring, that included his “Bridge of Houses” project on the High Line, was a source to which we turned not only to look back on that 1983 study, but also to be reminded of the power of situation. For the HL23 site, politics as much as phenomenology, defined the site.
MP22
B A C
C B
B A C
166º
MP24
B A C
MP26
B
PANEL “C”
MASS X
225
70
TH 1106 9000 W LSH RE
4F +31.58’
3F +21.58’
MP20
HL23
TH 1007 THE BEAUTY OF THE REAL
71
5F +42.58’
B A C B A C
B
R 05
TH 1102 PEACH AV AT ON
6F +53.58’
CF -11,58’
MP18
R 04
489
7F +64.58’
2F +11.58’
MP16
B A C
C
R 01
MASS X
9F +86.58’
8F +75.58’
10.00’ 10.21’
B A C
B A C
B A
B A C
10F +97.58’
11.58’
A A
A A
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N 44 / N 45 From longer distances, the frit patterns read in advance of the glazing grid and the punched windows due to their difference in the context. We ask, “Can’t graphic design, at times, help architecture be more direct, more honest?” CF PP 234-235
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11.58’ 51.08’
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The concept occurred to us because we knew that the “real” structure would be hidden when the mechoshades of the apartment interiors are drawn down. Like a printed circuit, the lines that trace the structure press the static energy of HL23 onto a legible surface.
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B 8.08’
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STAMPED METAL MEGA-PANELS N 39
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SOUTHEAST PROFILE
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You get the idea, after working on a few single family house projects, that you’re not really designing a building but rather a medium for the lives of those who commission the work, as if the house is like a deck of Tarot cards that reveal a set of mysterious signs to the beyond, to a world that is filled with spirits, recurring events, past histories, and new futures. In every crevice, every wall, every mirror, every family portrait, even every appliance, there are voices, reflections, and sounds that emanate from the architecture. This is what you respond to if you are listening very closely to the wishes, dreams, demands, and whims of passionate people. And only the most passionate people become engaged with architects who themselves have all of their own (design) quirks and pecadillos and passions and methods of pers
488
HL23
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N 43 Why print a 2D version of the structure onto the envelope? Thinking back to the purposes of supergraphics on 1970s architecture, CF P 58 usually understood to be used for familiarizing (red and orange as code for the commercial) or defamiliarizing (scale shifts, visual distortion, etc.) ends, we thought they might have another, perhaps even more “direct” purpose: to boldly highlight the structure so that, like an x-ray of its interior, the visitors to the High Line and the passersby below could understand how an eccentric building resolves structural forces. We realize that that ambition, that added element to the visual program may seem quite (literally) decorative, but at least in this one instance, the building benefits from this form of “information” graphics.
R 02
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213
96º
- John Hejduk, on Casa Malaparte
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TELEGRAPHING STRUCTURE
The Relationship Client: “We like your work a lot. We especially love the windows in the AlanVoo House,CF PP 167-182 they seem to have real personality. We really don’t like the idea of a house that’s too exposed. We can’t really put our finger on LA, even after all this time. It’s not the city, it’s not the country, and it’s not suburbia, at least where we live. To us, it’s undefined. We’d like a house that captures that, oddly enough. So, if you can give us some walls and make those cool, big windows...”
PACIFIC PALISADES, CA / 34.0481° N, 118.5256° W Com mission Single Fa mily House 240 Sq uare Meters
“That there was some kind of sorcery going on I did not doubt that for a minute. Was I to become some medium?”
B A C B A C
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Location: Project Ty pe: Progra m Ty pe: Size:
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TH-1004 / NO MASS HOUSE
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166º
I love high craft, but only when you can
222
A SORT OF MODERNISM
N 16
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see beyond it.
In this self-portrait, beard, hat, eyes, jacket,
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CR AF T REALIT Y
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18
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significance in the production of the work. 00’
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over the subject matter that had the greatest
TO SLAB
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FRAMING AND VERTICAL SLIP CONNECTION 4" MINERAL WOOL FIRESTOP AND SMOKE SEALANT
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world against which it was initially meaa cul-de-sac of perfection with no means of escape.
know that it was van Gogh’s exertion of will
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4GA CONTINUOUS ERECTION ANGLE ANCHORED MOLD RESISTANT DRYWALL WITH 15/8" STEEL STUD
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SUPPORTED ON PURLIN AND HAT CHANNEL BAKER ROD AND SEALANT
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sured. Much work is trapped in craft reality,
per’s budget may have contributed to this incredible reduction in his toolset, but we
16
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basic colors and one single brush. A pau-
R 02 Portrait, Lou Shabner, ca. 1960s R 03 Self-Portrait, Vincent van Gogh, 1889
STAINLESS STEEL PANELS, 3" AIR SPACE, PANELS
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N 41
B A C
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In van Gogh’s paintbox there are a few
AIR/VAPOR/RAIN BARRIER MEMBRANE AND 3 1/2" THERMAL INSULATION HOLD BY 4" ALUMINUM STICK PIN (5 PINS PER 24"X48" PIECE OF INSULATION) RAIN SCREEN SYSTEM WITH 12' LONG STAMPED
N 17 The first finished curtainwall megapanels, here photographed at Sanxin, show the various graphic and atmospheric effects of the system. The 13” wide frit stripes contrast with the finer grain lines of the mullion joints while the low iron glass seems to disappear altogether.
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4. For a work to be transcendent, it must return to normal reality, to re-enter the
N 28 Ductal, an ultra high-performance concrete developed by Lafarge, was the first material we explored in 2005. Relatively new at the time, Ductal had yet to be used as an architectural screen. Its lightweight and high fluidity made it an interesting material to begin with, but after a number of mock-ups, its monolithic and more inert qualities too readily absorbed the depth of the relief. We placed it aside, though still deeply enamored with it, with thoughts of using it on a future project.
A
be mastered, it only exists within the realm of craft itself.
15
N 30
have to be trimmable. Next, it was determined that the panel should have relief as a way to produce form and pattern that would read differently from various distances and points of view and to be especially engaging to the close inspection of the High Line visitors.
3’
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R 03
R 01 Paul Z. Rotterdam, b. 1939 / Austrian artist and art theorist.
N 18 Jonathan Chin of Front inspects the operable glass unit, made by Schüco China. The window is large enough for him to walk through it!
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16GA STUD (16" O.C.), 2X5/8" LAYER OF EXTERIOR GRADE GYPSUM BOARD,NON-PERMABLE
Front suggested a wrapper of 1 mm bead-blasted stainless steel around the welded carbon steel of the frame instead of expending resources on grinding welds and
HL23
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on a short deadline. While kitsch is a style to 37
WEIGHT CONCRETE
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needs both the normative and the crafted object as a medium for the delivery of ideas.
13
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the precondition of craft reality, because art
a space merely to fill, is painted expediently with the widest brush, like a house painter
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with sparkles.” The background meanwhile,
40 45 41
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INSULATION 3" 18GA COMPOSITE METAL DECK WITH 3" NORMAL
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e
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@ 16O.C. FIREPROOFING 38
be the reality in which the work exists. For Rotterdam, art reality cannot exist without
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HAT CHANNEL GWB 5/8” FIREPROOFING STAINLESS STEEL COPING MECHOSHADE
THE FRIT PATTERN EXPLAINED
EAST FACADE COLUMN W COLUMN X
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the work, when craft alone has ceased to
that says, for example, “See my hair, paint it hairy. See my diamond necklace, paint it
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COMPOSITE CELLULAR DECK
painting. This finish, along with the clear anodized cassettes, produced differences in reflectivity and specularity. A kind of vibration was witnessed, even under a mix of natural and artificial lighting that we suspected would behave in curious and unpredictable ways in the New York light.
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3. The third phase, art reality, or the moment when an idea or argument reveals itself in
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reality, with the mission to depict what his eye sees. The subject matter exerts its will
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virtuosity if the techniques of production are well managed and deployed by the book.
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OPERABLE WINDOW BY SCHÜCO FIXED GLASS BEAD BLASTED STAINLESS STEEL PANEL
a craft system. This is the stage of skill and
based on the subject matter of the painting. These tools are necessary because the kitsch
HL23
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PERIMETER BEAM 12X6X3/8” BEAM HSS 12X12X3/8” SOLID STEEL MULLION BRACKET PERIMETER HEATING WOOD DECK
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which the work is made manifest strictly in material terms, under a mode of production that is ostensibly appropriate to its order in
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N 16 The first curtainwall mock-up tested the technical capacity and visual effects of the steel frame in relation to the jumbo glass and various densities and edge conditions of the fritted dot pattern. The aluminum cassettes also ranged in finish from clear to black anodized. Although we were looking to reduce the number of mullions in the system and to minimize the joint size between the IGU’s, we had to consider the graphic effects of the grid that we would end up with. Like choosing a stroke thickness in Illustrator, working with extrusions and finishes leans toward the graphic side of construction.
MEGA PANEL 18 01 02 03
N 42 The 4 ft. radius at the penthouse terrace determined the vertical panel dimension.
on it.
Shabner (kitsch) there are dozens of colors
02 03 04 05 06 07
14F +143.00’
2. Next, it enters craft reality, a stage in
and an arsenal of brushes of various sizes
N 29
CURTAINWALL DETAIL-10TH FLOOR 01
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A
and references, and in that realm it contends with all the history and knowledge that bear
N 21
01
the context of given conditions, paradigms,
subject matter, and artistic will that formed
over the painter with a commanding voice
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SMOKE SEALANT
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OVERLEAF In different atmospheric conditions, the skin absorbs a spectrum of chromatic subtleties even when no one notices.
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N 41 Finished panels are secured on flatbed trucks for delivery into Manhattan. The top row of panels is not attached to allow for joint sealing in the field. The remaining panels were hand-set on site.
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Island Exterior Fabricators, located on an old Grumman Factory on eastern Long Island, fabricated a thermally insulated wall panel to receive the stainless steel rainscreen.
04
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Like the glazed megapanels, the rainscreen system is attached to the floor slabs, yet the tops of the panels do not align with the floor slabs since it is an opaque wall. This is purely based on dimensional efficiencies across the surface. All punched windows were installed in the field.
03
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1. A work begins in normal reality, within
01 02
painter works under the hypnotic spell of 42
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NORTHEAST PROFILE
3 1/2" UNFACED MEMBRANE INSTALLED WITH PRIMER 3 1/2" Unfaced CW40 THERMAFIBER INSULATION
One constraint that we placed on the skin was that there would be no curved panels. All radial conditions would be faceted, of which the 4 ft. radius at the penthouse parapet was the most extreme. We determined that a 1’6” tall panel would provide just enough resolution (smoothness) to accommodate this radius. CF P 221 The next step was to determine the horizontal length of the panel grid. With such a small dimension in the vertical direction, we sought to eliminate as many vertical joints in the grid as possible, thereby pushing the length to a maximum dimension of 11’6”. Since the building was not designed on a module of this dimension, and with a glazing profile indifferent to the grid altogether, we knew that the grid and the panel would
12
11.50’
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gh
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Consisting of three unique panels (A / B / C) with the A panel used in a mirrored position, the pattern is a soft topography that recursively moves in a wavelike fashion across each megapanel. The High Line façade consists of twenty-six megapanels. At the top, panels are vertical, while the lower two-thirds of the façade consists of horizontal panels.
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ART
the basis of my understanding of the limits
and widths that have a preprogrammed use
28 29
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26.87’ 3.87’
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Hi
Lin gh Hi
In the global system of architectural delivery today, there are contractors and fabricators who specialize in certain techniques and processes. Data and materials are exchanged around the world, always in search of greater levels of accuracy in production. In the hands of these intermediate agents, each with their own realm of craft reality, material is transformed in a step-by-step process. They are not asked to interpret data. They are asked to make the desired effects appear within the material life of each building component. These are two different things.
N 39 / N 40 The rainscreen panels are attached to the wall via V-shaped purlins, while the window openings are framed with aluminum plate.
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CRAFT
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Stages in Reality
HL23
MEGAPANEL ATLAS / INSTALLATION
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terdam describes stages or levels of reality in the process:
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through and is executed to the stated level of detail, then I believe that craft recedes
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MEGAPANEL ASSEMBLY
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ties, standards, and techniques—operates in determining the reality of a work of art. Rot-
illustrator Lou Shabner and a self-portrait
4" PANEL FRAME
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42
which craft—a set of methods, tools, quali-
power of ideas, of arguments. When a building is conceptually and technically thought
This philosophy emerged from Paul
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41
This comparison focuses on the ways in
Rotterdam’s theory on the concept of art
BEAD BLASTED STAINLESS STEEL 2X5/8" GLASROC
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see himself, he saw another person whose reality differed from his.
by Vincent van Gogh. In the paintbox of
PURLIN
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ished experience and, most likely, a build-
York, had developed a simple, yet stunning
26
33
element that attains its own subjectivity, set-
ing that will see technical problems arise
comparative analysis about tools, materials,
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11
N 23
What has advanced however, if not to the total bioutopic state of building flesh, has been in the realm of envelope prefabrication. With the simple mission of enclosure, larger factory-assembled units now work with lower levels of tolerance and with greater fidelity to material and perceptual intent. What took a long time in the construction of HL23 was its fight with the Earth, getting out of the ground. By the time it reached the sky, it inhabited the snap-to-fit world of factory control.
