Blank Manifesto is empty, vacant, deadpan, impassive, inanimate, vacuous, uninterested, absolute, utter, certain, unequivocal, and unambiguous.
Blank is empty, vacant, deadpan, impassive, inanimate, vacuous, uninterested, absolute, utter, certain, unequivocal, and unambiguous, not to be confused with something interested, alive, animated, exuberant, gesticulant, eloquent, busy, dynamic, emotional and vivacious.
It is the idea of lifelessness that scares me in architecture, when we see those beautifully crafted architectural diagrams, drawings and photographs, all devoid of any sign of life except for a small plant in a corner, these hospital like spaces, some with pastel colours some filled with curves, some formally different, all equally dead. I knew I wanted Blankness to accept the death within architecture, and deal with it, by clearly accepting it is no more than star stuff amalgamated together to produce cave like protection from the environments, where we can store our stuff and charge our cybernetics, all of it mostly useful, but also mostly dead, except for the casual dog, cat or goldfish. When I started thinking about this idea of blankness, I knew that the probability of it making absolute and complete sense would be paramount to a dream. Such is the problem of architecture, most of it lives in dream and imagination, mostly a portion of space safely stored within our harddrives full of cartesian organized unbuilt projects, all of them. Dead, useless and empty of life.
Blankness as such promotes the idea of architecture as mostly background, white noise, storage space, and the occasional coveted “social gathering space� where architecture can supposedly make such a difference, that it can actually save the world. But in all seriousness, how useless can architecture be? I believe strongly we need to learn that before we dare propose anything besides that. Whether you like it or not, for everyone except architects, who don’t usually matter anyways, architecture is mere, sad, dead and mostly utilitarian background.
At first, that truth hurted a little bit. I have dedicated my life to this field, and now my pragmatic self, annoyingly points out it’s all empty background?
YES.
But, what if we accept how weak and inconsequential architecture has become and seems to continue to be in the future, what if by purposely designing background, by closeting our egos and throwing away the key, by accepting its all just, blank space. We can perhaps focus on making the best background civilization has ever seen? The kind of background that only when absolutely necessary, it creeps, it shifts, and it helps the foreground to exist, not exist better, or beautifully, but simply exist.
[Chapters] Abstract - p12 Concept of Blank - p27 Origin of Blank Space Relevant Concepts Blank Space Technique Cut, Excavate and Open White as a Gradient Layering Logic Real World Blank Blank Pages
Concept of Blank
Ok, fine.
The idea of blankness postulates the perception of architecture, less as meaningfull objects and instead as the backdrop to activity, which foregrounds the subject as the main spatial point of focus. As such, the spatial qualities of blankness produce a perception of space that allows the architecture to produce background-like qualities and thus not bring attention to itself. Blank is not a component-based object, it is a Post-Industrial, PostDigital idea, it counter-intuitively situates itself in an architectural spectrum where efficiency, modularity, complexity and decoration are not sought after but repelled as unnecessary add ons to architecture. Here’s how I would describe it, “Blank is designed emptiness, as such, it is the container of emptiness. Ready to be filled in, Blank assumes its place in the background producing a state of spatial blankness.� Ok, not bad for a start. But what else?
Blank manifests itself from afar as a singular mass, much like a neutral canvas. The mass is constructed with layers within the mass whom represent an alternative to the part, producing differentiation without fragmentation. Layers are contiguous, not discretised. A whole may be layered and remain internally self-consistent, even if cut, extracted or excavated. The architectural paraphernalia of lights, doors, windows, and technical objects are considered enemies of blank space for they represent the module and the mass produced component, for they bring unnecessary complexity to what should be calming subtle space, and as such, are consistently embedded into the architecture, killing the idea of the added component.
[ ] Chapter II P.34 [ ]
Rendered Perspective, Main Faรงade
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[ ] Chapter II P.35 [ ]
Rendered Perspective, Main Faรงade
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[ ] Chapter II P.36 [ ]
Rendered Perspective, Main Faรงade
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[ ] Chapter II P.37 [ ]
A Singular Position a Post-industrial Post-assembly Architecture, counterintuitively situates itself in an architectural spectrum of anti-efficiency and anti-modularity as the design drivers, to focus on the single production of architecture as a whole. Architecture has historically evolved alongside technology, and thus, society, the meaning and use of architecture have always followed the current events like a stream merging a river. It is undeniable that the architecture of today is different from its past. No longer is it built up from stone, wood, and dirt with minimal technology, the global society has transcended the methods of the ancients and have transformed architecture through ingenuity, rules, and industrialization. The architecture discourse today seems to ignore that the discipline has become a component-based profession majorly. Such a statement becomes evident by observing the tools we utilize today, like BIM and its physically produced counterparts. The architectural system works based on the categorizing and subdividing of architectural components to ease the mass production of said components. Buildings produced with such method end up resembling a Frankenstein concoction of structures, brands, aesthetics and code requirements.
