Level 6 Portfolio 2012 by Level 6 Portfolio

Level 6 Portfolio 2012 The Level 6 Portfolio is an annual publication that provides a snapshot of student work undertaken this year at Dundee School of Architecture. Edited, composed and produced by students, this is the fifth in a continuing series. Thanks to all those who submitted work and also to Lee Wishart at the Print Unit. Editorial Harry Casey Aidan Conway Adam Currie Cameron McEwan Alex Pearson Alex Richards Sinead Todd

Hospitalfield Artists Retreat Sketch study Pencil on paper 3

Aleksandrs Pirozenoks, Y1

Demarco Archive Scale model and sketch site plan studies Marker pen and pencil on paper; card model Kasia Bernas, Y3

Mini MAXXI Museum, Glasgow Site sections Autocad line work, sketchup, vray and photoshop 5

Fraser Davie, Y4

Ordering the Demarco Entrance studies Pencil, graphite, chalk and marker pen with photographs on paper Sam Harrison, Y3

Curating the City: Montage as a Creative Methodology for Architecture The physiognomy of a society Scale model with photocopy 7

Harry Casey, Y5

Demarco Archive Form studies Cut MDF Aidan Conway, Y3

Ultra Low Energy Studio Build Structural sequence

Micro/Macro: Arwyn Lloyd, Colin Mcgowan, Colin Mckean, Ross McMahon, Ruth Thomson, Shuaibin Wang, Zhengxin Tang, Y5

“In order to be significant, architecture must be forgotten, or must present only an image for reverence which subsequently becomes confounded with memories.” Aldo Rossi, A Scientific Autobiography, p.45 After Architect Aldo Rossi Twelve of Rossi’s projects are superimposed in a single composite image. Each drawn, and drawn over. Mixed media, chalk, charcoal, white paint and india ink on gessoed Fabriano paper Cameron McEwan, PhD

Influenced by project work or personal preoccupations, the following pages include written articles that engage with design, from Year 1 to PhD. Reflections Slaveya Moneva Dwelling On The Edge Jamie Ross Frocks and Blocks Anna Baker Investigation and Exploration: The Reader and the Book Sharon Chatterton The coherent city of urban rooms Neil Middleton Place Specific Reactivation of Latent Communities Martin Baillie Defining the Energy Efficiency Design Envelope for Regional Scottish Passivhaus Dwellings Alex Pearson

Curious, the inspiration does not come from the site, but from its borders. The big sea which embraces a picturesque garden has something that attracts people to move closer to its waters, and has that little thing which inevitably affects a man when he reaches them. When close to a puddle, it is a natural reaction to look down and try to catch a glimpse of your own face. Scientists say that children become individuals the first time they recognize themselves in a mirror. It is those same men of science that have been mastering the domestication of our reflections for many centuries. We have all heard about the Egyptians and the way they lit up their sacred temples with reflected sunlight coming from a system of mirrors through an obscure window. By simply mentioning a visit to the dentist, a play with a kaleidoscope, or those mundane rituals everyone performs in front of the bathroom mirror in the morning, it is easy to realize how dependent a man is on this phenomenon. Half of our life passes under the reflected light of the moon. If someone was to take a photo of a reflection and then hide the original object, this would reveal some unexpected images. Like a Rorschach test, the reflection ‘flips’ the reality upside-down and transforms it into something abstract, deprives it from its original meaning, from its natural function. It is easy to get lost in a game like this. A couple of

birds resting their wings on the edge of a canal in Amsterdam, or an artist seeking his retreat from the big busy city in the town of Arbroath appear as being hypnotized by the amazing play of colours and shades on the water surface. They all react at the bizarre dances of the moving water in the same way. The English language has no difficulty in revealing why. That sole word ‘reflection’ with its double meaning carries it all. It is not only the physical phenomenon that detaches them from their immediate surroundings. Equally important is a person’s ability to become abstract himself from the world around them, to become a part of his own reflection by the means of his thought, his reaction to an event, to a feeling, a moment, an impression. However, a man is a social animal; one that feels a need, an urge to share these impressions with others. The best way to communicate these phenomena has always been and remains to be through art. It cannot be a coincidence that the first impressionist painting was of a sunset and its reflection. All those reflections on the subject determined the way Hospitalfield was seen, a place ideal for an artist’s retreat. A place where one would just stay and work on a timetable, but also at points just stop doing anything, set himself aside and let his mind wander around carelessly.