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FIELD FRAMING
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and background are all crafted with a singular stroke. Here, the background is a formal
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R 21 Nakagin Tower, Tokyo / Kisho Kurokawa, 1972. More than simply being the holy grail of prefabrication in architecture, this building’s metabolic hopes of renewal and regeneration attempted to unleash the medium from the bonds of total fixity and decay. The lessons learned here have been well rehearsed: architecture’s dream to live and breathe and be flexible remains active, yet with little to show in the way of material progress, it is a dream without a climax.
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ELECTRICAL CONDUIT Ø1"
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18 19 20 21
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In terms of the concept of craft, I have always worked from one basic ambition:
High Line Frontage; west side = 15’
Consider two paintings: a portrait by
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reality that I was exposed to in his seminar
R 02
The undulating and diagonally expansive surface of the east façade was not designed as a substrate for a particular material quality. Geometry came first, but soon after, certain attributes, some dictated by the geometry, some by the desire for certain optical effects, began to be investigated.
R 21
R 20 Walter Gropius and Konrad Wachsmann at work on their Package House project, designed in 1942. The fantasies and realities of prefabrication have been intertwined at least since the late 1940s when industries like aerospace and automotive design began to expand and integrate higher levels of technology in their processes of industrial production. Technology transfer has never easily overcome architecture’s scale and fixity, yet thinking of a building as being no different than a mass-produced product continues to occupy the minds of many architects as it has in the past.
No portion of the western High Line Frontage of a building, including parapet, shall exceed a height of 3 feet, 6 inches above the level of the High Line Bed
R 17 120 Wall Street inverted. There are many reasons why this never became an appropriate zoning model, primary among them: darkness and structural implausibility! The thought of putting more square feet in the sky would be a developer’s dream and a structural engineer’s fantasy but a pedestrian’s nightmare. HL23 engages these human conditions with respect and purpose, but with equal fascination for overturning (somewhat literally!) standard urban regimes. The scheme pushes fairly dramatically into the 15 ft. setback along the High Line in search of a sectional profile that mediates between an expanding building volume (client directive) and the restraint / formal interest needed to make the building less hostile to the park below. In the end, HL23 transgresses its own site as it ultimately cantilevers 5 ft. over public space, the only building in the city to do so.
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N 22 / N 23 The sequence began at the second floor and moved vertically, with each panel connected at the floor slab via steel embeds.
R 17
of craft.
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N 20 Trusting that the factory-produced megapanels and the steel frame were each built within their respective tolerances, open-bed trucks delivered the components from Calverton, NY (Eastern Long Island). It was exceptional timing in 2010 that the second phase of High Line construction had not reached past the stage of rehabilitation of the existing structure. It could be used, therefore, as a staging platform from which to lift the megapanels onto the steel frame. N 21 From the High Line, project designer / manager, Stefano Paiocchi watches the installation of the first panel on the north façade.
15’
R 16 120 Wall Street, 1930. Jacques Kahn. A classic lower Manhattan example of the standard setback laws in New York, the rectangular mass begins to step back at the 16th floor, resulting in a lo-res, pixilatedpyramidal top half.
experience occupy the foreground. Craft is a
HENRY BLUE-SKIN S.A. 2×5/8" GLASROC WATER PROOF SHEETING INSULATION
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SITE LOGISTICS / GLASS INSTALLATION
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delivery mechanism for propositions, not a
MC 2 SYSTEM 3" THERMAFIBER INSULATION
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Modification of Sec. 98-421 to permit a building over the bed of the High Line bed.
fetish state for overelaborate production.
VAPROSHIELD MEMBRANE
INSULATED GLASS UNIT
AL AN-VOO HOUSE
N 24 Following the north façade, the south façade reiterated the bottom-up sequence.
course in the VES department at Harvard
MC-2 SUPPORT VERT.HAT CHANNEL
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N 19 The megapanels were packed back-to-back onto specially designed cargo frames. In most cases, they were shipped in containers with no top (with tarpaulin covers) as their height exceeded standard dimensions. They were therefore placed on the very top of the pile on the boat.
R 20
St.
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07 08
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HIGH LINE FACADE RAINSCREEN
40'
in 1980. Rotterdam, then only 41 and an
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High Line Frontage
expatriate artist living and working in New
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23rd St.
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into the background while ideas and human
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AL AN-VOO HOUSE
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importantly, it reduces—if not negates—the
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FROM PLUG-IN TO SNAP-ON
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Modifications to Yards and Setbacks
earlier than expected, and second, and most
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MC-5 COPING COVER ALUM. COPING (2×) 3/4" P.T PLYWOOD MC-5 75mm SUPPORT SYSTEM
5/8” GYP. BD. PAINTED DUNN-EDWARDS WHITE EXTERIOR STUCCO PAINTED INSULATION PER TITLE 24 6X12 WOOD BEAM 1” COPING WITH BACKING
R 16
ting the entire picture into one plane. When
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MC-2 COVER SUPPORT
OMNIMOUNT PLASMA CL BRACKET
Min. Base Height
St.
van Gogh looked into the mirror, he did not
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02
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60'-0"
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notice that it isn’t. Poor craft is a distraction
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102'-0"
Min. Base Height 60'-0"
on two levels: first, it produces a dimin-
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SHARP 32” LCD TV
05
build something well so that no one will
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SLIDING DOORS BY FLEETWOOD DRIP SCREED 3/4” FLANNERY FLEXI DRIP W10X20 STEEL STRUCTURE BAMBOO FLOOR BY TERAGREEN 2” FLANNERY ALUMINUM Z-REVEAL
Modification of Sec. 98-423 (a) and Table A to permit a building which does not provide the required 10' setrback at 102' in height along West 23rd. Street.
Max. Base Height
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SECTION DETAIL AT ROOF AND EAST MEGAPANEL
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OUTDOOR PATIO CONCRETE - BRUSHED
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Max. Base Height
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CRAFT REALITY
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01
02 03 04 05 06
Modification of Sec. 23-47 to permit a reduction to 25' of the required 30' rear yard on the interior lot portion
85'-0"
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1” COPING WITH BACKING
A
HL23
145'-0"
Max. Base Height
23rd St.
Extensive studies were carried out to determine the potential negative effects of added volume (bulk). The site’s exposure to daylight as well as it being on the north side of the park mitigated deepened shadow lines.
23
DRIP SCREED OVER OPERABLE WINDOW HONEYCOMB SHADE BY SMYTH AND NOBLE 6X12 WOOD BEAM
14
Maximum Building Height
Max. Building Height 120'-0"
CONDITIONED FORM For every moment of constriction in the site, a response was found within one of two methods of design: move the bounding envelope to a point of agreement with zoning or pushback against the limits. The diagrams to the right illustrate the particular incidences where each method was applied. All three exposed sides of the building required zoning variances that ultimately allowed the project to avoid the stacked or stepped massing inherent in New York Zoning laws. R 16 / R 17 On the West 23rd Street façade, sloping surfaces define the skyplane setback line on the top four floors while floors two through six have a split profile caused by the intrusion of the High Line Spur. The sloping facets of the façade allow for a more “crystalline or prismatic” building form, a result that produces a higher degree of difference between it and the context. The project then assumes a high level of fitness to the site (the High Line) and a moderate to high level of resistance to the default massing and materiality of its context.
01
DOUBLE ARM AWNING WINDOW OPERATOR FACE MNT.
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A
Alf Naman though, probed the situation further, even in the face of this extremely inhibiting condition. He thought the site held the potential for a building that could respond to the dual pressures of a profitable pro forma and architectural significance. Knowing from early plans developed by the High Line design team that a major point of entry would be placed at 23rd Street, Naman foresaw the site as being unique among all the parcels along the park. Thus the formulation of his equally unique request to us.
02
01
TS 5X5X1/4 PAINTED SILVER METALLIC
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DRIP SCREED 3/4“ FLANNERY FLEXI DRIP W10X30 STEEL STRUCTURE 3 1/2”X14” PSL BEAM
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In a complex game of air-rights transfers and lot rezoning, HL23’s as-of-right zoning would not allow maximum FAR to be built on the site, a deal-breaker for most developers. Most intrusive and therefore most instrumental in making the site difficult to build on was at the same time its most powerful asset, its direct proximity to the High Line. Zoning called for a 15 ft. setback in building mass starting at 25 ft. above grade that equaled a loss of 37.5% of the possible built volume. While this setback, essentially the donation of private land to the public good, would greatly benefit the High Line’s environmental impact, it was a challenge for real estate investors seeking to build on New York’s newest and most provocative park space.
03 04 05
WALL SECTION DETAIL 02 / WALL SECTION DETAIL 03 OPERABLE ANODIZED ALUM. WINDOW
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BRUSHED CONCRETE 3/8” CLEAR TEMPERED GLASS TWO TS 4X4X3/8
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178
Modification of Sec. 98-423 (a) to permit a building with a stree wall which is not located on the street line of West 23rd Street
Architecture is a volatile mix of unstable elements, especially the ones that form the initial conditions under which design takes place. HL23 was a mixture of pressure and opportunity. The problem was how to distinguish between the two. With the demand placed on us to produce a building that would volumetrically push beyond the special West Chelsea Zoning envelope, the questions arose as to how high, how wide, and how deep the project would become. How would we know when a response to the demand would produce diminishing returns, either in terms of acceptability to the city, floor area for our client, and formal properties for us? The physical, social, political, and economic forces operating on the project seemed conceptually clear but they were not defined metrically. Everything would have to be determined in a process of approximation.
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AL AN-VOO HOUSE
Modifications to Yards and Setbacks
Maximum Building Height 145'-0"
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ZONING WAIVERS: STANDING OUT AND FITTING IN
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AL AN-VOO HOUSE
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WATERPROOFING MEMBRANE
02 03 04
MASS X
HL23
230
CROSS SECTION
5.6
BE A
Progra m Ty pe: Size:
Com mercial 420 Sq uare Meters
“The gallery is a kind of moving museum, a moving machine museum. It’s constantly in action, constantly in motion. After all, the best art will first be seen in these little curious places called galleries. And it’s got to be a creative and energetic enterprise.” - Ivan Karp, 1969
43 MASS X
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N 32
N 29 / N 30 After Ductal, we turned our attention to metals. Various samples and mock-ups of zinc, aluminum, and copper ensued, each researched for their reflective, specular, and tonal properties. None worked particularly well, even though we were not working with the final panel geometry. Stainless steel, a material we knew would have the potential to capture the qualities that both the building and the context demanded, came next, and ultimately as it turned out, last in the process. It had been our instinctive first choice, but as a team, and as encouraged by the clients, we attempted to work through other less premeditated material possibilities. A subtly folded zigzag geometry was developed to test the stainless steel. A. Zahner and Co. in Kansas City produced the first mock-up with their angel hair (fine, multidirectional) finish. A field of stamped hot dogs was also included to test how stripes and dots would work together. With only a small angled fold across a 1” slope, the design produced clear graphic qualities and its production process would be relatively simple. N 31 Encouraged by this discovery, we went one step further and began to work with 3D curvature across the panel with the intent to make a repetitive pattern that moved beyond the limit of the panel, similar to the folded version. Here, Eric Leishman stands behind a painted MDF version of one of three unique panels. Together, the finish (automotive paint) and the s-shaped contour produced a softer, more painterly graphic quality; one that we imagined would have a greater connection with the High Line plant material. The curvature too, as a built-in deformation, would prevent any unwanted oil canning. But once we moved from a folded surface to a 3D surface, we knew that the level of difficulty to produce the panel would go up on a very steep arc.
N 33
N 32 / N 33 / N 34 A 3” = 1’ (1/4 full-size) model was made at the vertical split in the east façade. It stood 8 ft. tall and included a simulation of every element of the wall and floor assemblies.
