A Collec on of Wri en Works By Li y Teresa Salas
1. Cri cism What Gets Le Behind? The Legacy of Philips in Eindhoven: pg 3 2. Reportage A Solar-Powered Self-Transforming Facade Regulates The Temperature At Hive: pg 13 3. Reportage A Rural Venture with A Modern Streak – The Rane Vidyalaya, Tamil Nadu: pg 21
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What Gets Le Behind? The Legacy of Philips in Eindhoven Cri cism. The Cra of Cri cism Seminar, November2020 -February 2021. Technical University of Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Si ng at my table on the 5th floor of the De Wi e Dame, now housing the Design Academy where I study, I am provided with a direct overview of the Philips Museum. It is a mul -gabled, two-floored factory building draped in a pinkish brown hue with a cuboidal box of glass to its north conno ng its entrance. The chimney on the western edge marks its prominence as a heritage building among all the other buildings that have come to surround it over the years. While only the glass cuboid was added later, the rest of the building retains its original characteris cs as it was when Philips had come to occupy it in 1891. It was quite intriguing to me to see that the Museum was situated at the heart of Eindhoven city, as it should, but overshadowed by so many buildings around it and with o en very few visitors. There were so many mes when I would just look down at the building and stare at it for a while, maybe seeking some sort of jus fica on as to why a museum like this would be where it is. I feel like the posi on and value the museum intends to display mismatches the legacy of what Philips le behind in Eindhoven. The Philips Museum’s architecture is of li le design. While most of the building retains the structure of the old factory, the first factory of Philips in Eindhoven, a glass cuboidal extension, designed by GSG architects has been placed at the new entrance on the north side of the building. From what appears to me the building now represents a juxtaposi on of the old and the new, contras ng a 3
The view from the fi h floor of the Design Academy in De WI e Dame. Photograph Credit: Li y Salas
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century of success to a futuris c epiphany, by acknowledging the past - shaping a new, successful future. In placing this cuboid, the entry to the museum has now shi ed from the Emmasingel, to the Nieuwe Emmasingel, a parallel pathway open to mostly pedestrians. This move may have made for more shoppers to visit the place, but unfortunately I suspect it hinders the magnanimity it was supposed to radiate. The Museum complex is surrounded by shops and cafes. It shares a small pathway connec ng Emmasingel to the Nieuwe Emmasingel with the Admirant, a mul -purpose building with stores and a tower of apartments. The Admirant which is currently the tallest building in Eindhoven at a height of 105m, is part of a development complex ‘Rond de Admirant’ that includes the shopping street of Nieuwe Emmasingel, a cinema and ‘futuris c’ buildings like the blob, which were all completed by 2010. The Admirant has a pergola that covers this small pathway and illuminates it and the museum a er night fall. To the viewer from the Emmasingel side, this obliterates the presence of the Museum with the Admirant’s overpowering ligh ng system. To me, it’s ironic that the very company providing the ligh ng to the Admirant gets overshadowed within the illumina on. The Philips Museum in government records states itself to be the Philipsgebouw Headquarters which was a tex le factory opened in 1869. A er that it had to be restored due to a fire, then was taken over by Philips in 1891 and now houses its museum. Other historical accounts claim that the Rajimakers brothers ran a steam nail factory and handed it over to Gerard Philips. The history of this building before the Philips takeover seems very ambiguous, nonetheless it is more famous as the first light bulb manufacturing unit of Philips. With the first factory in hand, Philips saw an expansion beyond light bulbs, manufacturing electronics like the radio, television 5
The old Philips factory. Photo Credits: Rien Valk. Source: h ps://dse.nl/100-jaar-eindhoven-was-philips-in-1896-al-bekend-genoeg/
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sets, trimmers and moving on to healthcare systems like x-rays that saw its global domina on. In order to accommodate the huge expansion, Philips developed new areas to support the manufacture. They constructed landmark buildings such as the De Wi e Dame, Evoluon, the Strijp S factories and many other loca ons within Eindhoven which contributed to its ever expanding produc on. Gradually, they made a name for themselves globally with which they were able to shi their manufacturing industries to countries outside Europe for cheaper rates. And then, in 1998 they moved their headquarters to Amsterdam. This move impacted Eindhoven tremendously. While their shi might make it seem like a loss for Eindhoven, most agree that their absence is what triggered the growth of the city. With their shi to Amsterdam, they saw a change in name to Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. and with a few empty factory buildings sca ered around Eindhoven. For a while, Eindhoven was feigned a ghost town pining for Philips.The en re shi to Amsterdam was completed only by 2002 and by then only Philips Lighting, Philips Research, Philips Semiconductors and Philips Design remained opera onal in Eindhoven. They were all housed at the High Tech Campus, built specifically for this purpose, that is 5.4kms away from Eindhoven. In terms of the scale of the city (radius of 2kms), the high tech campus is considered to be far away from the city limits. With most of their buildings le empty, Eindhoven was at a crisis of economic instability and had to rebuild the city. The empty spaces provided opportuni es for people to start new companies and offer studio spaces, especially to graduates from the Design Academy, like Piet Hein Eek and Dirk Vander Kooij. De Wi e Dame, opposite the Philips Museum, was a building constructed in 1922 by Philips for its incandescent factory. But by the 1980’s the factory was rendered empty due to produc on moving outside Europe which led to the building now housing ins tu ons that are at the core of Eindhoven, both spa ally and metaphori7