discipline far away from its structurally and aesthetically focused past into a world of “Architectural Frankensteins” - where architectural components exist unequivocally and are thoughtlessly repeated for the sake of awe, profit and efficiency. Gone are the days where the profession was considered an art form by the simple fact that everything was thought through, and everything was designed based on the idea of the “project”: from the door handle to the façade to its urban scale, the building used to be an object that was whole. Industrialization and the digital age have undoubtedly brought architecture to new heights, but it has also stripped off most of its fundamental holistic qualities. The architectural object, instead of being the aggregation and conjunction of several outsourced components, should exist as a layered, unique object produced singularly for its users, irrespective if sentient or not, biological or mechanical. The architectural object, therefore, is unified under the idea of layering logical user requirements, producing a soft, comfortable, utilitarian layered surface, with the necessary apparatus to satisfy users’ demands embedded within to produce an architectural object that is whole.
Today architecture encounters itself as
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[ ] Chapter II P.38 [ ]
Rendered Perspective, Main Faรงade
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[ ] Chapter II P.40 [ ]
Rendered Perspective, Main Faรงade
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[ ] Chapter II P.41 [ ]
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Origin of Blank Space
[ ] Chapter II P.45 [ ]
A Singular Position a Post-industrial Post-assembly Architecture, counter-intuitively situates itself in an architectural spectrum of antiefficiency and anti-modularity as the design drivers, to focus on the single production of architecture as a whole. Architecture has historically evolved alongside technology, and thus, society, the meaning and use of architecture have always followed the current events like a stream merging a river. It is undeniable that the architecture of today is different from its past. No longer is it built up from stone, wood, and dirt with minimal technology, the global society has transcended the
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methods of the ancients and have transformed architecture through ingenuity, rules, and industrialization. The architecture discourse today seems to ignore that the discipline has become a component-based profession majorly. Such a statement becomes evident by observing the tools we utilize today, like BIM and its physically produced counterparts. The architectural system works based on the categorizing and subdividing of architectural components to ease the mass production of said components. Buildings produced with such method end up resembling a Frankenstein concoction of structures, brands, aesthetics and code requirements.
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[ ] Chapter II P.46 [ ]
A Singular Position a Post-industrial Post-assembly Architecture, counterintuitively situates itself in an architectural spectrum of anti-efficiency and anti-modularity as the design drivers, to focus on the single production of architecture as a whole. Architecture has historically evolved alongside technology, and thus, society, the meaning and use of architecture have always followed the current events like a stream merging a river. It is undeniable that the architecture of today is different from its past. No longer is it built up from stone, wood, and dirt with minimal technology, the global society has transcended the methods of the ancients and have transformed architecture through ingenuity, rules, and industrialization. The architecture discourse today seems to ignore that the discipline has become a component-based profession majorly. Such a statement becomes evident by observing the tools we utilize today, like BIM and its physically produced counterparts. The architectural system works based on the categorizing and subdividing of architectural components to ease the mass production of said components. Buildings produced with such method end up resembling a Frankenstein concoction of structures, brands, aesthetics and code requirements.
discipline far away from its structurally and aesthetically focused past into a world of “Architectural Frankensteins” - where architectural components exist unequivocally and are thoughtlessly repeated for the sake of awe, profit and efficiency. Gone are the days where the profession was considered an art form by the simple fact that everything was thought through, and everything was designed based on the idea of the “project”: from the door handle to the façade to its urban scale, the building used to be an object that was whole. Industrialization and the digital age have undoubtedly brought architecture to new heights, but it has also stripped off most of its fundamental holistic qualities. The architectural object, instead of being the aggregation and conjunction of several outsourced components, should exist as a layered, unique object produced singularly for its users, irrespective if sentient or not, biological or mechanical. The architectural object, therefore, is unified under the idea of layering logical user requirements, producing a soft, comfortable, utilitarian layered surface, with the necessary apparatus to satisfy users’ demands embedded within to produce an architectural object that is whole.