MASS X
C
D
69’
E
5.31’ 20.81’
F
F.1
N 34
219
G
9.81’ 7.92’
N 44
00’
10’
20’
30’
MASS X
wA1 r=24.25”
r=12.25” wA2
wB5
N 45
231
MASS X Monograph
140 141
r=35.00” r=71.00”
120°
wB1 wB2 r=12.25” 120°
r=24.25” wB4 wB3
90°
wC1 wC2 r=71.00” r=35.25”
90°
wD3 r=23.00” wD1 wD2 r=23.00”
r=36.25” wE1 r=23.00”
90°
82° wE2
wB2
wA2
S u m m e r 2 0 1 4 - p re s e n t Ne i l M De n a ri A rc h i te cts
wD2
wB1 wB5
wB3 wB4
wD1
wC1
wD3
wE2 wE1
wC2 wC3
wE3
wE4
citatibus mo corro evenihitia di omni optas etur, ut eum mpor esequia consequae similignim dolore estiber spelicid ta debit laut ut molorit aut volupta quis volesto quias dit am iur a volorum hicipiscitia con pra vidus corpossint, quis olut ommosam cus. Arcia que natusant latqui blab ipsam heniscius evendae ptiunt optatem imendi illia dolo ventius ptamus Ebis alia niet il ipsantur, conse ium reperum quis onsequide ditatem dolore volorectia quam eatia voloreh nt, cumet etur magnatem. Beaque sunto quam es in cupta ist volest facercia exere vellabo. Sam voluptam evelenda upidebit, erspera elit est ea et, is et voleni re volor as velis it verum facietur, ipsapis moditendus dolor magnis sita us autecta tempos siti tessenis autecatur? Am enimagn sa quibus doluptate modigendae postiam quae vitiore
ectiasit faciistrum ipsam labore ipsam doluptati omnimi, nia eatem eliae dellorese poratum alique sunt, opta ium rit est, quatem debis dolupta tiatur? Fici aligniatem ium onsequi officipsam fugitibus aciminvero enimusam labo. Feri ptae libus ea con estem ipit molorpos vendio mod ut alit ugia as res int ad experiscim voluptatqui di ut et doloribus, ionsequat utem quibusam id qui cus aut qui destibus nonseGa. Optat. odi te sequas ditesti bustiis culliquodias est, alissitiunt aut voloreperum abore eosto experio odiam ius doluptasi dolut emqu oditis acea debisin vendelignis dus, sit qui ut quate sti undunt magnimusam sinctiatios et erspeles este nis rerit et volum re doluptisi dolorentem nam aspel millatur? i aspitatem doluptas sunt. Nam aut pel iminveliquam facnon nis et ommolor adipsum volor sam, volorest enihitat. tus endicilique conse voloratem unt, int, versperro exerspit endia consequi sint ium re, con cone nosandio esse volorrota sam voluptionet quae provit, te quam, commolu ptassum cil el iumquat isquis et doluptium, idus nate paris nonsequiio rendae. s ped quis dipsumet harumquam, cus, cullaborit ut eos on corionsed expernate nempe et dios dolum ipit volent us intia cuptatu repudigendi omnihictas iure veles expere fuga. Ovid moluptasi occaecto ipic tet enis maios utempos pta volupta dis quo exped quaectem dolupta nos venis rem bus, voluptas dolore lantibus perspiet volorporero eum a con ium ende mo teni sitent optatur? Quidunt dolores tiones to taspers peliqua ectionem qui bearia illaborem fugitiorro rum fugia dolore et qui nectur? Quis nem este nonsequis ate di dolut a inus doluptur aborum exceaqu idebit eaquod atus, ut eatibus nim laborerchita sitius, officia dolo que nonsit molupictem ius dent, aut quiam conseca tiscipsam idus ora por minto Rovit estota quid utat. Soluptam venis estiateporrum que volessim iumque nus. eserro que ne doles quia coresed que rernatin perum rent doluptat molorio nsecatibus vitis nia nonsentibus et, ut vent volorep erferch iliquibus ad exceaqu odipsusdae rehenisinnsequunt ex erum volor anditem re sequi arcimi, omniet cum nam fugita excepta tiunt. r?
MASS X
497
MASS X
509
N 05
R 06 Tatijana Hallbaum. In Between / Simulation n° 8, 2006. Laserchrome print, Alu-Dibond. 50.3 × 59.8 in (128 × 152 cm). Source: © Tatjana Hallbaum. “Reality How Images Redefine the World.” 25 September 2009 – 17 January 2010. Centro di Cultura Contemporanea Strozzina. Firenze, Italy. Natemod qui officimagnis pelenditi unt, quid qui cone peribuscid modi dolor auta dolutem quatibu sdamet aliqui demposae. Et volo in nonsed est quia plam, ipienitatem as et, solo beribus acerio et la dolorepedis soluptat alic tectorit, quia con nest, oditio omnimus. Ehenis id et ad maxime ne volori officiation conse ius adit ea debitasped quam volupta tiaeris nam essum aut officti quate consequi vel est, sitia sum est lat. R 07 Christiane Feser. Falten 10, 2008. C-Print, Diasec, Alu-Dibond. 90.6 × 55.1 in (230 × 140 cm). Frankfurt. Source: © Christiane Feser. “Reality - How Images Redefine the World.” 25 September 2009 – 17 January 2010. Centro di Cultura Contemporanea Strozzina. Firenze, Italy. Obis abor simus dolo endae vent erum vollendis audit mos eium qui anduscilibus maionserum non reperrum con con rempore premporis voluptas eat occus, eost voluptat laciduntum es volestrum quunti con nam, nonse odis vit, temporeicias doluptatem et archicim lit que pliqui quas am ius, sam consendis et demosam ditatiis ditios as ex et expliam nonecum abore eosti R 08 Josh Keyes. Burst, 2009. 30 × 80 in (76.2 × 203.2 cm). Source: joshkeyes.net.Ficiatisti blabor sum, comnis nis sendes aut pressimus re litata saperum repelliquas ut quibus aceptatis estiis autem essitate est fugiatet int hilis doloriae ipsania vero quo dolora dolut evelique num cor auda dignisq uianda alique asimpore sed quis nonse vite repudam, omnihil eum, eum im aut atquatem ea idellac epudis re aliquost, ommoles et qui cupidis re porro temperitam haria doluptassiti num rernam iusdae porisi voluptat ad maios im fuga. Alitatatiati rehendem. Ed quo bea eaquae invelib eraesti busciis etur? Quia nonsequi dero blaborpor aut acepel et vento temolor sitiae ommodition et que pore vellorit quia sendae preheni. Alis porundis rerferum quo volo quid moles excero omni ommolor estione volorem quas errorer natemos dolupta quid ute volore, nusdanda autemporero volupta se nis velignatque num dem eturio comnima ximusam quibus aut ullatat.
R 06
R 07
R 08
MASS X
521
R 08 / R 09
R 10 / R 11
MASS X
533
MASS X is an 800 page bilingual book documenting projects and ideas developed in Neil M Denari’s architecture office over the past fifteen years. This book consisting of extensive documentation of 50 projects and 12 texts. MASS X is designed to be a multigraphic volume organized around the concept of architecture’s role as a medium of experimentation taking its place within the field of all contemporary media.
MASS X Beginning in the summer of 2014, I joined Neil M Denari Architects (NMDA) as an intern and contributed to a number of ongoing projects including MASS X—an 800 page bilingual book documenting projects and ideas developed in the office over the past fifteen years. Since the conclusion of the internship with NMDA, I have continued to manage the technical production of MASS X remotely. My specific responsibilities include formatting and incorporating material received directly from Neil Denari and his office into the master file, as well as, reading texts and communicating with the editor in Los Angeles and the publisher in Beijing. Through MASS X, I have gained not only significant insight into the methods and mechanics necessary to assemble a publishable manuscript, but have also enjoyed the rare opportunity to work closely with an architect / author to document a body of work and communicate a particular understanding of architecture and design. Written in a highly indexical manner, MASS X traces through over 50 projects and 12 texts, a lineage of thought contemplating architecture’s role as a medium of experimentation within contemporary media.
SUMMER 14 - PRESENT
/ NEIL M DENARI ARCHITECTS / MASS X
142 143
“The gallery is a kind of moving museum, a moving machine museum. It’s constantly in action, constantly in motion. After all, the best art will first be seen in these little curious places called galleries. And it’s got to be a creative and energetic enterprise.” - Ivan Karp, 1969
44
166
F
MASS X
E
D
14’-7 1/4”
C
15’-0 3/8”
B
8’-6 1/4” 5’-4 3/8”
2’-8 1/2”
12’-6 34” 11’-8 1/2”
08
+13'-6 1/8"
+12'- 11 1/4"
- Jonathan Lethem, Fear of Music
R 02
R 03
FN 01 Eric Alan and Rhonda Voo participated in a study on domestic culture conducted by a team of UCLA professors that culminated in the 2012 book, Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century. Using ethno-archaeological methods of research over a nine-year span beginning in 2001, the book examines the effects of material accumulation, visual chaos, changing patterns of use, and new social arrangements within the single-family home. R 01 The challenge: put five family members together in a small footprint that would feel “expansive and light,” not penal or claustrophobic. R 02 / R 03 “Before” views of a shared bedroom for two daughters and the living room. The Alan-Voos are an exceptionally tight-knit, expressive, and ultimately democratic family, supportive of both the individual and the collective, a way of life that lead to the laissez-faire interior design method: anything goes! At the time, no color was off limits and no object was without its right to exist within the house. Nothing, until their final purge, ever saw a trash bin or a Goodwill donation center. Before design intervened, the house was the ultimate accommodation for everything but them. N 01 The Alan -Voo family in their new kitchen, 2007. This space operates as a hangout zone where family members congregate, mingle, and rub elbows. Here, laundry is folded, homework is completed, jokes are told, and texts are even sent to others within the house!
167
AL AN-VOO HOUSE
Beyond the Domestic World They sent us an email. They expressed great respect for the few projects we had built R 04 and hoped that we could help them design their new adult house. They called it “The Happy New House” because they already knew that it would bring them a lightness of being that would make them happy. All the objects had stolen a bit of that happiness, but now they hoped that architecture itself would restore those lost feelings. Their real lives would be the only things on display (except for a few highly curated objects). Included in the email was a “brand concept” for their family. It turns out that he is a well-known film marketing creative and she is a well-known artist and illustrator and, together with their three curious and talented daughters, they had an idea about how architecture could help shape their identity going forward. With the domestic realm making incursions into the work environment, they thought, why shouldn’t the reverse happen? Work, play, school, hobbies...for them, it was all mixed together. We’d never seen anything like it from a residential client. So the problem presented us was beyond the domestic requirements of four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Our job was to find a new sensibility, an ambient condition, where they could “float” in a trans-spatial world. It would have to be digital, physical, domestic, commercial, institutional, public, private, Zen, abstract, graphic, psychedelic, empty, and full, all at once. They said that they were like a blank slate, open to anything, except they did have one simple request: no colors except white and gray should be used inside, while any color could be considered outside—a complete inverse of their existing house.
168
3’-9 1/4”
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02
1T0020
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MASS X
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N 08
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03
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08 06
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02
01
01
ENTRY
02 03
RECEPTION OFFICE
04 05 06
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CASEY K APL AN GALLERY
162
MASS X
163
GALLERY I GALLERY II HALLWAY
CASEY K APL AN GALLERY
N 02
R 05 Street view of existing house before...and after. A modest pre-war house becomes the site for an ongoing architectural experiment (see below). For now, the surprise for the frequent groups of students and architects who visit the house is all in the back. There is a certain pleasure they take in this. N 02 The original scope included an addition to the front of the existing house. The Alan-Voos wanted the new design to not only eclipse the image of the old house, they wanted new architecture to literally greet them from the driveway. The door splays off from the grid of the house, setting up a more fluid threshold between inside and outside. The envelope splits into two performative surfaces: a lower vertical wall that sets up the plan movement and the roof and its microcantilever that compresses in section.
N 01
ALAN - VOO FAMILY / THEIR BRAND CONCEPT Family Brand Attributes
01 02 03 04
Artsy but not artsy fartsy Cultured but not elitist Spontaneous but not disorderly Creative but not obsessively so
05 06 07
Informal but not messy Into Macs + iPods but not techie Enjoy the finer things of life but not extravagantly
Strategy
01 02 03 04
Stay connected as a family Grow as individuals Live in “the now” Encourage the enjoyment of momentary pleasures
05 06 07
Remain flexible Anticipate family’s future needs Connect to the natural environment
Tactics
01 02
Create privacy realms for individuals Create public realms to encourage “elbow rubbing” opportunities Provide multi-use “flex space” for varied family activities Create a sanctuary to counterbalance the daily stress of the outside world
05 06
Eliminate clutter Connect to backyard by creating an outdoor living area Provide ample and convenient storage
03 04
07
07
BATHROOM
08 09 10
STORAGE WORK ROOM VESTIBULE
11
VIEWING ROOM
00M
5
10
20
164
R 05
Core Out, Then Expand After considering a number of strategies (tearing down, building up, cutting in half), they decided that an addition to the front, a cored-out public zone in the existing house, and an addition in the rear yard would work best for their timing, budget, and program. They had a concern for the transformation of the street view of the house, R 05 especially as they had tended to use the front garden more than the year yard, 7 feet below the floor of the house. Taken together, we imagined this like slipping a new 16 foot wide house underneath the roof of the old house (see axonometric below), a move somewhere between the deft cuts of a sushi chef and the rough cuts of Gordon Matta-Clark. The front addition N 02 was conceived as a customized entrance experience, an expansion of the dining and kitchen zones, and a connection to the front garden. The rear yard extension contains their new bedroom and bathroom (upper floor) and a new living space connecting the interior to the garden. The remaining footprint of the existing house is given over to their three daughters, each now individual owners of private bedrooms, while the garage still has cars exiled to the driveway, but in this case in favor of an art studio for the family. On two sides of the rear yard extension, setbacks governed the placement of the volume, but on the north side, a mysterious sixth family member had a say. They told us how much they loved their seventy-year-old voluptuous coral tree in the backyard. They said that it was like another family member, perhaps like a lovable uncle who never left after a visit long ago. Of course we had no intention of removing it. Instead, we designed for and around it, shaping windows in the bedroom according to the arborescent profiles. N 03 When they lie in their bed or cook in the kitchen, these specially designed windows frame the coral tree whose veiny roots are contained by a low concrete wall. The Future / Part II One day, after their daughters have all gone to college and moved away, the house will be completed. The old house will be removed, making way for another future, the next revision to the American Dream. No doubt they will ask architecture to lift them even higher in their weightless ambience.
With an eye towards the future, the Alan-Voos decided to add the front addition to the final transformation of the house. The shocking difference between the plainspoken existing house and the unabashed and colorful fluidity of the new will ultimately disappear, making way for a unified arrangement of custom components. Or maybe we will produce a new difference again...