Reflections

Slaveya Moneva, Y1

“There is no dialogue today. Man has no place, and therefore he goes back into himself because nature is no longer internalized as instinctive knowledge.” Sverre Fehn The human condition is becoming increasingly selfcentred and self-referential. We are so wound up in ourselves we no longer look beyond for a deeper truth. Rarely do we find ourselves in an environment free from the manipulations of the human hand and in the situation that we do we force ourselves to analyse and systematize, and consequently trivializing that place to our levels of understanding. We are living in an increasingly urbanised world where nothing can be out of our grasp, everything must be controlled. This attitude to landscape has led to a shallower and less instinctive experience, one that is so diluted by societal and cultural influence that it is barely recognisable any longer. There is one place which stills draws an instinctive reaction from us, an experience best described as dwelling. The preoccupations of contemporary living are quickly dispelled when we meet the power of the waves, the rhythms of the tides, expansive bays and crumbling cliffs of our coastline. We are reminded of our place and that here, we are not in control. This is a feeling which consciously or subconsciously drives us to this fluctuating strip of land. This escapism goes beyond the Victorian history of the promenade or the ubiquitous static caravan park perched high above the beach, it is something much more primal. It is about the experience of standing on the edge with a bitter wind raw against your face and even for just a moment feeling at one with the landscape. Heidegger considers dwelling as an act which can be divided into four elements but is only truly experienced holistically. He starts with ‘Earth’, which is both the tangible material resource with which we work and the platform upon which we build. ‘Sky’ follows, within which come the path of the sun and moon, the position of the stars and the patterns of the day. Inhabiting this place below the datum of the landscape one is left with their back to the wall, only able to face one way. On the edge this one way is out to sea which is of course a reflection and amplification of the nature of changing sky above. This offers the dweller a intensified experience where the earth is behind and below and the sky in front and above.

transient experiences of the other elements make the experience of dwelling possible. This goes some way to explaining the nature of dwelling but the implication that it is a passive act is misleading. From standing stones placed in the landscape to drawing a line in the sand modifying the existing is an integral part of the active process of dwelling. Finally are the ‘Divinities’, naturally this is less easily described as the Earth and Sky, this could be interpreted as the unknown, the otherness beyond oneself as Zumthor talks of or the sublime as Kant describes. “But how else can mortals answer this summons than by trying on their part, on their own, to bring dwelling to the fullness of its nature? This they accomplish when they build out of dwelling, and think for the sake of dwelling.” Martin Heidegger This statement by Heidegger proposes dwelling as something to be strived for, an architectural ambition, which works with his fourfold description as a means to define an architecture form. Our interventions on the coast should be created in a synesthetic and phenomenological manner free from the referential and cultural hooks that dominate the majority of current architectural discourse and fitting for the purpose of dwelling.

Then there are the ‘Mortals’, the dwellers whose Dwelling On The Edge

Jamie Ross, Y5

When compared to the aspirations and responsibilities of architecture, clothing as a topic is ‘constantly denigrated’ because in general, ‘what is transient and fugitive will nearly always be equated consciously or unconsciously with the facile and futile.’ However, it is ‘arrogant to think in such categories’ as an understanding of this practice, which is one of the strongest expressions of our time, equips us as architects with the ability to produce work that can also speak the language of our time – something absolutely essential, as architecture is a ‘public art... an art for people.’ Almost everyone wears clothes. Even in the worse circumstances of one’s life, if everything else is lost, most people will still be clothed. Despite much protestation from some, ‘we care about what we wear, and not caring is usually a sign of depression, madness or the resignation to our imminent death.’ Everyone makes a decision about what to wear - they may not take much time over it, or put as much thought in to their clothing choices as other aspects of their lives, but the process exists for everyone. This is what makes fashion so accessible - it is necessary. Clothes can transform the way we look, hiding our flaws and flattering our shape, while also displaying something of our character. The choices we make when we choose particular clothes tell others something about us, and the way we want to be seen. This expression of identity, the chance to create a ‘new skin’ that we present to the world is something of particular interest to Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron who are ‘interested in that aspect of artificial skin which becomes so much an intimate part of people.’ The expression of identity and interest in clothing a building can be seen in many of Herzog