Philips First light bulb factory in Eindhoven. Source: h ps://www.dwc.knaw.nl/gemeenschap/federa e-industrieel-erfgoed-nederland-fien/
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cally. By 2002, Eindhoven had also inaugurated the Dutch Design Week which not only put it on the global map, but also introduced the reinvented version of Eindhoven as the Design city. Over the next decade, Philips acquired a few companies around the world and some broke off to form independent ones. Over these years, Philips rebranded itself to focus more on healthcare and hygiene products with Philips Semiconductors and Philips Ligh ng (part of the High Tech Campus) moving on to be part of other newer companies. The High Tech Campus, which was built ini ally to house all of the remaining departments of Philips under one roof, was now open to house more than 140 companies from all over the world, with only Philips Research remaining in Eindhoven. During this period, Philips, having completed over 100 years, decided to commemorate their first ever factory as the Philips museum in an a empt to highlight their legacy and tremendous growth. The old factory was renovated along with the addi on of the glass cuboid and finally opened to the public in 2013. The exhibi on follows the evolu on of Philips and displays everything it has manufactured from the first light bulb in the 19th century to its most recent works in healthcare. While the exhibi on in itself is a meline of innova ons, the only piece of work that stood out was the exhibit displaying how the company director of Philips Jan Zwartendijk, helped thousands of Jews from escaping the Nazi fate in Lithuania during the second world war. Though this was the most interes ng piece and yes, something Philips definitely needs to be proud of, I found it to be of no contribu on to the growth of Philips and s cks out among all the other exhibits. The exhibi on is just a chronological display of their work without it ins lling in the viewers a sense of fulfillment at what Philips has achieved. It then falls en rely onto the architecture and the ins tu on to represent the legacy of what Philips has le behind in Eindhoven.
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View from the Niewe Emmasingel. Photography Credit: Visions of Travel. Source: h ps:// www.visionso ravel.org/philips-museum-einhoven/
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Of all the buildings Philips le behind in Eindhoven, it makes sense in the natural order of things to choose its first ever factory to house its museum. But was the choice jus fied? I don’t think so. It does provide an apt landmark to commemorate its growth, but not being able to procure its prominence ever since its establishment is a lack of enthusiasm towards what has been le behind for Eindhoven. Noteworthy buildings of Philips, such as the Evoluon, the Temporary Art Center, the Lich oren and so many others that have been torn down over the years were equal contenders if not be er. The meline of events are also a tes mony to this poor choice. The construc on of the Admirant was planned way before the decision to make a Philips Museum. Had this been a factor in choosing a suitable building to house the ins tu on, the Philips Museum would have had a far be er chance of standing out, jus fying the legacy of Eindhoven in Philips’ trajectory. All in all, with whatever hurdles there may have been, the Philips Museum does not reflect the magnitude of what Philips has come to be globally. But what exactly has Philips le behind? With Eindhoven growing more each year, the Philips Museum seems to be shrinking in comparison. With towering buildings on all sides, the museum is overshadowed and le with no (subtle) prominence on the Eindhoven cityscape. The addi on of the glass cuboid seemed like an a empt to upscale the building in terms of design, which to me seems quite forced and there is no coherence between the two styles leaving them to resemble two different buildings. In spite of the success of Philips and its subsidiaries, the choice of this factory building leaving no stage around for its performance seems like a dull decision by the authori es to se le with the easiest solu on rather than actually working towards represen ng its value. It doesn’t seem fair to talk about Philips in Eindhoven without menoning the PSV. It started as a sports club for Philips employees and over the decades, it has spiraled out and created a momentum of its own in the football field. Even though they s ll play at the 11
Philips stadium under the tle of Philips Sport Vereniging (PSV), the PSV much like the Philips Semiconductors and Ligh ng had moved out of the Philips family and onto a path of its own. The PSV has a huge fan base, with followers o en recognising Eindhoven through the club, but has seldom been seen in conjunc on with the Philips brand, in spite of its name. But the irony is that visitors to Eindhoven get a sense of the Philips’ majes city through the Philips stadium than through the Museum set up at Emmasingel. It might not be best to compare the two, considering the stadium’s build is ten mes more prominent than any other building in Eindhoven, but the fact remains that if Philips imparts a sense of achievement of their legacy through the stadium, the results are loud enough for them to realise the importance of reconsidering the Philips Museum. The reality of what Eindhoven holds doesn’t seem like it’s ge ng in the way of what it envisions for the future. There are proposals for so many new buildings and plans for the expansion of the city with architecture offices like MVRDV and OMA pitching in to design and construct various projects within Eindhoven. From what it looks like, the city is on a steady path to expansion and it makes me wonder what then happens to smaller monumental buildings like the Philips Museum. If in the current scenario, the museum seems to be already beli led, it is going to hold value no more than a speck of dust in the decades to come. Doesn’t Eindhoven deserve more than that from Philips? A er almost 130 years of Philips in Eindhoven, isn’t it worthy of the company to leave behind a landmark that will not only monumentalize its legacy and hold its history but also stand tes mony to its enduring mes?