A
B
C
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54’-11 1/4” 16’-9 3/8”
8’-6 1/4”
15’-0 3/8”
14’-7 1/4” 08
+12'- 11 1/4" +12'- 6 1/4"
07
05
06
+11'- 3 7/8"
+11'- 2 3/8" +8'-3 3/4"
+9'- 5 5/8"
04
+7'- 11"
+7'- 11"
+7'- 3/4" +6'- 7"
03 02 +1'-8 1/8"
-0'-0"
-0'-0"
+0'- 4"
-4'-9"
01 -7'-6"
A
B
C
D
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54’-11 1/4” 16’-9 3/8” 7’-11”
8’-6 1/4” 3’-2 1/4”
15’-0 3/8” 3’-7 1/2”
14’-7 1/4” 13’-1 1/2”
9’-2 1/2”
-5'-6"
01
07 +0'-0"
+0'-0"
08
06 +1'-8 1/8"
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04
+0'-0"
06
01 +0'-0"
-1'-8"
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02
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01 04
R 04 It was, as we were told by the Alan-Voos, the sky blue ambiance of l.a. Eyeworks that sent them in our direction. The atmospheric effects of the space had taken hold of them on their frequent visits to the showroom (all five family members wear Eyeworks glasses). That the space is “clean but not minimal” was of particular attraction for them. More than that though was their visionary sense that a commercial space could be a blueprint for a domestic one. The comfort they saw in the space connected them to a seamless world where public and private and domestic and commercial are not perceived as distinct realms.
MASS X
169
02
02
PLAN / LONG SECTION EXISTING 03
01 02 03 04 05 06 R 04
Rear yard extension for lower living room and upper bedroom and bathroom for the parents Window shaped by coral tree profile Excavated patio / interior floor extension Existing house foorprint Cored out kitchen / dining zone Front extension
RENOVATED
01
GARAGE 307.07 SQ. FT.
02 03
BEDROOM 121.33 SQ. FT. BEDROOM
04
167.95 SQ. FT. BEDROOM
05 06 07
ADDITION BATHROOM 54.72 SQ. FT. DINING ROOM
08 09
250.93 SQ. FT. KITCHEN
172
MASS X
173
AL AN-VOO HOUSE
MASTER BEDROOM 169.50 SQ. FT. MASTER BATHROOM 54.50 SQ. FT.
245.93 SQ. FT.
112.50 SQ. FT.
A XONOMTERIC OF ADDITIONS & SUBTRACTION AL AN-VOO HOUSE
CONSTRUCTING GRAPHIC EFFECTS
N 05 Sophia, Lily, and Mirabelle Alan watch television in the lower living room. All the elements that make up this space, the wrap-around full-height glass, the double V braces, the disappearing sliding doors, the levitating cabinet, and the band of color that lines the ceiling, conspire to not only blur liminality but also the sense of what constitutes the digital and physical. The cause / effect relationship between, for instance, the glass and V braces (transparency = loss of lateral stability against which the braces compensate) or the TV as window to another world (temporarily negating the surrounding nature) indicate the terms by which the design is defined, such as ambient vagueness and graphically continuous.
06
03 +4'-0" -0'-8"
05
FLOOR PLAN / RCP
EXTENDED SPACE
A 3’-9”
07
+12'- 6 1/4"
+8'-3 3/4"
00m 01
156
6’-1 1/2”
LOS ANGELES, CA / 34.0731° N, 118.3994° W Com mission Single Fa mily House 195 Sq uare Meters
“Becoming excessively conscious of the air around you contains the seeds of a claustrophobe’s panic attack: what starts as noticing that there’s lot of space between you and the objects around you— breathing room—might switch to the sudden apprehension that air’s giving you no margin at all. The stuff is pressed in close on all sides, following you, boxing you in.”
CASEY K APL AN GALLERY
2005: A New Way of Life They came across an alarming statistic: Americans have 3.1% of the world’s children, but they buy 40% of the world’s toys. It shocked them. Then they looked around their house and asked, “Do we live here or does our stuff live here?” FN 01 The answer seemed painfully obvious: they were living in an erstwhile playground, a chaotic world of memories and untold trips to the toy store. The house had been given over to an adolescent order that they knew had reached its conclusion. They were waking up from a certain part of the American Dream. What started out as a common story of sovereignty (ownership of your own home) and humanity (having kids) gradually turned into a mild nightmare where all they saw were toys and objects and knickknacks coming out of the woodwork at an alarming rate. Another Barbie, another travel mug or ten? Another needlepoint pillow? Indeed, the dream and reality had become one. A new dream would have to begin. An urgent decision was made: they would invest in architecture and divest of clutter. No middle ground. Everything but the kids would have to go. They still wanted all the memories but without the vessels in which they were stored, so they turned to the digital world, a place that they had always felt was as much a part of their lifestyle as the objects that surrounded them. Pictures would be digitized to be viewed later at their discretion on new wall-mounted flat screen TVs. Grandma’s little table would find a safe place to land. Only a few deeply cherished things would be kept to remind them of their days as a young family. Everything else would go to the cloud or remain in their memory banks, recalled on demand. They weren’t looking for austerity in their consumerist cleanse however. They didn’t want architecture to discipline them or be too minimal. They simply wanted a house that they could actually see, one that would constantly lift their spirits and free them from the sensibilities of the past. In the future, the house would really be their one true possession. With their daughters then ages 16, 13, and 8 (the youngest two sharing a renovated garage), the time had come to not simply expand their 1000 sq. ft. 1940 house, they would also ask for a more mature living environment. They wanted an “adult” house.
R 01
2.19m 9.00m
01 D-101
Location: Project Ty pe: Progra m Ty pe: Size:
FAMILY BRANDING
MASS X
2.46m
16’-3 3/4”
TH-0502 / ALAN-VOO HOUSE
43
160
ATM VESTIBULE SERVICE AREA WAITING AREA
MODEL NUMBER MATERIAL PRODUCT TRADENAME
MUFG SHIBUYA
FIVE RECTANGLES OF WHITE SPACE MERGE SEAMLESSLY UNDER A CONTINUOUS FIELD OF LIGHTS. NOTHING MORE. NOTHING LESS. THE GALLERY IS A SUBSTRATE FOR CULTURE.
ENTRANCE TO 2nd FLOOR ENTRANCE GROMMET INFORMATION
04 05 06
02 D-101
159
MUFG SHIBUYA
01 02 03
09
MASS X
155
1.74m
PLAN / 1F
03 D-101
158
MUFG SHIBUYA
1T0010
NEW YORK / 40.7127° N, 74.0059° W Com mission Com mercial 420 Sq uare Meters
MASS X
N 05
3.30m 5.80m
03
Location: Project Ty pe: Progra m Ty pe: Size:
N 04
1.90m
01
TH-0405/ CASEY KAPLAN GALLERY
154
OVERLEAF Twin (inside, left / outside, right) Choisystyle axonometrics of the original design of the façade. Proposed as an insulated glass curtainwall with 4-point spider connections, the white frit with fading dot openings (erased windows) provide opacity, while the main entry vestibule is conceived as an “elastic” form of excessive three-dimensionality crafted in flat and cast aluminum panels. As a void/negative on the exterior, and a solid/positive on the interior, the entrance is an architecturally androgynous figure, a reflection of the hard and soft versions of money.
02
AFTER IT WAS FINISHED, ONE MAN WALKED BY AND SAID, “THAT USED TO BE A BANK.”
MUFG SHIBUYA
02 01
A
153
5.96m
MASS X
03 8.76m
152
N 02
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MUFG SHIBUYA
R 03
8.50m
N 02 Deep focus shot of the façade lurking behind wires, traffic lights, signage, and uninterested commuters.
151
N 08 On the second floor, the meeting rooms associated with the Private Banking Office are shaped by ceiling emergent surfaces with glass infill interior elevations. A horizontal band of perforated aluminum at eye level to the seated clients, dampens and absorbs sound, making the room whisper-quiet and free of graphics—a Zen chamber in which to make calm, levelheaded decisions about money.
What is the deep structure that lies behind the surface appearance? It changed at least the mood if not the structure of the ritual of discussing or obtaining money. As a sign, the façade’s primary role is to say, “I am NOT a bank.” In fact, we thought it said, “I am not anything until you decide it’s a bank, or a money salon, or...” Its “composition,” i.e. placement and sizing of openings were determined from the inside, but the way they were inserted into the flat, white surface was customized from the outside. The main ATM hall entrance is a 3D ‘suctioning device’ made with cast aluminum panels. Next to it, on the street level, is an extruded escalator hall entry. Above, two windows, one long, one square, both with radial corners, use a fading dot frit producing “erased out” figures.
R 03 Late Bibinba-style gyarus (girls) or Oneegyaru in Shibuya. The names of these styles change so fast that even these girls don’t know exactly what they represent, but they do belong in Shibuya. Here, one enjoys the photographic moment, the other less so. Also, “Watching Girl“ by the Japanese pop group Shonen Knife was put into rotation in the office.
N 07
04
N 07 The teller hall, with its pink and blue backlit counter. These are not brand colors, making the space less a reminder of the corporate structure of the bank and more a space of pure ambience. Here, the teller is not a bureaucrat, but a friend.
The façade is, in effect, a non sequitur, and as it does not exactly belong to the building or the style of commercial storefronts in the area, the façade is set free to enter the consciousness of the city.
R 01 / R 02 At night, Shibuya Crossing and the labyrinthine inner streets of the district are a non-stop blur of bodies and messages.
0T0030
0T0030
N 06 “Erased” interior window with etched band for privacy. This graphic strategy was an attempt to make a more ambiguous relationship between the protection (of money) and the exposure (of people). N 03
05
3.30m
N 03 / N 04 / N 05 The 15 × 20 m white, painted metal panel façade is patched into a grey metal panel building, an effective detachment of the PBO (new image) from the larger, more anonymous Mitsubishi Building (old image) above. The PBO was not strictly an invention of Mitsubishi but rather a new strategy that had emerged in the banking industry as a whole. The PBO is experience economy applied to an institutional service economy.
C
N 01 Located on the south side of the Yamanote line, the site is adjacent to, but separate from, Shibuya’s famous Zebra Crossing, giving the project an odd form of seclusion within the chaos. The new project replaced an old branch in the same location.
R 05
6.60m 8.50m
R 02
PLAN Japan is a cash-based society. Credit cards are rarely used for anything other than online or superexpensive purchases. The ATM hall consists of a long information desk that snakes around central columns, the escalator access to the PBO above, a long queuing zone, and thirty cash machines. Beyond, the space splits into a smaller hall with waiting area and counters in one bay, and the “back of the house” office area in the other. Like many interior retrofit projects, the footprint of the existing building dictated the placement of program and interior elements. Since we typically avoid making exotic plan shapes anyway, these constraints did not pressure our ambitions.
R 04 / R 05 Casa La Moraleja, near Madrid, 1973 by Miguel Fisac. We were not aware of this project until 2012 via research carried out in the office on the work of Fisac. Although unknown to us then, we include it here not only for the obvious reference to the door and window openings that appear in our work, but also for its vastly different qualities of skins. Whereas MUFG Shibuya is metallic and in search of abstract, graphic flatness, Fisac’s fabric-filled, white, concrete walls, in their buoyant three-dimensionality are completely different and can be retroactively related to a number of projects in this book, including the façade of the Endeavor Screening Room. CF P 132
Façade: The Empty/Full Signifier With literally only 30 cm of projected depth away from the building line with which to work, the façade is a taut, white metal panel skin with four openings, two entry portals on the ground floor (ATM hall), and two flush windows on the upper floor (PBO). We asked the client for as much opacity as possible, clearly working against the standard commercial storefront logic of total transparency. At first we asked for one door as the only opening. We argued that blankness was commercialism in reverse: less information = more curiosity; a technique associated with the discrete worlds of luxury brands. From the outset, our client, Mr. Wada from MUFG, worked like a record producer. He understood our concepts and at each presentation he just said, “Make it more cool!” Whether or not this strategy worked as planned, the bank doubled its business within six months of opening. Like a film director whose first movie is a box office success, we were given the green light on four more flagship PBO’s.
D
R 01
05
.85m
N 06
Reactionary Design There was no other way to approach it than to react against what was there. It was just too overwhelming, too chaotic—an attack on the senses. All you could do was close your eyes and imagine nothing, and even then, given the relatively small scale of the project, would that much nothing have any serious effect? How could we design a façade that was better than one of those elaborate neon signs that hovered above?
N 01
06
R 04
6.60m 8.50m
MASS X
E
150
TROIA
A NEW SENSE OF SECURITY
.85m 1.05m
42
TOKYO, JAPAN / 35.6640° N, 139.6982° E Com mission Office 7,000 Sq uare Meters
Saturday, 11:00am. Got cash from the ATM, at the white spaceship looking bank. Waited for Kyoko at Hachiko. Time for two cigarettes. She was tired and broke from last night. I stayed in and was fresh and had lots of time to do my hair, which I made a bit taller today because it’s rainy and I thought it might go down a bit. Rain’s always a good reason to stay inside and shop, but I’m more frugal now, so looking is just as fun since there’s so much to see. It’s wierd, everybody’s different and the same in Shibuya. I love it though.
SURFACE OF INDECISION
Big Business: The Bank of the Future? Tokyo, 2004. Our first permanent project in Japan, commissioned by the world’s largest bank no less, was a new flagship private banking office (PBO) with a massive ground floor ATM hall. They wanted to change their longstanding identity as a conservative institution, even though that approach saw them through the banking crisis of the ’90s. It would take more than a way of doing business, however, to convince the public that they were now a part of Japan’s reawakened culturesphere. It would have to involve the spatial medium of architecture. But where and on whom should the experiment be played out? In an out-of-the-way place, noticed by no one if the image makeover failed? Or in a risk/reward location noticed by many? For Mitsubishi United Financial Group (MUFG), if they’d been safe before and successful because of it, then they had currency to play with, so to speak. Risks could be taken and amidst the horror vacui of Shibuya, Tokyo, perhaps the city’s most-well known shopping district and home to, among others, hoards of fashion-obsessed teenagers (at least on the weekends) and salarymen seeking to relieve the stress of the day’s work, maybe we could be subversive in a low-key way. Maybe we could insert a noticeable piece of design that, though we knew it would become just one more tree in the forest of signs, shouted less and whispered more.