and de Meuron’s projects. The Central Signal Box in Basel is a prime example of the use of a material which has been manipulated in a three dimensional way to express something fundamental about the building. While the copper strips have an important functional role, protecting the delicate machinery from lightning strikes, it is the way the character of the building is portrayed to the surrounding environment which makes it special. The copper ‘jacket’ transforms what would otherwise have been a nondescript structure into a dramatic and artistic work of industrial architecture, which evokes ‘something more organic and vulnerable, like a head or a brain, rather than a piece of technical equipment.’ It is this ability to convey the key characteristics of people, or the spirit of a building, that makes clothing, in all its shapes and forms, so powerful. It is always worth considering the message we convey through the use of different materials and how they are used to wrap a form. En masse, clothes express something about the place we live in, the diversity of ages, cultures, aspirations. Fashion has become one of the most accessible cultural signifiers, it now ‘occupies the centre ground in popular understandings of modern culture. It enjoys unprecedented coverage in the Western media and defines the tenor of urban life like no other visual medium.’ As well as acting as cultural signifiers, or statements of personal style, on ‘the street (clothes) are part of the aesthetic landscape. Trees, flowers, architecture, clothes.’ As well as expressing individuality, character, style and taste, clothing is, at its most fundamental, a construction. At its core ‘lies that rather mundane amalgamation of woven pieces, hollow voids and seams’. The process of making is directly comparable to that of making a building, both of which deal with the relationship of various material surfaces to produce form, spatial quality and a beautifully crafted output to be enjoyed by the end user. The way in which fabric, initially two-dimensional, is transformed in to a 3-dimensional shape relating to the body is what lies at the very core of making clothes. This process of transformation is constantly being explored and developed as the designer thinks ‘about fabric, and drape and tailoring and colour and above all innovation, newness, modernity.’ The key techniques used to transform a piece of cloth in to a garment are those of cutting and folding (often referred to as draping in the fashion industry). The impact these simple moves can have on the way a construction relates to the body or how it creates a particular spatial quality can be considerable.

Frocks and Blocks

Anna Baker, Y5

“The fact is that poetry is not the books in the library ... Poetry is the encounter of the reader with the book, the discovery of the book” Borges, 1977 The notion of the library as an institution of knowledge began with the Romans and Greeks. The first buildings were designed as a place to meet, exchange knowledge and as an open forum for discussion have their origins in the ancient library of Alexandria. Access to books as primary sources of information have informed the architecture of the history of the library but due to recent changes in the publishing industry, new media has begun to supplant the primacy of the book. With the advent of the internet and increased access to a wealth of information, it is clear that the universal systems of ordering and regulating used to retrieve information in the collective order of traditional libraries has disintegrated in the loose, unregulated information-saturated Internet; “libraries not only preserve books as significant cultural artifacts, physical evidence of our need to share…they also provide a means of shared scholarship and interaction that the Internet cannot.” (Burry, 2005) In order for libraries to evolve in the 21st century as useful and valuable institutions and not become book mausoleums, it is important that the reader must be given a greater prominence, and accordingly, greater celebration of the role that books play socially as tokens of shared thinking. Walter Benjamin states that the reader’s deepest desire is “to renew the old world”, simultaneously communicating with the past and the objects of the future as a constant process of transformation to draw unique associations. A library is constantly renewed in the places in which it is housed by cyclically reshuffling ordered meaning as part of a whole; “introduc[ing] meaning, order, boundaries, coherence and reason into what is disparate and confused” (Benjamin, 1969). Fundamental to the nature of a library is the relationship between the reader and the book. As previously stated, “books and the reader do not relate in static way…a library designed around the incipient influences of standardised book storage and reading devices could lead to a form with two distinct space characteristics-one for people, one for books” whereas libraries should offer a variety of spaces “adaptable to the needs in time…originat[ing] from broad interpretations of use” (Kahn, 1956). As no library collection remains homogenous, containing

a collection of many people’s archives, labyrinthine connections and vast networks of classification, the architecture of the library must facilitate the need for a reader’s exploration and inspiration, “a cluster of many smaller types of places which together would function as one very big library” (Obrist, 2008). The library engenders situations of dualities, characterised by the tensions between investigation and exploration. A library must consist of systematic spatial arrangements for the purpose of finding specific books, enabling the reader to search within a regulated order and arrangement of the collection, although the significance of a library experience is also in the discoveries the space engenders to the reader. The reader experiences the space as a process of renewal, discovering undefined relationships and gaining inspiration from unfamiliar fields. As the writer, Umberto Eco, contests, this process of exploration is essential to the consideration of how we access a library: “One of the misunderstandings that dominate the concept of libraries is that you go into one to look for a book whose title you already know… in reality…the principal function of a library…is to discover books whose existence we never suspected, only to discover that they are of extreme importance to us” (Eco, 1995). Investigation and Exploration: The Reader and the Book

Sharon Chatterton, Y5

understood as the walls of an external room. If facades define the urban space a question then arises related to expression. Should they be meaningful, and, if so, what meaning should they suggest? Whilst discussing the restrained architecture of Georgian Dublin the Austrian philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, stated, ‘The people who built these houses had the good taste to know they had nothing very important to say; and therefore they didn’t attempt to express anything.’ Wittgenstein appreciated the reserve of the designers and, in this case, the houses have a reserved relationship with the urban realm which creates a coherent streetscape.

