Christopher Caleb Hansen Selected Works 2011-2014
Emerge.
4th semester
Framed.
2nd semester
Draped.
120 Hours competetion 2014, w/ Jason Nam, Honorable Mention
Carved.
5th semester
Seam.
6th semester
Almost more of a machine than building, it aims to enhance ones experience of seascapes by complete deprivation of the senses. Creating a stark juxtaposition between inside and outside. This structure engages with it’s context but it is not bound to it. It is nomadic. Free to travel the world. It borrows from technology used for testing sounds in rooms called anechoic chambers. Inside, no sounds can penetrate from outside, nor any survive inside. It is so quiet that one can hear the blood pumping inside your body. This room functions as a reset button, that swipes the senses clean. You enter with the static of the world to be deprived of no sound and no light. You emerge to a complete contrast of sensory overload that enhances your experience and perception of space.
Emerge, sketches
Emerge, sections
Emerge, model 1:20
Emerge, model, 1:20, entrance
Emerge, seascape views
Although the desire to take back the downtown of Prague as a place for people to live in is acknowledgeable, placing 2000m2 of private residential space within the downtown, on the riverbank of Vltava deems to be problematic.This conceptual project within a sensitive urban context, is a tongue in cheek response to, in my opinion, a poorly written brief. The amount of space is not needed, too large for the area, not suitable for the given plot, and the notion of creating highly private space within a highly public space just seems wrong. While the monumentality is a flippant response, it also takes advantage of it’s form
Framed, siteplan and diagram
to create a public area. This comes from the idea that monuments unavoidably create public space around them through shear presence. Private residential space is placed high above the city floor, while the area below becomes a stage for public activity and city hub by reconnecting the Vltava embankment from the Charles Bridge to the Manes cafe. The result? A structure both sensitive and insensitive to it’s context. Since the second semester, my perspective and opinions on this project have changed. I don’t agree with my result, but I still like the appearance as an object in and of itself.
Framed, visualization
Framed, sketches, diagrams and visualisations
Framed, model, 1:500
Framed, model 1:500
Framed, model 1:500
existing trees
hemp rope
woven ramie fabric
Life was sustainable before advanced technology. It seems odd that advanced technology and our lack of understanding of it, has put us in the situation we are in now. Yet, society continues to invent technology as a solution to combat these problems. Why are we trying to dig our selves out of this hole? Sustainability is a way of thinking, a perspective. It’s an understanding of materials and your surroundings as a part of a process. Things come from somewhere and eventually must go somewhere, a process that needs to be managed from beginning to end. During the lifespan, they should be efficiently used. Creating things that are environmentally sustainable become of little use when they have no societal value. They must be of value to us, but also economically accessible.
Draped, 120 hours competition w/Jason Nam, Honarable mention
schematic layout
Constructing a large structure to demonstrate sustainability seemed contradictory. Our ideas was to strip it down to the bare necessities and use the existing structure of the trees. With hemp rope and loosely woven ramie fabric, a series of intimate and open spaces are created. This fluid structure is not completely open, giving the illusion of intimacy. Sustainabilty is not using solar-panels and titanium nano-particle filters, but it is more like the way we built forts out of bedsheets as a kid.
Draped, 120 hours competition w/Jason Nam, Honarable mention
House for a Priest Immersed in the foliage of trees, a void is carved out. A minimal livingspace surrounded by nature, by God. A small space, with a large experience. A space for contemplation, connected to the sky and nature. Beneath lies a lush open garde, open to any who wish to visit.
Carved, house for a priest
Carved, conceptual sketch
Carved, process sketches, siteplan
Carved, section and plan
Carved, western elevation
Carved, northern elevation from street
Carved, model, 1:50
Carved, visualization, view from garden
Carved, visualization, connection to nature
Carved, visualization, connection to the cosmos
Macro strategy Comprehensively the project aims to solve the museum’s lack of engagement in it’s surrounding context. Considering the areas placement and qualities, it has the potential to become a cultural centre in the middle of Prague’s city centre. To the east of the colonnade there is space for further cultural development. On the west side, across the small river there is also room for development so that the long Kampa park becomes the centre piece of public space in between future museums, theatres and other cultural institutions. The macro strategy involves organizing the existing space further by extending a colonnade from the north entrance to the southern entrance of the park. This space, clearly organizing what space is public park and what is provided for cultural development. The colonnade nicely guides visitors coming from the Charles Bridge through the park where future buildings physically or visually connect to. On one side is the park, on the other places to see art or theatre and so on. The idea is that in the future the surrounding institutions will influence the publice space that it is organised around, turning the island into a cultural quarter of Prague. In order to create a symbiosis between the park and the museum, having each part influence each other, the northern side of Kampa was chosen to host the extension. Although a sensitive and protected part of the park, the romantically atmospheric qualities reflect the spirit of the museum. Historically this was part of the Mills original land, therefore it already feels like it belongs to it. The northern side is also the most welcoming part of the park, where the majority of foot traffic from Charles Bridge passes by to stroll beneath the trees along the river and then continue on to discover the museum and rest of the island.