6.60m 8.50m
Location: Project Ty pe: Progra m Ty pe: Size:
Hachiko Statue, Shibuya Station, Tok yo.
CALM IN A MEDIA STORM
F
TH-0402A / MUFG SHIBUYA
01 AV CABINET BY POLIFORM
05 OPERABLE SKYLIGHT BY ACRALIGHT
FERRO MATTE LACQUER AND ALLUMINIO FINISH 02 BED FRAME BY POLIFORM
WITH SKYLIGHT MOTOR BY TRUTH HARDWARE 06 REFRIGERATOR BY SUB-ZERO
FERRO MATTE LACQUER FINISH 03 WALL LIGHT BY ARTEMIDE TALO 21 MINI WALL - WHITE FINISH
36” WITH FREEZER #736TCI 07 SUN TUNNEL BY VELUX 14” DIAMETER #TSF 014
04 SHADE BY SMITH AND NOBLE GRAND CELL HONEYCOMB SERIES - CHINA WHITE
08 KITCHEN CABINET BY POLIFORM FERRO MATTE LACQUER AND ALLUMINIO FINISH
01m
170
MASS X
171
MASS X
181
5
10
SKY SPACE N 10 / N 11 In a moment of verticality within a horizontal flow, the sky space (named by the Alan-Voos) is a double-height interstitial zone between the upper level of the kitchen within the footprint of the existing house and the split floor levels of their bedroom, and the lower living room at garden level. With windows on two ends and three skylights above, a constantly changing array of shadows moves across the smooth white surfaces of the walls and ceilings. It is an animate space, at once oceanic and atmospheric. They say it is like a space in flux, always slowly shifting.
14
18
13
The house is constructed from conventional structural and material assemblies, but their specific use here creates graphic effects that both reveal and conceal these modes of construction. A hybrid steel frame/ wood stud infill wall system is quite common in California, especially when copious amounts of glass are used. All exposed steel is painted silver, to codify its metallic nature, while the exterior surface of sand finish plaster persists in a resistance to material recognition. Its flatness and smoothness is only a substrate for the paint color on top. White drywall on the interior serves the same graphic purpose.
17 13
09 12 08
12
11
10 11
-4'-9"
N 06 If the living room is like an interior garden, then the garden beyond is a form of borrowed scenery, a technique used in traditional Asian landscape design. Here, it is the fuzei principle (“appearance; air”) that captures and presents the ambiance of the space within.
-4'-9"
01 - 7'-6"
A
B
C
3’-9”
12’-6 34” 11’-8 1/2”
3’-9 1/4”
12
D 8’-6 1/4” 5’-4 3/8”
+12'- 11 1/4"
E 15’-0 3/8”
N 07 The cantilevered stair and its acrylic guardrail were designed to support movement and life with the least amount of material possible. When bounding up and down the 1” x 12” steel tube treads, they can feel a slight deflection, like a series of miniature diving boards floating over a pool of liquid space. It is a sensation that reminds them of their physicality and of the sense that architecture too has a nervous system.
F 14’-7 1/4”
2’-8 1/2”
13
08
16
15
N 05
08
+8'-3 3/4"
N 03
11
+1'-8 1/8"
+0'-4"
13
09
N 08 What is it? An addition or an extension? It is both. It is both a volume that plugs on and one that, like an elastic membrane, is inflated from within. Outside, it is a temporary collage whose blunt connection will be relieved when the final phase is complete. Inside, the rippling whiteness of space makes every effort to dismiss the joint between new and old.
08
12
06 05
11
07
N 08
06 04 10
05
Light green and light blue, separated by a fluid, migrating reveal, amplify and subtly reflect similar colors of the sky and greenery surrounding the house.
+0'-0"
14
07
10
+12'- 6 1/4"
+11'- 3 7/8"
05
10
13 09
03
- 1'- 4 1/8"
02
N 09 Like a terminal or switching station, the kitchen is at the nexus of all spaces.
09
09 08 07
- 7'-7"
- 7'-7"
N 06
EXISTING WALL TO REMAIN
02
06
NEW WALL 05
04
04 03
T - NORTH ELEVATION / B - SOUTH ELEVATION 01 02
06
CONCRETE RETAINING WALL POLISHED AND SEALED PAINTED STUCCO
07
01m
DUNN-EDWARDS - GARDEN SHED #DE5624 ALUMINUM REVEAL BY FRY REGLET
08
3/4” REVEAL #PCS 75-75 FROSTED FILM BY SOLAR ART
09
ON 1/4” CLEAR GLASS PAINTED STUCCO
CLEAR GLASS 3/8” THICKNESS TEMPERED
05
10
PAINTED STUCCO DUNN-EDWARDS - GARDEN SHED #DE5624
DUNN-EDWARDS - SPEARMINT #DE5729
AL AN-VOO HOUSE
05
10 03
PAINTED STUCCO DUNN-EDWARDS - SPEARMINT #DE572 SINGLE-PLY ROOF MEMBRANE
03 04
MECHANICALLY FASTENED SUN TUNNEL BY VELUX 14” DIAMETER #TSF 014
11 12 13
WINDOW BY METAL WINDOW CORPORATION SERIES 1500 WITH ANODIZED ALUMINUM FINISH SINGLE-PLY ROOF MEMBRANE
174
02
02
MECHANICALLY FASTENED WINDOW BY METAL WINDOW CORPORATION SERIES 1500 WITH ANODIZED ALUMINUM FINISH
01
01 02
MASS X
N 04
175
AL AN-VOO HOUSE
176
N 07
MASS X
177
N 09
AL AN-VOO HOUSE
178
WATERPROOFING MEMBRANE BRUSHED CONCRETE
WALL SECTION DETAIL 02 / WALL SECTION DETAIL 03 08 09
OPERABLE ANODIZED ALUM. WINDOW TS 5X5X1/4 PAINTED SILVER METALLIC
03 04
3/8” CLEAR TEMPERED GLASS TWO TS 4X4X3/8
10 11
DOUBLE ARM AWNING WINDOW OPERATOR FACE MNT. DRIP SCREED OVER OPERABLE WINDOW
05 06
DRIP SCREED 3/4“ FLANNERY FLEXI DRIP W10X30 STEEL STRUCTURE
07
3 1/2”X14” PSL BEAM
12 13 14
HONEYCOMB SHADE BY SMYTH AND NOBLE 6X12 WOOD BEAM 1” COPING WITH BACKING
01 02
OUTDOOR PATIO CONCRETE - BRUSHED SLIDING DOORS BY FLEETWOOD
03 04
DRIP SCREED 3/4” FLANNERY FLEXI DRIP W10X20 STEEL STRUCTURE
05 06 07
BAMBOO FLOOR BY TERAGREEN 2” FLANNERY ALUMINUM Z-REVEAL SHARP 32” LCD TV
MASS X
Location: Project Ty pe: Progra m Ty pe: Size:
45 MASS X
183
13
1” COPING WITH BACKING
00” 02”
06”
18”
AL AN-VOO HOUSE
180
NYC HISTORY
N 10
Dear New York, I know a lot has changed Two towers down but you’re still in the game Home to many rejecting no one Accepting peoples of all places, wherever they from
N 11
of the 1950s, a strange sublimation of New York’s proud history of architectural ambition. Of course, this wasn’t the fault of architects, regardless of their ideologies. It was simply a period of time in which New York’s reserve of money, power, and ideas were nearing a point of depletion. R 03 / R 04 What city has not experienced this, especially those from whom much is expected?
—An Open Letter to NYC, Beastie Boys, 2003
R 01
R 02
- Joan Didion / The White Album
182
OMNIMOUNT PLASMA CL BRACKET 5/8” GYP. BD. PAINTED DUNN-EDWARDS WHITE EXTERIOR STUCCO PAINTED INSULATION PER TITLE 24 6X12 WOOD BEAM
NEW YORK / 40.7480° N, 74.0046° W Com mission Multi-Fa mily Residential 3,650 Sq uare Meters
“In New York the air was charged and crackling and shorting out with opinions, and we pretended we had some. Everyone in New York had opinions. Opinions were demanded in return. The absence of opinion was construed as opinion.”
HAPPY NEW COLORS 2014
08 09 10 11 12
179
TH-0503 / HL23 NYC
AL AN-VOO HOUSE
01
01
WALL SECTION DETAIL 01
R 01 Philip C. Johnson, with model of the AT&T tower, 1980. The model’s opacity lends credibility to its coffin-like program. Inside: the body of Modernism? Johnson’s own past? Or was it simply an architect changing clothes, looking for a new direction? Had he really killed Modernism or was it indifference to, or boredom of, a style that he was nearly singularly responsible for bringing to America via his International Style show at MOMA in 1932? Had he been put up to this by the theorists who engineered the historicist movement or was he simply acting in his best interests as an architect looking to build, if not a coherent legacy, then one based on pure production? Johnson, as architect and powerbroker, was instrumental in deciding when and how architecture in New York would lead by example or when it would follow market forces. The AT&T tower was ambiguous in that it seemed to be both. R 02 Left: Philip C. Johnson, right: Mies van der Rohe, with model of the Seagram Building, 1959. Mies, with hand of ownership on the model (and the design), employed tower in the park urbanism by pushing the mass back from Park Avenue by more than 100 ft. While Mies looks at the camera, Johnson stares into a future that he could not have predicted.
HL23
184
MASS X
185
HL23
186
MASS X
187
HL23
188
In the roughly two decades before 9/11, New York could have been described as a desultory accumulation of attempts to enliven a city whose architectural identity was bound up and defined by the inimitable skyline of Manhattan, a profile of ambition and power unrivaled anywhere in the world. New York could never be “reduced” to a postcard rendition of itself, yet the highly articulated world of Manhattan had, for better or for worse, always represented the entirety of the city’s immense pride in its people and their civic actions. At the end of the 1970s, the city was in the final stages of chiseling its physical features, Rushmore-like, onto the face of still the newest, greatest urban agglomeration, joining the pantheon of (old)world cities such as London, Rome, and Paris. Of course New York had come of age long before that, but in spite of the challenges during the ’70s (a near miss with bankruptcy in 1975 and a blackout in 1977 led some to believe that NYC was in decline), architecture still had the power to symbolize resilience and pride. Hugh Stubbins’ chamfered icon, the Citicorp Tower, completed in 1977, was the last tall building of the era. Standing on three cores with cantilevered corners and a tuned mass damper at the top developed by brilliant structural engineer William LeMessurier, it seemed to sum up all the will and nerve on which New York had been built. Citicorp’s daring tectonic balancing act was, as it would turn out, the city’s penultimate event in skyline transformation. New York fought through the recession of 1981-’82, when unemployment in the city reached nearly 13%, bringing architects a measure of hope. As a guarded optimism emerged around 1984, the final act in the construction of New York’s 20th century identity was, quite possibly, the completion that year of Philip Johnson’s (Johnson & Burgee) AT&T tower, a 37-story sarcophagus containing the corpse of Modernism. R 01 In its ambition to retroactively critique the apparently soulless mission of architectural abstraction, the AT&T tower was Johnson’s erstwhile dagger into the heart of Miesian universality, a crime (of passion?) felt up and down Park Avenue and beyond. The tower’s arrival brought new meaning to the idea of progress, ironically in the form of regression, and with it a dispiriting twenty years in which New York architects would only subsist off the paltry offerings from a risk-averse real estate market, while the rolled up entrance carpets of culture signified its disinterest in architectural speculation. It was an eerie coincidence too that Postmodernism’s greatest icon entered the public consciousness just as Ronald Reagan succeeded in securing a second term. Everything seemed to be stacked in favor of a conservative cultural agenda, with many architects, including Johnson, having completed the ride on the end of a pendulum that had swung to the right—a move that provided them with a new ideology, or short of that, then at least a new style. Their mission? To bring(back) a humanist touch to a city that for too long had accommodated, so they thought, the gray-flannel-suited Modernism that dominated construction from the 1950s (light and gridded) through the 1970s (heavy and gridded). R 02
R 03
R 04
R 05
R 03 Sonic Youth, 1985. Photo by James Welling. As represented by SY, not all aspects of New York’s cultural production were operating in retrenchment mode in the ’80s. The downtown music scene was, among other media, on an innovative arc, focused on continuing the experimental work of the new music pioneers of the preceding decades such as La Monte Young and the Velvet Underground. R 04 Tradition of Imagination, Neil Denari and Bart Prince exhibition curated by Glenn Weiss, Storefront for Art and Architecture / February 1985. Kyong Park founded Storefront at 54 Prince Street in 1982 with the mission to host artists, designers and architects working outside the mainstream. For everyone involved, Storefront provided a space to hang out, show current work, and to discuss the social and political aspects of architecture. Park’s activism was deeply contagious. R 05 Installation view, Deconstructivist Architecture exhibition, MOMA New York, 1988. Coop Himmelblau, Peter Eisenman, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Daniel Libeskind, and Bernard Tschumi were included.
