Principles & theories

ARC3015: Principles & Theories of PROCESSES Architecture IMAGINATIVE ARCHITECTURAL

Louisa Treadwell Portfolio Submission - AP5 Session 2014/2015 Following spread. Map of the running routes taken Stage 3 by members of mapmyrun.com within Newcastle.

IMAGINATIVE ARCHITECTURAL PROCESSES

Following spread. Map of the running routes taken by members of mapmyrun.com within Newcastle.

Conceiving architecture through established methodologies and ensuring the language of the active drawings are not lost as they are transformed into precise drawings.

The design process, within every project, can be influenced by one or more interests, inspirations and methodologies; whether these be small or large, they will form the backbone of an entire project. Particular methodologies can influence a design process - each being unique to the preference of the individual; I have always found practical, creative techniques a successful method of work. The introduction of Lucy Skear’s work made me aware that the established methods of print-making created a subtractive and additive style of architecture that related to the imprinting and corrosive nature of the runners on the city’s topography. While the creative techniques of Enric Miralles’ sketches introduced me to the idea that all drawings contain “spatial representation”1 with scale, “however far removed from the ordinary experience of artwork”2. By allowing the artwork to incorporate the architectural, it triggered a different way of thinking. This year my work has seen a transition: the fusing of art and architecture to establish a new and exciting mode of architectural representation, most notably the subtractive and additive forms seen in printmaking.

Following spread. A secondary map showing the running routes within Newcastle, focusing on the wear of the city from both the buildings and the runners foot - the erosion of the city.

The influences that remained throughout the year have been the established methodology required for making prints and the subtractive and additive results the clay prints produced - more recently, the Enric Miralles sketches which have helped to reestablish a looser approach to descriptive drawing.

This essay seeks to explore how methodologies can inspire not only the design process, by allowing for the formation of a deeply established design concept and development, but also trigger an inspired mode of engagement and thinking, as a result of drawing and producing in a different style to previous projects.

the act of making is an embodied way of thinking.

Early inspiration came from the artist Lucy Skear, whose work cannot easily be read – “an inter-layering of motifs disorientates ways of looking and classifying recognisable things”3.

Producing prints from table tops, she covers the table with ink, lays paper on top and then rubs the paper to lift the pattern from the table top, revealing the various scratches and marks left in the table over time, repeating this until all the ink has been taken from the table, resulting in a series of different ‘impressions’ taken from the surface. She then adds engraved marks to the table, effectively intervening in its history. Her methodology particularly took my interest: the act of taking away from a surface for it to be readded onto another - thus the beginning of the subtractive and additive nature of architecture.

Installation view at Kunsthalle Basel, Lucy Skaer solo exhibition, “A Boat Used As A Vessel�, 5 April - 14 June 2009 monoprint, ink on paper

Without the clear knowledge of an architectural outcome, the study of Skear’s work was initially difficult for me to undertake; the prints I produced have a delicate, yet complex architectural nature to them – a quality I appreciated towards the end of the production. I soon discovered that working in a different style developed a new and exciting methodology.

I realise now that this new approach has enhanced my understanding of the seemingly limitless planes of architectural representation. Some might argue that this style of working has disqualified my traditional architectural skills; the methodology of my development work is more frequently found within an artist’s studio – print making, clay modelling, drawing and painting. Despite this I believe that these alternative processes have made me more skilled as an architect; I am able to identify spaces, forms, thresholds and limits within all types of drawings and 3D configurations.

Monoprints taken from the 3 clay maps.

A mixture of charcoal, chalk and ink.

Through the use of a variety of tools the clay map illustrates the subtractive and additive forms in a multitude of ways.

Following spread. A collection of photos showing the development work: clay modelling, acrylic painting and plaster casting.

I have used this work throughout the year to ensure my project has a strong affinity from start to finish; the landscaping of my graduation project has stemmed from drawings I made of the prints. They identify linear patterns within the print and, when overlaid onto the site map, they established the territory as a dynamic connected ensemble - small spaces that suggested a subtractive or additive modification to the existing topography - an urban collaboration.