Today architecture encounters itself as
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[ ] Chapter II P.47 [ ]
A Singular Position a Post-industrial Post-assembly Architecture, counterintuitively situates itself in an architectural spectrum of anti-efficiency and anti-modularity as the design drivers, to focus on the single production of architecture as a whole. Architecture has historically evolved alongside technology, and thus, society, the meaning and use of architecture have always followed the current events like a stream merging a river. It is undeniable that the architecture of today is different from its past. No longer is it built up from stone, wood, and dirt with minimal technology, the global society has transcended the methods of the ancients and have transformed architecture through ingenuity, rules, and industrialization. The architecture discourse today seems to ignore that the discipline has become a component-based profession majorly. Such a statement becomes evident by observing the tools we utilize today, like BIM and its physically produced counterparts. The architectural system works based on the categorizing and subdividing of architectural components to ease the mass production of said components. Buildings produced with such method end up resembling a Frankenstein concoction of structures, brands, aesthetics and code requirements.
discipline far away from its structurally and aesthetically focused past into a world of “Architectural Frankensteins” - where architectural components exist unequivocally and are thoughtlessly repeated for the sake of awe, profit and efficiency. Gone are the days where the profession was considered an art form by the simple fact that everything was thought through, and everything was designed based on the idea of the “project”: from the door handle to the façade to its urban scale, the building used to be an object that was whole. Industrialization and the digital age have undoubtedly brought architecture to new heights, but it has also stripped off most of its fundamental holistic qualities. The architectural object, instead of being the aggregation and conjunction of several outsourced components, should exist as a layered, unique object produced singularly for its users, irrespective if sentient or not, biological or mechanical. The architectural object, therefore, is unified under the idea of layering logical user requirements, producing a soft, comfortable, utilitarian layered surface, with the necessary apparatus to satisfy users’ demands embedded within to produce an architectural object that is whole.
Today architecture encounters itself as
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[ ] Chapter II P.48 [ ]
Rendered Perspective, Main Faรงade
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[ ] Chapter II P.49 [ ]
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Relevant Concepts
Relevant Concepts Portuguese Modernism
[ ] Chapter II P.55 [ ]
The idea of Blank can already be found in the specific branch of Modernism produced in Portugal, this modernsm with its cultural and finalcial ties that made it as is, produces uknowingly the idea of Blank throught its architecture.
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[ ] Chapter II P.56 [ ]
Rendered Perspective, Main Faรงade
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[ ] Chapter II P.57 [ ]
Rendered Perspective, Main Faรงade
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[ ] Chapter II P.58 [ ]
Rendered Perspective, Main Faรงade
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[ ] Chapter II P.59 [ ]
A Singular Position a Post-industrial Post-assembly Architecture, counterintuitively situates itself in an architectural spectrum of anti-efficiency and anti-modularity as the design drivers, to focus on the single production of architecture as a whole. Architecture has historically evolved alongside technology, and thus, society, the meaning and use of architecture have always followed the current events like a stream merging a river. It is undeniable that the architecture of today is different from its past. No longer is it built up from stone, wood, and dirt with minimal technology, the global society has transcended the methods of the ancients and have transformed architecture through ingenuity, rules, and industrialization. The architecture discourse today seems to ignore that the discipline has become a component-based profession majorly. Such a statement becomes evident by observing the tools we utilize today, like BIM and its physically produced counterparts. The architectural system works based on the categorizing and subdividing of architectural components to ease the mass production of said components. Buildings produced with such method end up resembling a Frankenstein concoction of structures, brands, aesthetics and code requirements.
discipline far away from its structurally and aesthetically focused past into a world of “Architectural Frankensteins” - where architectural components exist unequivocally and are thoughtlessly repeated for the sake of awe, profit and efficiency. Gone are the days where the profession was considered an art form by the simple fact that everything was thought through, and everything was designed based on the idea of the “project”: from the door handle to the façade to its urban scale, the building used to be an object that was whole. Industrialization and the digital age have undoubtedly brought architecture to new heights, but it has also stripped off most of its fundamental holistic qualities. The architectural object, instead of being the aggregation and conjunction of several outsourced components, should exist as a layered, unique object produced singularly for its users, irrespective if sentient or not, biological or mechanical. The architectural object, therefore, is unified under the idea of layering logical user requirements, producing a soft, comfortable, utilitarian layered surface, with the necessary apparatus to satisfy users’ demands embedded within to produce an architectural object that is whole.