Fallow A few years went by and while new towers were added, the lion’s share of architects in the city were still left to search for commissions outside New York. For most of those who could build in the local milieu, exposed slab edges were the best they could do, an expression not of honest modern construction (à la Louis Kahn) but of hands tied by low budgets. Buildings for a mid- to upperlevel market had begun to look even more expedient than the clean brick boxes MASS X
189
Another About Face By 1988, just four years after realizing AT&T, Johnson, with the young theorist Mark Wigley, staged the Deconstructivist Architecture exhibition at MOMA, a demonstration of Johnson’s ability to turn on an ideological dime. R 05 Postmodernism, it turned out, did not really wage a very effective war against Modernism, as even Johnson agreed that it was nothing more than a pillow fight and that he had now turned his attention to a headier architectural concept—one that he saw embodied in the work of Peter Eisenman (who theorized his work) and Frank Gehry (who did not); two architects he deeply respected and would include in the exhibition. Since the show ultimately included seven very different architects whose reluctance to the D-Con label was clearly self-communicated, the outcome was less importantly defined as the promotion of a new style, and more strategic in its implied pronouncement that historicism was already a thing of the past. Among Wigley’s major points in his critical preamble to the show, and one that fit with Johnson’s position as a curator of ideas tailored to the realm of public discourse (as opposed to a strictly academic one), was that the arguments put forward would find their greatest leverage in the form of built work, in material reality. Indeed, if Wigley brought a youthful form of theoretical firepower to the show, Johnson, meanwhile, brought his ability to find the right pulse on which to place his professional finger. Together with the formal ambitions of the work, however dissonant they were as a set of interests in service of a bigger goal, the fact that all of these architects were beginning to build (or receive commissions) with greater frequency fired a starter’s pistol into the clear air of architectural openness, as even “radical” architects were winning competitions and earning trust. Postmodernism as a dominant form of architectural production had been displaced, but not altogether extinguished. From that point forward, it would be a socialist’s paradise with everyone owning a part of the system, with differences large and small accommodated within a bundle of minor narratives and micro-paradigms. It’s still the world within which we operate today. This story emerged from the corridors of the city’s most respected institution for contemporary ideas and while it caused substantial shifts throughout the discipline on a global level, it did have a profound local effect, where that sense of anything goes had set into motion an anxiety about how New York would absorb such a conceptual tabula rasa condition. A New City After a period of broad-based prosperity under the Clinton Administration, the millennium turned and New York was six years into the Giuliani regime. The city found itself a safer and more economically stable environment, the product of a four-year economic boom—the strongest in four decades. Fueled by Wall Street and an economy that had diversified well beyond the financial sector into other rising markets such as publishing, advertising, and motion pictures, this era sponsored a change that had some wondering what had happened, amongst all the improvements, to urbanism for the masses. Safe streets meant more tourism and higher rents in the city, sending locals to New Jersey and the outer boroughs to find affordable housing, a diaspora loaded with political and social implications. Wages in the city soared in this buoyant climate, an element within a larger set of phenomena that irrevocably changed the identity of Manhattan. As land values increased, it became clear that in the world of anything goes, at least in the realm of real estate speculation, developers would issue demands to architects that foreshadowed the expectations of a new design culture in the city.
D
E
F
5.31’
12.31’
G
A
5.00’
B
C
8.08’
D
4.40’
E
F
5.31’
12.31’
PROFILES
G 8.60’
1
2
3 12.17’ 16.29’
23.31’
4
5
10.21’ 16.29’
6
7
12.33’
8
9
9.95’ 14.62’
A
15.33’
B 8.08’
9.08’
23.31’
C 5.69’
D
E
5.31’ 20.81’
F
F.1
G
G
9.81’
F 7.92’
7.92’
03
02
02
E 9.81’
D
5.31’ 20.81’
C 5.69’
B
01 02
RETAIL SPACE OFFICE
03 04 05
LOBBY RECEPTION AREA MECHANICAL CLOSET
06 07
MECHANICAL ROOM MAILBOXES
08
BATHROOM
1
1
1
1
FIRST / SECOND FLOOR PLAN
SEVENTH / THIRTEENTH FLOOR PLAN 01 02
RECREATIONAL AREA TREATMENT ROOM
03 04 05
ROOF MECHANICAL CLOSET TERRACE
06 07 08
LIBRARY POWDER ROOM BATHROOM
09
OPEN TO BELOW
00’
5’
10’
15’
01 02
LIVING / DINING ROOM KITCHEN
03 04
BEDROON POWDER ROOM
05
BATHROOM
01 02
ENTRY HALL LIVING / DINING
03 04 05
KITCHEN BEDROOM POWDER ROOM
06
BATHROOM
00’
5’
10’
15’
11.83’
11.83’
51.08’ 11.58’ 11.00’
11.58’ 51.08’ 11.00’
11.00’
11.00’
11.00’
11.00’
11.00’
11.00’
11.00’
11.00’
11.00’
11.00’
8F +75.58’
6F +53.58’
6F +53.58’
5F +42.58’
5F +42.58’
04
1F +0,00’
06
06 04
01 02
03 04 05
PENTHOUSE RETAIL SPACE ELEVATOR
00’
10’
20’
30’
01 02 03
TYPICAL CONDOMINIUMS PENTHOUSE MAIN FLOOR
03 04 05
PENTHOUSE RETAIL SPACE ELEVATOR
06 07
LOBBY HIGH LINE
04
TYPICAL CONDOMINIUMS PENTHOUSE MAIN FLOOR PENTHOUSE
04 05
RETAIL SPACE ELEVATOR
06
HIGH LINE
00’
10’
20’
03
Façades are so vulnerable these days. They bear many burdens, not only of thermal enclosure, but also of the type that are meant to disclose political and cultural intent. They awaken our senses when done beautifully and incite pathos or even anger when poorly designed. Not even a well detailed, technically resolved façade can escape the scrutiny of expert critics, the public, other architects, and of course, the owners. We all ask not only of our own work, but that of others: Why that material? Why this pattern? Is there anything behind the façade? And in this we do not mean the back-up system.
05 06
It is never enough to claim that the envelope is now the site of the most extreme forms of experimentation and novelty in construction as a way to legitimize the expenditure of so much energy on one aspect of architecture. Yet that very same claim can gain currency when it’s put into the context of the city. All building façades are interfaces at some level—they are surfaces that are to be visually, physically, and psychologically navigated. Whether they are designed from the outside in (as may be the case with more generic programs), inside out (specific lighting or vision requirements for instance), or a combination of both, the envelope speaks to a range of logics and freedoms that architects must negotiate in order to find intent. When intent cannot be found, we find disappointment. Indeed, façades are caught in a world of ambivalence, necessary devices for both resource management (sustainability) and self-expression but also instruments of urban identity and development mandates (profitability). Manfredo Tafuri’s version of this ambivalent interface is called superstructure. He writes, “Actually art is now called upon to give the city a superstructural face. Pop Art, Op Art analyses of the city’s imageability and aesthetique prospective, all these things converge toward a single objective: that of dissimulating the contradictions of the contemporary city, resolving them in polyvalent images, figuratively glorifying that formal complexity which, when read with the proper parameters, proves to be nothing more than the explosion of the incurable conflicts that elude the plans of advanced capitalism.”
Front and VIA worked separately but under one roof with NMDA to develop assembly systems for the HL23 envelope. The two major surface types, the opaque rainscreen with punched windows and the fully glazed curtainwall were both conceived as prefabricated elements whose dimensional parameters were set by material and shipping container sizes. For the north and south façades, Alf Naman requested total transparency, with solar control and privacy to be addressed through high performance glass and motorized shading systems. At first we proposed sliding louvered panels, but they were deemed inappropriate for the New York luxury market. So what stood in for luxury were not older, more pragmatic forms of solar control but rather glass technology itself, and in this case, at the limits of dimensional possibilities. Low iron (super clear), triple glazed units were designed beyond the R-values determined through energy calculations.
04
MATERIAL FABRICATION / BY COUNTRY 01 / 14TH Floor Penthouse Sliding Doors
01 Capoferri Serramenti, s.p.a. Bergamo
Stainless steel fixed and operable sections
02 / Flat Aluminum Panels
02 Guilfrom Ltd., Colchester, Essex UK
Panel used for fascias, trim, parapets, and rainscreens
03 / Structural Steel Frame
03 Structures Breton, St-Bruno-de-Montarville, QC
Prefabricated steel components including multilevel shear panels
A XONOMETRIC CURTAIN WALL MEGA-PANELS
04 / Glass Curtainwall
04 Avic Sanxin Co., Ltd. Donnguan, China
Steel megapanel components with custom integrated glass units
05 / Megapanel Back -Up
05 Island Exterior Fabricators
Thermal and structural wall assembly panels / Back up substrate for stainless steel rainscreen
06 / 3D Panels
06 TISI D.a.m.s.t.a., Buenos Aires
11.5 ft x 1.5 ft stamped stainless steel rainscreen panels with custom aluminum extrusion purlin system
MASS X
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Stephen Desimone and his team at Desimone Consulting Engineers took this general frame idea and developed a super-lightweight frame utilizing 8”-diameter steel pipes with pin connections for the major diagonals and two vertical exposed columns between bays 1 and 2. The overturning forces are resisted by a stair / elevator core that uses steel shear plates to stiffen the volume while the rotational forces are taken up by the perimeter diagonals. Since the east elevation is mostly opaque, with smaller punched windows, HL23’s structural expression is not uniform or relentless in the way that, for example, a Mies van der Rohe building is. It is a sided object with specific faces created by the program and views that guide its level of surface opacity, which in turn determine the degree to which the project leverages structure in its overall expression. We conceived the building as a merger between vectors (columns, beams, diagonals) and surfaces (undulating metallic rainscreens) or between hardware and skin. Through the long diagonals, we also sought a suppression of its repetitive floor system, the very thing that indicates commercial imperative. CF P 210
F
F.1
100
G
A
B
C
D
E
BAY 1
F
F.1
16 11
02
02
05
18
11
02
08
05
16
02
02
08
16
64°
16 02
21°
02
09
02
16 34° 02
02
65°
16
06
Lin
e
ne
Hi gh
Li
24th
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R 17 120 Wall Street inverted. There are many reasons why this never became an appropriate zoning model, primary among them: darkness and structural implausibility! The thought of putting more square feet in the sky would be a developer’s dream and a structural engineer’s fantasy but a pedestrian’s nightmare. HL23 engages these human conditions with respect and purpose, but with equal fascination for overturning (somewhat literally!) standard urban regimes. The scheme pushes fairly dramatically into the 15 ft. setback along the High Line in search of a sectional profile that mediates between an expanding building volume (client directive) and the restraint / formal interest needed to make the building less hostile to the park below. In the end, HL23 transgresses its own site as it ultimately cantilevers 5 ft. over public space, the only building in the city to do so.
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Extensive studies were carried out to determine the potential negative effects of added volume (bulk). The site’s exposure to daylight as well as it being on the north side of the park mitigated deepened shadow lines.
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N 10 View of northeast corner with exposed (primed) pipe structure and hidden (fireproofed) structure.
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No portion of the western High Line Frontage of a building, including parapet, shall exceed a height of 3 feet, 6 inches above the level of the High Line Bed
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R 16 120 Wall Street, 1930. Jacques Kahn. A classic lower Manhattan example of the standard setback laws in New York, the rectangular mass begins to step back at the 16th floor, resulting in a lo-res, pixilatedpyramidal top half.
LASER-LIKE PRECISION It was determined by the erection engineer that the frame would be erected in two phases. The frame of floors one through seven was erected with added temporary tension cables pulling and tweaking the frame into exacts positions confirmed by lasers. The concrete floor decks were then poured in two steps: floors two, four, and six first, and then floors three, five, and seven. Eight days of curing were allowed between pours. Once all of the floor decks were cured, the tension cables were removed, leaving the concrete and the steel to work together to fix the structure. The same process was repeated for floors eight through fifteen. Through all of this planning and engineering, the frame was only 1’’ off the centerline at the top of the building, a level of precision rarely achieved.
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Modification of Sec. 98-421 to permit a building over the bed of the High Line bed.
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Modifications to Yards and Setbacks
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Once digital information passes into a material state, the volatility and unpredictability of physical forces and human interaction (craft and assembly) put pressure on the tolerances that architecture must incorporate into its construction process. For a building with asymmetries and quirky load paths, HL23’s dependence on an accurately assembled steel frame grew exponentially as the project progressed. The taller the building and the more eccentric it is, the greater the tendency for the frame to be erected beyond specified tolerances. For HL23, it was determined that the top of the frame would have a 4” overall tolerance or 2” either side of the given centerline of the steel. Beyond this dimension, not only would the building not appear as designed, it would not cleanly receive the prefabricated envelope megapanels. SEE PP 236-252
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STEEL ERECTION: THE MANIA FOR ACCURACY
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Alf Naman though, probed the situation further, even in the face of this extremely inhibiting condition. He thought the site held the potential for a building that could respond to the dual pressures of a profitable pro forma and architectural significance. Knowing from early plans developed by the High Line design team that a major point of entry would be placed at 23rd Street, Naman foresaw the site as being unique among all the parcels along the park. Thus the formulation of his equally unique request to us.
HL23
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In a complex game of air-rights transfers and lot rezoning, HL23’s as-of-right zoning would not allow maximum FAR to be built on the site, a deal-breaker for most developers. Most intrusive and therefore most instrumental in making the site difficult to build on was at the same time its most powerful asset, its direct proximity to the High Line. Zoning called for a 15 ft. setback in building mass starting at 25 ft. above grade that equaled a loss of 37.5% of the possible built volume. While this setback, essentially the donation of private land to the public good, would greatly benefit the High Line’s environmental impact, it was a challenge for real estate investors seeking to build on New York’s newest and most provocative park space.