A useful distinction, described in the essay ‘The Spatial Structure of Streets’ by William C. Ellis (1978) can be made between two fundamentally contrasting physical conceptions of cities, the first being ‘a city that appears to have had its streets and open spaces carved out of what was once a solid mass of stuff’. Described by Ellis as ‘a structure of spaces’ this idea is epitomized by the traditional city and is depicted, perhaps most eminently, in Giambattista Nolli’s 1748 plan of Rome. The second conception is ‘a city that appears to be open land – park or meadow – into which buildings have been introduced as objects sitting on a plane.’ This interpretation is referred to as ‘a structure of solids’ and came to prominence as a Modern ideal of which the classic exemplar is that of Le Corbusier’s urban plans such as the 1925 Plan Voisin. The former type of city, at its most fundamental level, values public streets and squares as places whereas the latter type values built form as the prime objects of the city and neglects the positive enclosure that a street and square contribute.

By recognizing the street as an urban room in the city of ‘a structure of spaces’ and treating the facades of the surrounding buildings as such, a coherent urban environment can prevail. The design of facades contributes to the success of streets and in particular a modest expression allows a space to perceived as a figures unto itself.

The city as ‘a structure of spaces’ forms a coherent urban environments. Street and square are ‘urban rooms’ enclosed by facades. Describing the basic spatial characteristic of the street as ‘felt volume’ Ellis says; ‘It is generated by and responds to the characteristics of the vertical wall planes that bound it on either side’. In other words, facades of the surrounding buildings can be The coherent city of urban rooms

Neil Middleton, Y5

“To study architecture, you have to choose a city, that is, a place which offers the lesson of ‘totality’. In social terms, totality implies participation, in spatial terms it means context, and in temporal terms it demands re-use.” Christian Norberg-Schulz Karl Marx’ commentary on the work of Ludwig Feuerbach, in 1888, made a criticism of philosophical theorists; “Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it” or as Constant Nieuwenhuys interprets; “speculative analysis is every bit as important as critical analysis.” As such, an exploration of social space in the contemporary city must be both critical analysis of the existing urban structures of society and speculative analysis of how an alternative may be realised. As with Patrick Geddes’ Outlook Tower and Halls of Residence in Edinburgh which; “were a means of educating the young about social and cultural change and making them more self-aware”, a new definition of public space should be an attempt to address the dormant communities within the city and reengage them with their place, society and culture. Through

investigation of, and experimentation with, the urban strategies and social agenda of Peter and Alison Smithson, Giancarlo De Carlo and Cedric Price, a method for the appropriation of redundant sites can be developed, which have the potential to serve as the “existing but latent monuments” Pier Vittorio Aureli suggests “strategically highlighting” in order to restructure the public realm. The development of new concept of social space is an attempt to integrate an Instauratio Urbis methodology for urban regeneration with the Unitary Urbanism devised by the Situationists, in a place specific Geddesian localism and sense of community. This range of urban theories point towards the establishment of self-organised social structures founded on communitarian principles, independently self reliant but not in isolation “from the state and the superstructures of society” that Henri Lefebvre recognises as the fundamental organisational structure that defines our collective conscience. The place specific nature of any alternative public realm is essential, the civic nationalism identified by Geddes as a catalyst for the cultural forces of social change is routed in a community’s knowledge of, and identification with, its locality, city, region and nation, and by extension that nations place in the world. Place Specific Reactivation of Latent Communities