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A Solar-Powered Self-Transforming Facade Regulates The Temperature At Hive Reportage. Wri en for Design Pataki, 20th August 2020
h ps://www.designpataki.com/solar-powered-self-transforming-facade-regulates-temperature-hive/
If you happen to visit Vesu, an upcoming area in Surat, Gujarat you just might catch hold of this futuris c piece of architecture – a unique combina on of art and engineering called Hive. Designed by Ahmedabad based architects – Open Ideas, this structure is a bold example of India’s foray into ar s c engineering. Hive, as the name suggests, consists of a hexagonal pa erned facade inspired by honeycombs and carbon crystals. The client, being well informed about architecture with his core competency in mechanical engineering was clear to ask for a structure that resonated with his profession in the diamond industry. A ‘smart structure rendered in metal and mono-space living area‘ is what home meant to him. With extensive research and a lot of prototyping, the architects delivered this dynamic powerhouse. Hive, five years in the making consisted of numerous years of research and energy model simula ons – understanding the temperature varia ons and radia on during the years. The solar energy capitalised by the plot was studied for an en re year before strategic decisions on the design of the house were made. Cloud cover, humidity, external dry bulb temperature, shadow pa erns and various other aspects were studied extensively before the design could be finalised. 13
Facade inspired by diamond crystals and honeycombs. Photograph Credit: Fabien Charuau
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With metal being the primary material, a long span, lightweight, complex form of structure was envisioned that also ensured fast construc on. The architecture of the house is expressed as an angular V-shaped structure oriented towards the green pockets spread around the house. The entrance is created with sunken courts and stepped gardens with a linear corridor to mimic the experience of walking on a bridge in a valley. The internal space, as requested by the client was designed to be open and fluid. Without the use of par on walls, the space has been divided sensorily into public, private and semi-private zones using bespoke par on units made up of mber. “The idea was to have sculptural artefacts dividing space than walls. This gives openness to space, light filters through the hive facade and makes it more dynamic,” says Monarch Champaneri, principal architect, Open Ideas. But as one can see, the highlight of the en re building is it’s solar censored hexagonal ‘hive‘ auto-open facade. As said before, the geometry of the facade is inspired by diamond and honeycomb structures while the opera on was inspired by heliotropism – the blooming process of flowers. The design of the facade is based on structural strength, transformability and biomimicry. Analysing the quality of the light exposure and thermal comfort levels inside the house, the facade adjusts its openings to keep the interiors cool and comfortable. This modern facade can be operated in three ways. One through solar sensors on the facade that records temperature and feeds it into a “micro controlled based radio frequency board“. This was designed by WNeuron Network Design startup, and it operates the facade based on solar intensity. The facade can also be operated using me – like early morning the en re facade can open and close 15
Long span, lightweight, complex structure. Photograph Credit: Fabien Charuau
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when night falls. Apart from these methods, it can also be operated through an app. The facade uses solar energy for its opera on, which is taken from the solar panels and stored in a ba ery. This makes it a self-sufficient system. These hexagonal openings also add to the aesthe cs of the house by sciography- cas ng pa erns based on the sun’s intensity and path. With the en re house run on solar power, they have also been careful to look into water recycling. The design allows for it to harvest rainwater, which is usable for portable cooking through a separate water tank and excess is diverted to a percola ng well. The facade mechanism inspired by doors of airport buses, the structure of the staircase inside inspired by the structural forma on of hexagonal diagrid popularly seen in Ikea furniture pieces and ‘kadki door’ of forts as the entrance door are various small but thought down aspects of the house. The use of metal with SS powder coa ng for the facade with a combina on of wood and stone for the interiors provide the building with this bold image of a single colour that changes as per the me of day and intensity of sunlight. While there is greenery all around the building that compliments the bronze image of the house, the architects have also ensured sufficient greenery inside in the form of small gardens a ached to each bedroom. “ Our design was very ambi ous and didn’t have many precedents. The client was open-minded and brave to take risks. Our main challenge was first to get crea ve and come up with innova ve ideas and second to go the extra mile and get it executed with the best quality possible. We took this project as an industrial design problem then an architecture project.” says Monarch Champaneri. The speciality of the project was the client who was so open-minded and ready to experiment, which is a rare opportunity. 17
Facade openings adjust itself to keep the interiors cool. Photograph Credit: Fabien Charuau
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Despite taking five years, the project has given the architects the confidence to think differently – think big, and reinvent architecture for the new world we live in.