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Modification of Sec. 98-423 (a) and Table A to permit a building which does not provide the required 10' setrback at 102' in height along West 23rd. Street.
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N 07 NMDA quadrangulated between Desimone Engineers, Front, Inc. and Breton Steel of Montreal, the fabricators of the frame. We provided external geometry and setout points while Front’s envelope development determined framing centerlines.
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CURTAIN WALL MEGA-PANELS
THE MEGAPANEL A steel frame was developed for two primary reasons: 1) to keep the mullion size to a minimum, and 2) to allow a larger prefabricated unit that utilizes the control of factory conditions.
N 14 / N 15 / OVERLEAF Sanxin Glass Factory, Dongguan China. The process to construct the glass and steel-framed megapanels pushed the dimensional limits of the factory. The existing autoclaves were not large enough to laminate the glass so newer, larger machines were brought in to handle the largest sheets (11.6” x 6.0’) for the integrated glass units (IGU). The warm edge spacers were hand-applied, as the machines required for that part of the process were too small.
CURTAINWALL DETAIL-10TH FLOOR
Like the Lamborghini factory, Sanxin set up the megapanels in assembly line fashion, with teams of three working on each unique element. The steel frames and IGU’s were fabricated in separate buildings adjacent to the assembly hall. In the final stage, aluminum cassette extrusions were fastened onto the frames and the IGU’s are placed into the cassettes, sealed with black silicone, and placed onto specially designed frames for the shipping container. NMDA and Front made twelve man trips to Sanxin to inspect the production process and quality of the curtainwall. No panel would be shipped without a final inspection from our team.
HL23
FROM PLUG-IN TO SNAP-ON
N 19
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R 21 Nakagin Tower, Tokyo / Kisho Kurokawa, 1972. More than simply being the holy grail of prefabrication in architecture, this building’s metabolic hopes of renewal and regeneration attempted to unleash the medium from the bonds of total fixity and decay. The lessons learned here have been well rehearsed: architecture’s dream to live and breathe and be flexible remains active, yet with little to show in the way of material progress, it is a dream without a climax. What has advanced however, if not to the total bioutopic state of building flesh, has been in the realm of envelope prefabrication. With the simple mission of enclosure, larger factory-assembled units now work with lower levels of tolerance and with greater fidelity to material and perceptual intent. What took a long time in the construction of HL23 was its fight with the Earth, getting out of the ground. By the time it reached the sky, it inhabited the snap-to-fi
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Modification of Sec. 23-47 to permit a reduction to 25' of the required 30' rear yard on the interior lot portion
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CONDITIONED FORM For every moment of constriction in the site, a response was found within one of two methods of design: move the bounding envelope to a point of agreement with zoning or pushback against the limits. The diagrams to the right illustrate the particular incidences where each method was applied. All three exposed sides of the building required zoning variances that ultimately allowed the project to avoid the stacked or stepped massing inherent in New York Zoning laws. R 16 / R 17 On the West 23rd Street façade, sloping surfaces define the skyplane setback line on the top four floors while floors two through six have a split profile caused by the intrusion of the High Line Spur. The sloping facets of the façade allow for a more “crystalline or prismatic” building form, a result that produces a higher degree of difference between it and the context. The project then assumes a high level of fitness to the site (the High Line) and a moderate to high level of resistance to the default massing and materiality of its context.
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R 20 Walter Gropius and Konrad Wachsmann at work on their Package House project, designed in 1942. The fantasies and realities of prefabrication have been intertwined at least since the late 1940s when industries like aerospace and automotive design began to expand and integrate higher levels of technology in their processes of industrial production. Technology transfer has never easily overcome architecture’s scale and fixity, yet thinking of a building as being no different than a mass-produced product continues to occupy the minds of many architects as it has in the past.
Modification of Sec. 98-423 (a) to permit a building with a stree wall which is not located on the street line of West 23rd Street
Maximum Building Height
Max. Building Height 120'-0"
Max. Base Height 102'-0"
N 13 An early image of the 4th floor southest corner.
HL23 was sponsored by a market that had come to understand the value of an envelope that would produce an image, notwithstanding Tafuri’s fatalist discourse in the cooptation of art in service of urban commerce. To design a façade with intent in a climate of ambivalence is to accept the labor that it must perform in order to attain value. It must be highly crafted; it must have internal logic; it must say something to the city; it should, when a site calls for it, produce difference; and it must be coherent within its own language.
HL23
Modifications to Yards and Setbacks
Maximum Building Height
Architecture is a volatile mix of unstable elements, especially the ones that form the initial conditions under which design takes place. HL23 was a mixture of pressure and opportunity. The problem was how to distinguish between the two. With the demand placed on us to produce a building that would volumetrically push beyond the special West Chelsea Zoning envelope, the questions arose as to how high, how wide, and how deep the project would become. How would we know when a response to the demand would produce diminishing returns, either in terms of acceptability to the city, floor area for our client, and formal properties for us? The physical, social, political, and economic forces operating on the project seemed conceptually clear but they were not defined metrically. Everything would have to be determined in a process of approximation.
EAST FACADE SOUTH FACADE
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Transparency notwithstanding, by the mid-2000s, the façade had become such a provocative and crucial element in global architectural production that new offices of envelope specialists had begun to spin off from multidisciplinary consulting companies, none of which was more on the rise than Front, Inc. of New York. (When we engaged \ them in 2005, their office numbered just seven people. Today they employ more than forty in four offices.) While Bruce Nichol of Front served as façade consultant, the office was, in the meantime, becoming even more ambitious by initiating a spin-off company called VIA (owned by Front partners Michael Ra and Marc Simmons) to produce façade components for specific jobs. A sort of envelope superpower emerged nearly overnight.
09EN3
“One material sums up the idea of atmosphere and may be thought of as embodying a universal function in the modern environment. That material is GLASS. Advertising calls it ‘the material of the future’ - a future which, as we all know, will itself be ‘transparent’.” - Jean Baudrillard, The System of Objects
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R 19 Lamborghini Factory ca. late 1960s. These cars were set up in assembly line fashion, but much of the work was done by hand. The most advanced buildings today resemble this model. Digital information is automated and ultimately fabricated through human manipulation.
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Just two months into the design process, HL23 had taken shape. The general approach to both the geometry and the envelope gave signals about how a possible framing diagram might work. With a volumetrically inflated top third and squeezed bottom third, the tower was conceived as a braced tube with a robust core and long diagonals on the perimeter. In order to accentuate a sense of verticality in a mass that is proportionally ambiguous (slender from one view, broader from another), the diagonals stretch across two structural bays and down three to four floors. Because these braces touch fewer panel points, they have been designed with large, flat base plates that bolt to each intersecting beam. This technique directs the eye more smoothly up and down the façade, creating a metagraphic of four stacked bundles or what we call MegaFloors (see illustrations to the right).
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This game of give and take would ultimately lead us to the realization that a commission for a private residential tower would eventually turn into a project about icons, politics, and public space. MASS X Everything.
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FLATIRON BUILDING MADISON SQUARE PARK
N 06 View of HL23 site looking north. Any romantic ideas that still remained about dead tech and the industrial past in New York lived on in sites like this. New architecture would have to contend with this history.
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N 05 View of the High Line looking south, 2004. Tenth Avenue and the London Terrace apartment building on the left. The site, once an inconsequential sliver of land next to an industrial relic, became one befitting of a graduate school thesis. Charged and pressured, you could see that something out of the ordinary would emerge from such odd and cramped conditions.
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R 14 Damien Hirst, Spot Paintings, Gagosian Gallery 21st Street, New York, 2013. Since the mid 1990s, when the art world abandoned SoHo, West Chelsea has absorbed more than 350 galleries.
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URBAN BONSAI The second and third floors are set back from the edge of the High Line 8 ft. (instead of the requisite 15 ft.), a consequence of the internal pressures to make an adequate plan depth for the duplex unit on those two floors. From there, the building cascades out and up to the east, a fluid path that defies both gravity and the zoning envelope. At the 7th floor, the building expands to 40 ft., the width of the site and tangent to the High Line balustrade below. At the 10th floor, the profile continues its migration until it reaches its full width of 45 ft. Rather than having the building appear to be shoehorned into a site, we had to think about it as a piece that, like a bonsai tree (see R19 above), flows out of a sectional condition and, in this case, into the continuous void provided by the High Line. It was a moment in which to analyze discretion. If we were too aggressive, surely we would be opposed by every agency. If we were too restrained, we would not reach a level of financial plausibility.
CONTEXT PLAN
N 04 Monastery, Neil Denari, 1983. Designed for a site on 8th Avenue and 26th Street, this early project is set up around a deep threshold between solid and void and between the free space of the public and the even freer space of the mind. It was conceived of as the Chelsea Hotel meets Riker’s Island.
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ELEVATIONS The three primary elevations of HL23 describe both the “found” and “imposed” forces operating on the building form. If abiding by the 15 ft. setback from the High Line was impossible from a development perspective, then the key question in the process of formulating a possibly successful response was how to transgress this limit. For the visitor on the High Line, a body moving on a line through a garden, the north and south elevations will be perceived, at least from a distance, as flat profiles. Like a zoom lens, the eye of the visitor moves closer to the building surface with each step, a cinematic experience without the fixed seat. As a collective public, the five million people that now visit the High Line each year become a builtin audience (or further, a viewership) for whom HL23 is a participant in their total experience of the High Line. We recognized this from the project’s inception and found it an astonishingly provocative condition to which to respond. Only the Pan Am building, we thought, had such a sense of frontality and graphic flatness, in a city full of corner and infill buildings that are almost always perceived in the oblique. Here on the High Line, we were given the opportunity to design for an animated experience that could seize upon a collaboration between the flatness of graphic effects and the experience of deeper form through the duration of time and space. It was a convergence of architectural agendas that seemed, in many ways, unlikely to ever take shape in this fashion again.
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R 13 Andy Warhol with Mario Montez, filming Chelsea Girls, 1966. Throughout the 1960s and ‘70s, the Chelsea Hotel, where most of this film was shot, was a haven for a broad cast of deviant characters including Bob Dylan, William S. Burroughs, and Sid Vicious. It was an early establishment of Chelsea’s identity as a locus of art, music, and literature.
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R 15 View of High Line looking south at West 12th.
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EMPIRE STATE BUILDING BRYANT PARK MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
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The High Line / 2005 A site on which many architects had speculated, the High Line went from being an urban obstacle to an urban miracle when Joshua David and Robert Hammond formed Friends of the High Line in 1999. They saw an opportunity to make a linear park that would be both object and infrastructure—a line that is both hard and soft in form and material. Twenty-five feet removed from the ground plane of New York, the High Line.
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N 03 Benny Chan’s photograph from March 2012 reveals a building whose craft delivered on the perfection encapsulated within the digital rendition, though it is of little concern to us that this is the case. For NMDA, a photorealistic image, a type produced on a near daily level in-house, serves only to depict what the factual aspects of the building are, i.e. its form, material, geometry, etc. It many ways, they are WYSIWYG, even possibly banal as a style of representation. They are harsh and direct, with little poetry. Though HL23 “looks like” the CG image, it only does so in the medium of photography as it is reflexive of the digital version.
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N 02 Installation view of HL23 model, Skin + Bones, Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, 2006. Juxtaposed against the work of designers such as Hussein Chalayan, Issey Miyake, and Dries Van Noten, HL23’s metallic-patterned geometry relates to the surface logics of sheet / fabric tectonics and seaming used in fashion design.
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R 11 41 Cooper Square, Morphosis, 2009. While not located in West Chelsea, this animated, luminous block quickly followed the IAC building as the second groundup building completed in New York by Los Angeles architects. With HL23 as the third building in a coincidental trilogy of “LA” projects, New York had graciously opened its doors, as it is known to do, SEE SONG LYRICS P 188 for West Coast architects.
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-THIRD
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R 09 Co-developer Alf Naman photographed in the HL23 sales office, 2008. Naman, whose eye was focused for years on West Chelsea, had examined multiple sites around and underneath the High Line, looking for ways not only to maximize the potential of fallow ground, but also to advance an architectural agenda that would set a standard that City Planning could hold up as exemplary.
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R 08 Weaving its way through red brick industrial architecture and glazed prismatic masses, the High Line landscape designed by Field Operations subtly inflects views and ergonomic relationships between the visitor and the scenery beyond.
R 12 Like all contemporary projects, they begin life as CG avatars delivered to both the public and the profession in a set of digital illustrations / renderings. In this unstylized photo-collage, HL23 appears to the naked eye as a completed building.
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R 07 40 Bond Street, 2007, Herzog & de Meuron. Developed by Studio 54 founder Ian Schrager, 40 Bond sold for an average of $2500 / sq. ft., then a record in the burgeoning real estate market in Manhattan.
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Background Becomes Foreground Although cities contain stable monuments such as memorial plazas, parks, cultural institutions, etc., it is the sustained flux of the masses that makes cities thrive. The inert mass of architecture, then, stands as a literal set of brick walls that, like a particle accelerator, contains the energies and flows of bodies and, more virtually, the flows of capital and politics. Moreover, in an urban context, all buildings—at
N 02
R 10 IAC Headquarters, Gehry Partners, 2007. West Chelsea’s cornerstone icon is Frank Gehry’s first allglass building and first freestanding building in New York. The linear arrangement of self-similar prisms, graphically bundled together by horizontal bands of fading white frit, gives the project a complex coherence.