Martin Baillie, Y5

The contemporary housing context in Scotland is that of developments on the edges of cities and small towns, which utilise standardised house types and urban layouts found across the UK. The house types used are generally not specific to site or region and the urban layout generally utilise loop roads and culde-sacs irrespective of site context or orientation. The ae-contextual nature of these developments mean that developments are not appropriate for the areas (rural areas in particular) and do not fully utilise views and sunlight. This culminates in inefficient houses with little relationship to context and a ambiguous identity. Appropriate regional solutions to create ultra low energy housing in Scotland must be developed. This study varies a series of architectural parameters to identify the impact on the heating energy requirement. Scotland has significant regional climatic differences, such as the; latitude from 54.98 to 60.38 north maritime influence, west coast gulf stream, complex mountainous topography and extreme wind and rainfall. Perhaps more nuanced ultra low energy- PH (Passivhaus) solutions are required for various Scottish climate and landscapes. While PH has seen increasing use in the UK with around twenty certified examples (Bootland, 2011) only five of these are in Scotland. PH knowledge in Scotland both embodied in built examples, and research by G. Devici, C. Porteous and S. Bell. The focus of this knowledge concerns design and specification of individual built examples rather than regional strategies. To create regional strategies, this study compares the effects on the heat energy demand between three standard house typologies in the seven Scottish BRE Climate data regions with PHPP (Passivhaus Planning Package, Energy Simulation Software). The research utilizes similar methods to those developed by Bere Architects (2010) and J Schnieders (2006), but expands the variables analyzed. Using, detached, semi-detached and mid-terrace housing typologies, this study will quantify the effects of:

a) building form (plan area, surface area and volume ratios) b) changing orientation from due south c) changing the percentage of south facing glazing d) changing the pitch of the roof (Optimisation for PV and solar thermal panels) A prototype dwelling is used in each of the three typologies to generate the data (four bedroom house, 6m x 12m, a treated floor area of 107m2, enclosed volume of 444m3). The exposed external envelope area ranges from 370m2 (detached), 327m2 (semi detached) to 284m2 (mid-terrace). The fabric buildup uses typical PH specification, thermal bridge free construction, a presumed air tightness of 0.6h-1 and a 91% efficient heat recovery ventilation unit. From an examination of the climate data, it was found there was a 27% difference in the degree heating hours between the regions of Shetland and the West of Scotland. There is a 20% difference in the average annual solar irradiation between the East of Scotland Orkney. Analysis showed 80% increase in space heat demand between the West of Scotland (10.6kWh/ (m2a)) and Orkney (19.2hWh/(m2a)). Deviating from a due south orientation by 45Â°, this study showed greatest effect is in the southern most regions (East of Scotland), which increases the space heat demand by 24% compared to a 15% increase in northern regions (Orkney). Increasing the percentage of south facing glazing up to 40% showed a marked decrease in heat energy demand but beyond 40% there was less effect across all regions. The East of Scotland benefits the most from increased glazing (solar heat gain reliant) and the Western Isles the least (air temperature reliant). This research highlights the need for more regional thinking if we are to build housing that is low energy fully appropriate to itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s context, both regarding architectural and low energy design.

Defining the Energy Efficiency Design Envelope for Regional Scottish Passivhaus Dwellings

Alex Pearson, PhD

Archive Hand drawing on trace with scanned CAD plan and 1:50 plywood model

Ed Fisher, Y3

Light tunnel Plaster cast model

Michael Quach, Y3

The Tower Main image: studio max, vray, combustion, photoshop; Lower images: pencil, charcoal

Sam Wilson , Y5

Connective tissue and urban artefacts: A new School of Architecture for Greenwich Galleria Forum Sketchup, Illustrator, Photoshop Euan Russell, Y4

Movement Lines -Â and the production of the subject CAD, Photoshop

Ross Melbourne, Y5

Finding the face in a solid object / Building the face in a light structure Plaster, wire, fabric

Qutham Jamjoom, Y4

Elevation Study Netherlands measured drawing Pencil and graphite dust on paper 25

Simon White, Y2

Mini MAXXI Berlin 3DS Max

Ruaridh Nicol, Y4

Archive on Westfield Lane Pencil on paper and photoshop

David Byrne, Y3

Gallery Study Scale model with card

David Brotherton, Jonathan Fakinos, Georgi McKinlay, Y2/3

Camera Obscura Photographs and sketch study from inside

The Paper Gentlemen: Adam Currie, Alex Richards, Eoghan Hoare, Y5

Pamphleteering: Architecture is your advert Cad, photoshop

Niall Anderson, Y5

Colophon The Level 6 Portfolio is published by Dundee School of Architecture at University of Dundee, May 2012. Printed by University of Dundee Print Unit, BSI Building, Millerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wynd, Dundee in an edition of 200. Typeset in Tw Cen MT and Franklin Gothic Demi. Cover: Conqueror Contour Embossed Brilliant White 300gsm. Body: Cocoon Silk 130gsm (50% recycled). Cover image: Pearson (2012).