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The hexagonal openings cas ng pa erns. Photograph Credit: Fabien Charuau
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A Rural Venture with A Modern Streak – The Rane Vidyalaya, Tamil Nadu Reportage. Wri en for Design Pataki, 8th August 2020
h ps://www.designpataki.com/rural-venture-modern-streak-rane-vidyalaya-tamil-nadu/
An iconic vision in Red, Grey, and White, the Rane Vidyalaya School in Theerampalyam aims to provide quality educa on in rural Tamil Nadu. The architects, Santhosh Shanmugam and Raja Krishnan of Shanmugam Associates wanted to create an infrastructure that would have a posi ve social impact on the local community while showcasing the core values of the Rane Founda on. Inspired by the 6th century Thiruvellarai temple’s walls and the layered cross-sec ons of 50-year-old houses in the region, the building is made of alterna ng layers of red wire cut bricks from local kiln and grey fly ash bricks recycled from industrial cement waste. A er numerous mock-up itera ons of the facade walls, the architects arrived at a combina on of these locally available bricks that would not only contribute to the cost-effec veness of the design but also ensure easy construc on within the limited me frame. Theerampalayam, situated in the tropical belt of interior Tamil Nadu, demands all-round cooling from the very humid condi ons. With this in mind, the architects wanted to ensure certain comforts without hiking up the costs. Their use of natural ven la on, ligh ng, and climatologically approached design not only keeps the interiors cool and well lit but also adds to the aesthe c appeal of the structure. 21
Entrance to the Rane Vidyalaya School. Photo Credit: Shanmugam Associates
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The walls are built ll lintel height to have openable windows above it that dissipate hot air and increase cross ven la on. Large openings in the South East – North West direc ons and smaller ones in the East-West direc on between classrooms create a microclimate that cools the en re school without the use of air condi oners. “In a public ins tu on, we tried to minimize using mechanical equipment, but rather designed the building to achieve the necessary micro-climate by planning design parameters. We realized that it would be easier to maintain the building as it ages,” explain the architects on their approach to designing the school. The school incorporates a lot of jali work, which makes it tread slightly into tradi onal architecture while s ll keeping the ideologies of modern construc on. The terraco a jali is primarily used as a shading device. Being an integral part of the facade design, it added further character to the en re building. “It is a beau ful material that increases ven la on, can be non-plastered and keeps the space enclosed, secure,“ said the leading men behind the design. The jali walls have also been used in the kindergarten classes to secure and ensure safety to the garden that adjoins each classroom. The garden pockets induce learning, create a green environment, and therefore provide a comfortable microclimate to the children in their early years of educa on. While the en re school follows a clean colour combina on, the main staircase in the lobby provides a striking contrast to the rest of the space. “The lime green anchor wall at the base of the staircase offers a moment of visual pause – a poten al canvas for murals and other crea ve projects by the students,“ say Santhosh and Raja. With the green resembling the landscape surrounding the school, it certainly piques one’s interest. 23
Kindergarten Garden Spaces.Photography Credit: Shanmugam Associates
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With a lot of experimenta on, the architects were able to cut costs by using red clay bricks, fly ash bricks, and jali walls which were consciously le unplastered. What makes this building unique are these very aspects that allow for natural ven la on, daylit spaces, and use of local materials and labour – all of these being the foremost principles while designing. Through their compelling design for The Rane Vidyalaya School, Shanmugam Associates are not only opening a new possibility of architectural enthusiasm in rural areas but also inspiring other young architects to follow suit.
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Exterior Facade. Photography Credit: Shanmugam Associates
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