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ARCH TECTS
ZONING WAIVERS: STANDING OUT AND FITTING IN
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HL23
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R 06 World Trade Center/Twin Towers, 1971, Minoru Yamasaki. 1,240,000 m2 of floor area. These two towers carried the weight of the world to the extent that the tip of Manhattan was/is like an inverted pyramid, one point into which all global forces flow.
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The Media Approximately a year and a half after its inception, HL23 was included in Skin + Bones at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, an exhibition organized by then Curator of Architecture and Design, Brooke Hodge. N 02 In promoting a provocative and materially tangible relationship between architecture and fashion design, the show’s unabashed support for a purely aesthetic dimension positioned HL23 within a discourse on the exotica of shape, pattern, and detail. In many ways these elements constituted the lingua franca of global design and of much of the architecture that had begun to emerge in New York. Even in its preliminary state, HL23, like many of the projects in the show, lived on anticipation alone—as though the renderings and models were becoming more real than surrogate. The promise of realization had become realization itself. Yet this post-Baudrillardian condition was not one of hyperreality. Rather, it represented a palpable hope tinged with anxiety that such things could be built in cities longing for new architecture. By assessing the models of projects such as the Bird’s Nest stadium by Herzog & de Meuron, Greg Lynn’s Bloom House, or HL23, one could easily interpret this design era as a moment of unfettered desire when lavish materials, structural expressionism, and bold geometry gave life to an often unrewarded profession capitalizing on innovative construction systems and apparently unending resources (at least in the case of China). Prior to the financial devastation of September 2008, this perception may very well have been the case, as, in hindsight, the architectural experiments of the Beijing Olympics seem to have closed the book on the exhibition’s aesthetic agenda just one month prior to the Lehman Brothers collapse. Realization was uncertain for many projects in New York after this time, but the projects included in Skin + Bones were awarded a kind of discursive afterlife. Within both academia and the public sphere, architectural discourse on topics such as the role of form in a post-signature world or the viability of aesthetics gave these projects weight and presence. After Skin + Bones traveled to Tokyo in 2007, HL23’s models and drawings were expanded into a solo exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York (Fig. 3) that opened in June 2008, curated in-house by architectural historians Donald
The Expectation of the Digital If the status of HL23 accrued an artistic patina through its inclusion in these exhibitions, it was in March 2008, the project’s official marketing launch, that the building’s public audience dramatically expanded. From that moment on, the seven renderings prepared by the noted digital illustration house Hayes Davidson propagated wave-like across the internet, splashing onto the screens of every designer, architect, student, and real estate aficionado, whether builder or buyer. Shocking perhaps in its extreme form and material presence—and perhaps equally shocking in that a West Coast architect with no major building experience had been entrusted to carry out such an ambitious project—HL23 became a lightning rod of discussion among a diverse array of curious onlookers. Published in no less than fifty media outlets in just a few months, it was immediately classified as outrageous, futuristic, sublime, ugly, contextually sensitive, totally inappropriate, and sustainable in its class; some even believed it was a finished building, due to the realism of the images. R 12 In this boom-era world of New York real estate, blogs such as Curbed had become the dominant sites of everyday opinion, with uploaded amateur photography documenting its construction process nearly piece by piece. Through the lenses of these architecture chasers, people everywhere had access to a highly mediatized experience of HL23, even New Yorkers though it was rising in their own city. The blogosphere, where reality and fiction are easily interchanged, advanced a newfound mythology of architecture, allowing celebrities and fashion magazines to refine its status as a luxury commodity located in a consumer field of other highly designed products. Rapper Kanye West, for example, concluded that he “would die without HL23,” while Vanity Fair proclaimed it New York’s most fashion-forward new building design. At the end of the year, HL23 was included on many top-ten lists of most important buildings, even though it was still in its early phases of construction. The sum total of this (over)exposure secured HL23’s place among the top projects of the era, but it also threatened to exhaust interest in the building. Here, HL23’s singular form managed to fulfill its own ambition toward a long-lasting presence, suggesting that material reality was gaining greater influence over the quicksilver nature of its digital precursor.
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N 01 Union Square Lofts, 2000-01. Even NMDA was invited to work in this new milieu. Commissioned by Richard Kusack Capital Resources, this residential condominium project located on 17th Street, pushed the FAR of a 28’ wide infill building to the southern end of a through-block site. Its primary features, a mildly zigzagged cross section and a high-contrast pattern on the curtainwall, suggested a degree of urban and graphic agitation that would later inform us on the uncannily similar commission for HL23. The events of 9/11 halted the project in its tracks.
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Albrecht and Thomas Mellins and designed by Pandiscio Co., the firm responsible for HL23’s brand identity and media campaign. In 2009, NMDA was invited by Syracuse University to stage an exhibition on HL23 as part of their “Architects Work” series. Each of the post–Skin + Bones exhibitions had vastly different audiences, evidence of the flexible ways in which HL23 could be perceived. Whether as exotic urban infill in a fast-changing neighborhood or as an advanced geometric and material enterprise, these institutional domains indelibly shaped the building’s discursive identity. Thus, positioned as an exhibition-worthy project prior to its realization, HL23 functioned not as a finished object or celebrated effort, but as an ongoing experiment and a seductive image for circulation. The objects on display functioned less at the level of aesthetic contemplation and more as a kind of cipher, whose fluidity represented a paradigmatic moment in architectural design and also the larger context of its sponsorship.
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The building it seemed, would be charged with monumentality even though it was a relatively small, private program, and thus it would have to negotiate between standing out and fitting in. Although HL23’s unconventional site provided a combustible array of restrictions and freedoms, even more straightforward sites in the vicinity had equally eccentric buildings placed on them. R 10 / R 11 In fact, most of the new work that has emerged in West Chelsea and the West Village is often thought to be a collection of monuments: a kind of Roman Forum for art and architecture created not by the hand of a single architect but by an array of offices looking to change the face of civic space through individual buildings. It seemed that if the irrational exuberance of New York’s post-9/11 building frenzy were to become opportunity rather than mere opportunism, the work around the High Line would ultimately define the era’s practices—not those of architectural offices but rather the customs and rituals of investing and building—and surely the media glare would be most blinding there. In the frenetic pace to develop ideas, it would be necessary to find time to reflect on the urban environment and consider the ways in which design—possibly of a spectacular form—could become something more than an instant monument reliant on nonconformity and aesthetic difference. Nonetheless, whether via the demand of clients or the ambitions of architects—often both—the compulsion to make bold statements around the High Line was both admirable and dangerous; a reflection of a renewed appreciation for design and a treacherous incursion into the calming sensibility of the High Line. This would set the critical agenda for the balance of the decade and perhaps the start of the next. No project stood closer to that perilous agenda than HL23.
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Architecture Again, Again By 2005, the year HL23 began, the market for condominium design in New York had expanded to epic proportions. R 07 This avalanche of design was largely welcomed in a city haunted by the economic aftereffects of 9/11, which had further exacerbated an existing construction dry spell and architectural aridity. But beyond shaping a new urban profile for the city, the public profile of architecture itself underwent dramatic revision. Indeed, it was impossible to avoid the media presence of design-conscious condos as they metastasized across the internet, magazines, and even television. Architectural journalists seemed fatigued by the task of covering the influx of new residential construction. Thus, while celebrated new cultural institutions were (finally) constructed in this hot global economy, they were outweighed by their residential counterparts whose mass media and market fervor acquired an unprecedented public presence. In essence, the private domain—both the program of living and the economics of development—had been transposed into the public sphere. Furthermore, as the vagaries of envelope aesthetics and a decrease in massing restrictions shifted the conversation, the civic domain in New York became agitated by debate—an acceleration of conditions already in effect due to the heavy political discord surrounding Ground Zero. Amid this volatility, HL23 landed on a fault line of shifting urban plates. In the heady conditions in New York at the time, precision and talent could deliver value, but hubris could produce a regrettable ending. Ultimately the public would decide a project’s success or failure with real-time effects on urban development. Represented by the blogosphere and abetted by public opinion fomented in the street, contemporary discourse shifted building to another domain beyond the purely material and experiential.
Urban Alchemy With the High Line, a new urban park appeared in New York. Plans to reclaim the West Side elevated rail tracks caused an unprecedented chorus of political and emotional voices to call for the long-neglected piece of urban flotsam to be converted into a linear garden. Surely this represented more than mere lip service to burgeoning eco-urban consciousness. For decades a dead-tech hulk, a reminder of New York’s stunning growth and subsequent antiquation of much of its infrastructure, the High Line was to become a twenty-block-long nature walk, presenting the city around it as a kind of living diorama of architectural specimens. Along with the flora planted in the High Line’s elegantly designed concrete plank system, the world just beyond its guardrails showcases a diverse urban genera: 1960s social housing slabs, billboards, car parks, distant river views, and alreadyand near-famous buildings. R 08 Sounding and looking like a world envisioned by English novelist J. G. Ballard,CF P 4 12 Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s High Line proposal suddenly captivated New York with the opportunity to look into its collective history and identity. And while the soul-searching went on, at least in the High Line’s formative stages, the very urban body being inspected was morphing into a shape not seen since the rise of Midtown in the 1950s and ’60s. The speculative dimension of urban development had come to supply commissions to architects ready to engage the thrilling—even unprecedented—acrobatics of building over, around, between, and on top of a new monument that had actually been there all along, creating a tableau of formally elaborate new construction projects. Therefore, while fueled by surging global wealth, New York’s construction boom was also spurred on by the creativity of risk-taking developers and designers. But whereas the monuments of the earlier era of design conscious Manhattan, among them the Lever House and the Seagram Building, largely operated under a rigid set of modernist codes, the just passed era of design experimentation had seemingly killed moral modernism and kicked opened the door to novelty. What was at once a referendum on public progress also narrated the quixotic effects of market logics. Over the course of its life, from its commission in March 2005 to its completion in the first quarter of 2012, HL23 maintained a constant presence in the public sphere. The project emerged through careful introspection and debate in the New York City Planning Commission. Seven zoning waivers were granted to developer Alf Naman R 09 to construct a project that would challenge the best laid plans of the Special West Chelsea District’s sensitive zoning codes. Given a site that was considered unbuildable in previous eras of development—a sliver of land next to an infrastructural relic —HL23 began and eventually ended as a nonconformist project: a building whose restive massing defies zoning because of client demand, not out of premeditated architectural ambition. It was clear, however, that even without authorial drive, the pressures of the building’s context would force a formally unique solution. Twenty-third Street provides the major midpoint access to the High Line, and serves as a major east-west artery in Manhattan, so HL23’s immediate proximity to the horizontal flow of people, cars, and (formerly) goods created the need for its vertical Z-axis expression at Chelsea’s most important urban cruciform. Dictated more by the cultural and urban contingencies of the site than by the zoning envelope given in the Special West Chelsea Plan, HL23’s spatial and material logic was imbued with speculation at every turn and by everyone involved.
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least at the level of the façade—acquire a public persona, especially those buildings that differentiate themselves through form or material. HL23, regardless of its private program, was immediately annexed into public space because of its site— 23rd Street at the High Line—catalyzing and contributing to a timely discourse on urban sustainability in New York.
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Massive Loss Then, in 2001, the ultimate indignity came: the massive, indescribable, and immeasurable loss of life, the destruction of twin abstract icons at the foot of Manhattan, and economic havoc wreaked on a city with a mission to build up. The stock market closed for four days and, for some time, fear and uncertainty gripped the city while the void left by the towers created nothing but infinite sadness. Forever dismissed as all bulk and no style, the World Trade Center towers had instantly become, in their absence, things of beauty and lost references for New York’s position at the top of the global financial and cultural structure. R 06 With mourning though came a sense of urgency, even defiance, in the desire to restore not only a sense of urban security and calm but also the economic vitality the city had worked so hard to establish prior to 9/11.
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Architecture Again In 1969, Richard Meier transformed a Bell Telephone Laboratory into the Westbeth Artists’ Housing just a few blocks north of where, in 1999, he was commissioned to design two new 16-story glass apartment towers. Thirty years had elapsed between serious New York projects for Meier (a Pritzker Prize winner), who, despite this, had been prolific beyond his backyard. Commonly referred to as the project that started the new wave, the Perry Street towers were the direct manifestation of faith not only in the economy and the flow of wealth into the city, but also in architecture as a civic statement, albeit within the apparatus of luxury housing. N 01
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painting. This finish, along with the clear anodized cassettes, produced differences in reflectivity and specularity. A kind of vibration was witnessed, even under a mix of natural and artificial lighting that we suspected would behave in curious and unpredictable ways in the New York light.
Front suggested a wrapper of 1 mm bead-blasted stainless steel around the welded carbon steel of the frame instead of expending resources on grinding welds and
N 18 Jonathan Chin of Front inspects the operable glass unit, made by Schüco China. The window is large enough for him to walk through it!
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N 16 The first curtainwall mock-up tested the technical capacity and visual effects of the steel frame in relation to the jumbo glass and various densities and edge conditions of the fritted dot pattern. The aluminum cassettes also ranged in finish from clear to black anodized. Although we were looking to reduce the number of mullions in the system and to minimize the joint size between the IGU’s, we had to consider the graphic effects of the grid that we would end up with. Like choosing a stroke thickness in Illustrator, working with extrusions and finishes leans toward the graphic side of construction.
N 17 The first finished curtainwall megapanels, here photographed at Sanxin, show the various graphic and atmospheric effects of the system. The 13” wide frit stripes contrast with the finer grain lines of the mullion joints while the low iron glass seems to disappear altogether.
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