Today architecture encounters itself as
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Relevant Concepts Killing the Component
[ ] Chapter II P.63 [ ]
The industrialization and mass production of our built environment and everyday objects has led to unfocused design philosophies where these produce and manufacture worlds for the sake of efficiency and profit. To create an environment that genuinely fits its dwellers, we need to approach design, based on its entities, regardless if they are biological or robotic Entity-Centric Design pursues an ideology deeply based on its users seen and unseen needs, this is not a humancentric design approach for it foresees the rise of self-aware, intelligent and unintelligent entities; from cleaning
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[ ] Chapter II P.64 [ ]
Rendered Perspective, Main Faรงade
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[ ] Chapter II P.65 [ ]
A Singular Position a Post-industrial Post-assembly Architecture, counterintuitively situates itself in an architectural spectrum of anti-efficiency and anti-modularity as the design drivers, to focus on the single production of architecture as a whole. Architecture has historically evolved alongside technology, and thus, society, the meaning and use of architecture have always followed the current events like a stream merging a river. It is undeniable that the architecture of today is different from its past. No longer is it built up from stone, wood, and dirt with minimal technology, the global society has transcended the methods of the ancients and have transformed architecture through ingenuity, rules, and industrialization. The architecture discourse today seems to ignore that the discipline has become a component-based profession majorly. Such a statement becomes evident by observing the tools we utilize today, like BIM and its physically produced counterparts. The architectural system works based on the categorizing and subdividing of architectural components to ease the mass production of said components. Buildings produced with such method end up resembling a Frankenstein concoction of structures, brands, aesthetics and code requirements.
discipline far away from its structurally and aesthetically focused past into a world of “Architectural Frankensteins” - where architectural components exist unequivocally and are thoughtlessly repeated for the sake of awe, profit and efficiency. Gone are the days where the profession was considered an art form by the simple fact that everything was thought through, and everything was designed based on the idea of the “project”: from the door handle to the façade to its urban scale, the building used to be an object that was whole. Industrialization and the digital age have undoubtedly brought architecture to new heights, but it has also stripped off most of its fundamental holistic qualities. The architectural object, instead of being the aggregation and conjunction of several outsourced components, should exist as a layered, unique object produced singularly for its users, irrespective if sentient or not, biological or mechanical. The architectural object, therefore, is unified under the idea of layering logical user requirements, producing a soft, comfortable, utilitarian layered surface, with the necessary apparatus to satisfy users’ demands embedded within to produce an architectural object that is whole.
Today architecture encounters itself as
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[ ] Chapter II P.66 [ ]
Rendered Perspective, Main Faรงade
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[ ] Chapter II P.67 [ ]
A Singular Position a Post-industrial Post-assembly Architecture, counterintuitively situates itself in an architectural spectrum of anti-efficiency and anti-modularity as the design drivers, to focus on the single production of architecture as a whole. Architecture has historically evolved alongside technology, and thus, society, the meaning and use of architecture have always followed the current events like a stream merging a river. It is undeniable that the architecture of today is different from its past. No longer is it built up from stone, wood, and dirt with minimal technology, the global society has transcended the methods of the ancients and have transformed architecture through ingenuity, rules, and industrialization. The architecture discourse today seems to ignore that the discipline has become a component-based profession majorly. Such a statement becomes evident by observing the tools we utilize today, like BIM and its physically produced counterparts. The architectural system works based on the categorizing and subdividing of architectural components to ease the mass production of said components. Buildings produced with such method end up resembling a Frankenstein concoction of structures, brands, aesthetics and code requirements.
discipline far away from its structurally and aesthetically focused past into a world of “Architectural Frankensteins” - where architectural components exist unequivocally and are thoughtlessly repeated for the sake of awe, profit and efficiency. Gone are the days where the profession was considered an art form by the simple fact that everything was thought through, and everything was designed based on the idea of the “project”: from the door handle to the façade to its urban scale, the building used to be an object that was whole. Industrialization and the digital age have undoubtedly brought architecture to new heights, but it has also stripped off most of its fundamental holistic qualities. The architectural object, instead of being the aggregation and conjunction of several outsourced components, should exist as a layered, unique object produced singularly for its users, irrespective if sentient or not, biological or mechanical. The architectural object, therefore, is unified under the idea of layering logical user requirements, producing a soft, comfortable, utilitarian layered surface, with the necessary apparatus to satisfy users’ demands embedded within to produce an architectural object that is whole.