Seam, macro strategy concept sketch and proposal diagram
“It is the responsibility of a museum or other cultural institution to engage with it’s surrounding context and give back to it.”
Seam, siteplan
Seam, isometric view
Emerge,
Seam, colonnade elevation from north to south, visuals of moments along colonnade
Seam, visualization, view of underground exhibition space
Micro Strategy In order to preserve the strong existing qualities and characteristics of the space, an extension is placed underground connecting to the old building. Kampa Museums integrity is preserved and does not have to compete with a dominating new building that would likely destroy the already well functioning space. The underground galleries contrast with the existing museums transparentness to the outside, which distract from what should be in focus, the art. Sadly the existing museum does not function or feel like one. Low ceilings and tiny rooms cramped with art and confusing circulation.
“When you only see a part, it’s even stronger than seeing the whole. The whole might have a logic, but out of it’s context, the fragment takes on a tremendous value of abstraction. It can become an obsession.” - David Lynch
Therefore you are transported down into an underground world, somewhat like a historical excavation, where the only focus is the art itself. The shape of the extension comes from avoiding the crowns of the trees in order to protect and preserve the existing qualities. This process does take away smaller bushes and shrubberies, clearing open spaces in between the trees, views become more visible and the area of the park becomes more open. The goal is to emphasize the existing qualities and the feeling of this area. The visitor should already feel the presence of the museum. Since both parts should influence each other, the ceilings of the underground galleries poke slightly through the ground, to create grassy podiums for the now imprisoned sculptures to rest upon. Skylights function as benches, placed to give views towards existing landmarks on the other side of the river. The placement corresponds natural lighting below that is intended to lead the visitor on around corners. These podiums become stages not only for the sculptures, but for everyday life. The museum court becomes a stage for public activity, whether it is simply observing the park or for festivals like the United Islands. The intervention is intended to be a subtle and modest, respecting the area, yet attempting to enhance the existing characteristics. The underground structure can vaguely be read from above, slightly revealing that there is something below ground.
Seam, micro strategy, split section view
+11.270
+11.270
+7.750
+7.750
+3.940
+4.450
+/-0.00
-0.400
-2.200
-5.000
Seam, section of underground connection
+0.350
+0.800 +/-0.00
-5.000
Emerge,
+/- 0.00
+/- 0.00
+/- 0.00
+0.800
+/- 0.00
+/- 0.00
+0.400
+0.400 -1.400
Seam, plan of extension from existing museum
+4.200
+1.700
+0.800
+4.200
+4.200
Emerge,
Views from skylight benches.
Seam, diagram of directed bench views
5 160 mm
+/-0 mm
9
2
+350 mm
830 mm
+800 mm 3
160 mm
4
1
9
350 mm
7
8
5.1
6 12
10
11
9
150 mm
1
13
750 mm
3 1 150 mm
400 mm
5000 mm
400 mm
150 mm
14
2
Reinforced concrete
2
Hydro & Vapor barrier
3
XPS insulation
4
Soil
5
Double glazed opaque safety glass
5.1 Diffused safety glass
4100 mm
-5000 mm
15
16
17
18
100 mm 250 mm 500 mm 150 mm 100 mm 19 250 mm
5150 mm
250 mm
Seam, technical section of underground exhibition space
1
6
Daylight simulation lighting
7
Silver patina spruce cladding
8
PUR panel with brushed steel cladding
9
Corten steel cladding
10
Steel structural rib
11
Air gap
12
Brushed steel panel
13
Ventilation outlet system
14
Spot lights
15
Electrical cables
16
Raised flooring steel support legs
17
Ventilation outlet system & buildup room
18
Aluminum ventilation grill
19
Reinforced concrete piles
+/-0.00
+0.350
-5.000
Seam, cross section
Seam, visualization, end gallery space with large atrium