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MANON MOLLARD AA INTER2 TUTORS: ANA ARAUJO & TAKERO SHIMAZAKI 2010-2011
HUMAN SKIN READING ITS SURROUNDINGS “The task of architecture is to make visible how the world touches us” - Merleau-Ponty
Yet even here, I know that I shall never come close enough to the world. I must be naked and dive into the sea, still scented with the perfumes of the earth, wash them off in the sea, and consummate with my flesh the embrace for which sun and sea, lips to lips, have so long been sighing. I feel the shock of the water, rise up through a thick, cold glue, then dive back with my ears ringing, my nose streaming, and the taste of salt in my mouth. As I swim, my arms shining with water flash into gold in the sunlight, until I fold them in again with a twist of all my muscles; the water streams along my body as my legs take tumultuous possession of the waves-and the horizon disappears. On the beach, I flop down on the sand, yield to the world, feel the weight of flesh and bones, again dazed with sunlight, occasionally glancing at my arms where the water slides off and patches of salt and soft blond hair appear on my skin.
- Derrick de Kerckhove
sea level
“The world as an extension of the skin is much more interesting than the world as an extension of the image”
water salt
water
earth
air
air
earth
salt
water
salt
air
air
salt
air
sand
Algerian Sun
Time (seconds)
0
from earth to air
1
2
from air to water
3
4
5
6
7
from water to air
from air to sand
8
9
N U D E
E A R T H
W A T E R
S A L T
S A N D
UNDERSTANDING SPACE VIA CASTING Altering the existing to express hidden qualities of a banal space in a model
Model placed in the 1:1 space
Wall scar
Latex scar
Dissecting the space into fragments and allocating materials for the cast
Latex walls
Scaffolding for the latex walls
Plaster walls
Joints for the corners of plaster walls
THE STORY TOLD BY A BUILDING IS WRITTEN ON ITS WALLS Recording, replicating, transfoming. Making something new while keeping a trace of the old.
Exploding the model into fragments to show how the pieces need one another to come together and be held up.
Latex
Plaster
Contrast between the solidity and coldness of the plaster versus the transparency and warmth of the latex
Fluidity and lightness of the m
material, openness of the space
Latex
Transparency of the latex piece evident when flooded with light Plaster
BLURRING BOUNDARIES Dissolution of line between street and garden, between garden and house
Pinhole photography site approach: gradual dissolution of the backwall separating teh garden at 24 Gilston Road from the street of Harley Gardens
N horizon
330 o
10 o elevation angles (up down) 20 o
21 june
30 o sunset 21h21 40 o 300 o 50 o
60 o sun's path during equinoxe 70 o
80 o
W
21 december 240 o
sunset 15h58
210 o azimuth angles (left right) S
Tree canopees above the backwall, hoovering over Harley Gardens
horizon
Basement bathing areas, impermeable to g
garden
“In this marriage of ruins and springtime, the ruins have become stones again, and losing the polish imposed on them by men, they have reverted to nature. To celebrate the return of her prodigal daughters Nature has laid out a profusion of flowers�
Summer solstice
- Albert Camus
Winter solstice
N horizon
30 o
330 o
elevation angles (up down)
30 o
20 o
21 june sunrise 4h43
10 o
sunrise 4h43
30 o sunset 21h21 40 o 60 o
60 o
300 o 50 o
60 o sun's path during equinoxe 70 o
80 o E
120 o
E
W
21 december 120 o
240 o
sunrise 8h04
sunset 15h58
sunrise 8h04
150 o
150 o
210 o azimuth angles (left right)
1m S
horizon
Cracks in wall let climbing vines penetrate into the interior
N
A BUILDING IS NO MERE SHELTER, BUT AN ENVIRONMENT ENVELOPPING ITS INHABITANTS
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“After a few steps, the smell of absinthe seizes one by the throat. The wormwood’s gray wool covers the ruins as far as the eye can see. Its oil ferments in the heat, and the whole earth gives off a heady alcohol that makes the sky flicker” - Albert Camus
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FROM CONTROLLED...
Stage 1 - Basement section: brickwall separates interior bathing area from exterior garden
Stage 2 - Ivy grows along the brickwall facade
... TO UNCONTROLLED NATURE
Stage 3 - Boundary has been crossed
Stage 4 - Ivy takes over the interior, making use of resources savailable, such as water
HERBALISM FOR SKIN DISEASES Herbalism is a traditional medicinal practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts
Phytolacca Americana
Borageo Officinalis
Viola Tricolor
Stellaria Media
Argemone
Water
Water
Water
Water
Water
Temperature
Temperature
Temperature
Temperature
Temperature
Light
Light
Light
Light
Light
Outcome
Outcome
Outcome
Outcome
Outcome
latex cast from facade piece and pushed back
pool of Doctor Fish
Azadirachta Indica
Rumex Crispus
Arctium Pubens
ic e Ju
on si In fu
r Po wd e
nc tu re Ti
in tm en t O
il O
Po ul tic e
e Mexicana
Nicotiana Rustica
Water
Water
Water
Water
Temperature
Temperature
Temperature
Temperature
Light
Light
Light
Light
Outcome
Outcome
Outcome
Outcome
patients from the area
salt water bathing
garden wall: plants penetrate the interior
CROSS SECTION: GROWING, CASTING, BATHING
Opening garden/interior
Wild Ple
Priory Walk
Existing stairs
Concrete
Individual bathing area
r clinic interio
nal ga rden medici
ruin garden
garden
easure Garden
“IT IS MORE INSPIRING TO THINK ABOUT HOW A BUILDING MIGHT EVOLVE THAN TO RIGIDLY DEFINE HOW IT SHOULD BE USED” - JUNYA ISHIGAMI
Year 2047. 24 Gilston Road is taken care of by the garden
Memory of t histo
Collective bathing area
Medicinal garden
Year 2011. 24 Gilston Road is for sale.
Year 2023. 24 Gilston Road is an abandoned house. The garden grows without control. People from the area come in to enjoy the garden.
ner, who permanently lives in a few square meters of the attic . The house has been converted into a herbal clinic specialized in skin diseases for the area.
Roots growing downwards
the house ory
Medicinal garden Wild Pleasure Garden
Vertical Garden
Underground Corridor Distillation Room
“Everything seems futile here except the wild scents of the earth” - Albert Camus
MAIN INTERVENTIONS WITHIN THE EXISTING HOUSE WALLS Moving volumes, shifting partitions, cutting surfaces, inserting structures for growth
roof perforations for light penetration and upwards growth
floor perforations for downwards growth
scaffolding for roots growth eventually, roots take on the structural role of the remaining walls and scaffolding
cutting existing wall for light penetration and extended growth opportunities
garden-wall vertical gowing earth cast
access for visitors and patients
separation between medicinal and roots garden within the interior concrete cast
GARDEN/STREET LEVEL
interior plantation enclosed artificla environment hight light, high temperature
PR
IO
RY
WA
LK
main species: argemone mexicana
ROOF REMOVED
living area one permanent inhabitatn: the gardener temporary scientific helpers from nearby hospitals
back plantation: medium light, medium water main species: borageo officinalis arctium pubens
front plantation: high light little water extends outwards main species: nicotiana rustica azadirachta indica
existing back staircases used for up/down circulation
ATTIC
planks cast with open joints to encourage growth through the cracks FIRST FLOOR
GROUND FLOOR
GARDEN/STREET LEVEL
BASEMENT
stairs built around the vegetation
VIEW: THE ROOTS GARDEN Shifting a Victorian wall to make room for the roots garden, inserting a new partition further back
Old Wall
Roots Garden
New Cast