Today architecture encounters itself as
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Blank Space Technique
[ ] Chapter II P.70 [ ]
Rendered Perspective, Main Faรงade
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[ ] Chapter II P.71 [ ]
A Singular Position a Post-industrial Post-assembly Architecture, counterintuitively situates itself in an architectural spectrum of anti-efficiency and anti-modularity as the design drivers, to focus on the single production of architecture as a whole. Architecture has historically evolved alongside technology, and thus, society, the meaning and use of architecture have always followed the current events like a stream merging a river. It is undeniable that the architecture of today is different from its past. No longer is it built up from stone, wood, and dirt with minimal technology, the global society has transcended the methods of the ancients and have transformed architecture through ingenuity, rules, and industrialization. The architecture discourse today seems to ignore that the discipline has become a component-based profession majorly. Such a statement becomes evident by observing the tools we utilize today, like BIM and its physically produced counterparts. The architectural system works based on the categorizing and subdividing of architectural components to ease the mass production of said components. Buildings produced with such method end up resembling a Frankenstein concoction of structures, brands, aesthetics and code requirements.
discipline far away from its structurally and aesthetically focused past into a world of “Architectural Frankensteins” - where architectural components exist unequivocally and are thoughtlessly repeated for the sake of awe, profit and efficiency. Gone are the days where the profession was considered an art form by the simple fact that everything was thought through, and everything was designed based on the idea of the “project”: from the door handle to the façade to its urban scale, the building used to be an object that was whole. Industrialization and the digital age have undoubtedly brought architecture to new heights, but it has also stripped off most of its fundamental holistic qualities. The architectural object, instead of being the aggregation and conjunction of several outsourced components, should exist as a layered, unique object produced singularly for its users, irrespective if sentient or not, biological or mechanical. The architectural object, therefore, is unified under the idea of layering logical user requirements, producing a soft, comfortable, utilitarian layered surface, with the necessary apparatus to satisfy users’ demands embedded within to produce an architectural object that is whole.
Today architecture encounters itself as
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Blank Space Techinque Cut, Excavate and Open
Blank Space Techinque White as a Gradient
[ ] Chapter II P.77 [ ]
A Singular Position a Post-industrial Post-assembly Architecture, counter-intuitively situates itself in an architectural spectrum of antiefficiency and anti-modularity as the design drivers, to focus on the single production of architecture as a whole. Architecture has historically evolved alongside technology, and thus, society, the meaning and use of architecture have always followed the current events like a stream merging a river. It is undeniable that the architecture of today is different from its past. No longer is it built up from stone, wood, and dirt with minimal technology, the global society has transcended the
[ ]
methods of the ancients and have transformed architecture through ingenuity, rules, and industrialization. The architecture discourse today seems to ignore that the discipline has become a component-based profession majorly. Such a statement becomes evident by observing the tools we utilize today, like BIM and its physically produced counterparts. The architectural system works based on the categorizing and subdividing of architectural components to ease the mass production of said components. Buildings produced with such method end up resembling a Frankenstein concoction of structures, brands, aesthetics and code requirements.
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Blank Space Technique Layered Logic
[ ] Chapter II P.81 [ ]
In computing, a layer is a way of hiding the working details of a subsystem, allowing the separation of concerns to facilitate interoperability and platform independence. These generalizations arise from broad similarities that are best encapsulated by models that express similarities present in various specific implementations. The simplification provided by a good abstraction layer allows for easy reuse by distilling a useful concept or design pattern so that situations where it may be accurately applied can be quickly recognized. Evendis reptas arum eos et di re persped molorios autet officilibea inctate num quae pedita que vollaboreria que
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Osaka World Expo Proposal
[ ] Chapter II P.85 [ ]
A Singular Position a Post-industrial Post-assembly Architecture, counter-intuitively situates itself in an architectural spectrum of antiefficiency and anti-modularity as the design drivers, to focus on the single production of architecture as a whole. Architecture has historically evolved alongside technology, and thus, society, the meaning and use of architecture have always followed the current events like a stream merging a river. It is undeniable that the architecture of today is different from its past. No longer is it built up from stone, wood, and dirt with minimal technology, the global society has transcended the
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methods of the ancients and have transformed architecture through ingenuity, rules, and industrialization. The architecture discourse today seems to ignore that the discipline has become a component-based profession majorly. Such a statement becomes evident by observing the tools we utilize today, like BIM and its physically produced counterparts. The architectural system works based on the categorizing and subdividing of architectural components to ease the mass production of said components. Buildings produced with such method end up resembling a Frankenstein concoction of structures, brands, aesthetics and code requirements.
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[Blank] Blank Manifesto is an empty, vacant, deadpan, impassive, inanimate, vacuous, uninterested, absolute, utter, certain, unequivocal and unambiguous piece of background
Lourenรงo Vaz Pinto