As I have become more comfortable and confident with this method of ‘making as an embodied way of thinking’, I am able to understand that the processes have become notionally less abstract in comparison to conventional architectural processes. It is the appreciation of working towards a product that is rich in context and a source that will provide a great deal of inspiration, concluding with a viewing experience just as rich and inspirational as the methodology. The engagement with the architectural representation is usual, however a range of senses is needed for an architectural territorial experience.

“We are connected with the world through our senses.”4

The territory should be understood though the imagination of the observer – acting as an individual performance, with emphasis on the observer. The experience is a journey through a constructed development, looking as a form of touching – triggering and engaging the other senses and constructing a relationship between the imaginary and the real – so that the observer is no longer absent from the real. Rather than simply observing the architectural representation, you let the experience become part of the architectural territory and representation.

“The drawings are layered with description, but rely on the observer for explanation.�5

Detailed sedtion of a clay print.

what constitutes a line with architectural quality?

Architectural lines have no personality. Their purpose is to clearly illustrate the function of the line - it has the same quality from beginning to end; the action that creates this line cannot be illustrated. “There is no meaning or experiential realms behind or beneath these drawings waiting to be discovered by the viewer”6. A sketched line, in comparison, has personality which is reflected in the manmade action that creates it - the delicate, hard, rapid or slow movement that causes the inscription. While these two types of lines will differ in the ability to render something visible of the “action that gave rise to it”7, the spaces generated can be identified in both an architectural and an artistic manner.

The architectural line drawing and the active drawing.

Enric Miralles identifies his architectural spaces through a series of linear and geometric lines that establish forms. While the artist Wassily Kandinsky seeks to reveal shape, line and colour through the creation of a “surface of interacting geometric forms�8.

Determining the scale, composition, space and forms within a sketch can enable the sketch to be identified in an architectural manner. Space is understood through the imagination of the observer – acting as an individual performance9. For example, within Composition VIII I see a plan: circles highlight areas of interest and their sphere of influence, while the geometric lines form spaces within the territory forming a relationship to the circles. I view this architectural drawing in parallel to the coloured Miralles sketch. The intensity of the lines, in the Miralles sketch, suggests differences in materiality, while the red, blue and yellow areas highlight building locations with the green acting as a connection of all these elements within the territory. (top left and above) Enric Miralles sketches (left) Wassily kandinsky Composition VIII

I to0k inspiration from the style in which Miralles draws and produced a series of territorial development sketches; my programme advanced greatly as a result. During this exercise composition, space and form became the focus, while also being aware of the lines’ personality: “They establish relational assemblies en route to specific geometric, material, scalar, and durational design choices.�10

These sketches contain a great deal of linear personality and variety.

As the design develops, these forms become more precise and, once associated with a scale, they start to lose some of this personality, but gain architectural detail and complexity. Throughout this transformation I have tried to keep as much of this personality as possible; the intensity of the original mark making has been translated into a variety of lines in both the subtractive and additive form while the linear geometries perform as both retaining walls and landscaping features. There is a complex nature that arises from transforming these loose hand sketches into precise architectural drawings and programmes, however I feel I was able to keep a lot of this original linear personality and variety through a delicate consideration of each mark as an important architectural feature.

Miralles inspired sketches.

The Miralles inspired sketches, stitched together and associated with both scale and site.

Following spread. A work in progress; the developed site plan illustrating personality and identity.

The CAD drawings focused on keeping this personality and variety that stemmed from the sketches. I hope to achieve this through a range of thresholds that act as forms and building extremes, and limits created by the changing thickness of the lines - illustrated here with colour.

I now believe that, architectural lines can have personality.

The study of Miralles and his sketches has made me realise that linear architectural personality is dependent on the methodology undertaken in the design development stage. In order for this to happen, however, the language of the original drawings must remain present in the final architectural drawings.