Undergraduate Thesis
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A Collection of Lineaments
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Marcus Confino
A Collection of Lineaments Marcus Confino Thesis Investigation Fall 2014 - Spring 2015 Thesis Advisors: Frank Weiner Shelley Martin Virginia Tech School of Architecture and Design Blacksburg, Virginia
“We must remember him in the confinement of his studio, at work, in motion, making mistakes. When we know the final result of his eight months, his progress towards it seems irresistible... [He] isn’t carried fluently downstream towards the sunlit pool of that finished image, but is trying to hold a course in an open sea of contrary tides.” Julian Barnes
A Collection of Lineaments
An Architecture Student Residency Author’s Statement
This thesis is an act of thought as much as it an act of making. The investigation seeks to understand the role of lines and line-making in the conception, representation, construction, and experience of architecture. Through the design of an architectural construct, the Thesis seeks to test a sensibility towards architecture. It is the goal of the undergraduate Thesis to discover what the individual can contribute to the discipline of architecture. I would like to thank a number of influential people who have helped me greatly during my five years of study at Virginia Tech. First to Frank Weiner for teaching me how to think, read and see architecture. For countless moments of humor and relief and for a careful guiding presence throughout the past two and a half years. To Shelley Martin for helping me discover the strength in my work and for teaching me to be critical of every detail of my process. To Joe Wheeler, Tim Frank, and Clive Vorster for teaching me what it means to be a student of architecture and preparing me for what lie ahead. To my classmates and friends, for making all the long hours in studio worth it. And finally to my family, for providing me every opportunity to succeed and allowing me to thoroughly enjoy my five years at Virginia Tech.
mind body experience
time space movement A Walk beginnings
endings
A Collective Duration collection gathering building
memory observation being seeing inhabiting reflection
line-making
drawing
A line is an autonomous element, free of pre-suppositions or pre-conceptions. It is a carrier of time and space as well as sensibility and thought. A line is the productive tension between making and thinking. It is physical and imagined. It connects and de-lineates. It collects and builds. It ends and begins. ————— When a line is imbued with information it begins to represent ideas beyond itself by bringing reality to forms conceived in the mind. The line becomes part of a drawing. Lines build and cohere to render what the mind first imagined. Each drawn line is latent with architectural thoughts and images unique to its creator. The built line is a physical construction. It becomes part of a building. It marks the limit of a surface, an edge, a corner, a joint. The lines of enclosure ‘domesticate limitless space’1 and mark a place in the landscape. The line marks the edge where the building stops and the sky begins. The lines of the built structure intersect with the lines of the ground. The line describes and defines the materials of the building. It
becomes the floor and the ceiling, the wall, the door and the window. The line is a consequence of both a physical act and mental conception. The perceived line is a mental reconstruction, gradually building a collective duration. The mind of the observer collects the lines of the building, making connections, generating a history, weaving a subjective memory. The architectural participant inhabits the lines of the building, interacting with its surfaces and moving through its spaces. The line belongs to both the space of the building and the space of the mind. ————— A line is a form of collected knowledge. It begins again in the pages of a sketchbook, as the student discovers and contemplates the architectural world. The line is now a drawing of something real, of something existing in-the-world. Built lines are drawn, just as drawn lines were built. And so a line is drawn as an act of making and an act of thinking. In doing so it belongs to the discipline of architecture: to drawing, to building, and to experiencing.
1 Pallasmaa, Juhani. “The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses”
A line is a method of rendering form. It is the limit of a surface and the trace of a moving point.
The duration of a project
preface // The Found Line: Collected Duration Chapter 1 // The Autonomous Line: Line-Making Series
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chapter 2 // The Trace of a Moving Point: Perspective Series
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Chapter 3 // A Method of Rendering Form
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chapter 4 // The Limit of a Surface
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Appendices // Endings and Beginnings
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preface
The Found Line Collected Duration
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“There is a real duration, the heterogeneous moments of which permeate one another; each moment, however, can be brought into relation with a state of the external world [space] which is contemporaneous with it... Two elements in motion: (1) the space traversed, which is homogeneous and divisible; (2) the act of traversing, indivisible and real only for consciousness.� Henri Bergson
The initial study explores a theoretical line in space as a way to study the relationship between qualities of physical space and subjective spatial experience. The line is inhabited as a phyiscal movement through space. The act of walking becomes a way to actively participate in time, space, and duration simultaneously.
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Spatial sequence + collective duration.
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Overlay of memory over time and through space.
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Final Model Image Overlays
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1
“The air is full of infinite lines, straight and radiating, intercrossing and interweaving without ever coinciding one with another; and they represent for every object the true form of their reason (or their explanation).� Leonardo da Vinci
Chapter 1
The Autonomous Line Line-Making Series
24� x 48� graphite on vellum
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Line-Making Series
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Chapter 2
The Trace of a Moving Point Perspective Series
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Model Photo I
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“For a building to be motionless is the exception; our pleasure comes from moving about it so as to make the building move in turn, while we enjoy all the combinations of its parts, as they vary: the column turns, depths recede, galleries glide; a thousand visions escape from the monument, a thousand harmonies.� Paul Valery
Perspective Series I
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Perspective Series II
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Reflecting Pool Perspective 36” x 72”
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Entrance Hall and Dining Room
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Architecture Studio and Student Residence
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Model Photos III
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Chapter 3
A Method of Rendering Form
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“Let us therefore begin thus: the whole matter of building is composed of lineaments and structure. All the intent and purpose of lineaments lies in finding the correct, infalliable way of joining and fitting together those lines and angles which define and enclose the surfaces of the building... let lineaments be the precise and correct outline, conceived in the mind, made up of lines and angles, and perfected in the learned intellect and imagination.� Leon Battista Alberti
Derived Geometry and Generation of the Plan
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Study Model 1
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Mind Images I
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Mind Images II
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Plan Iteration II
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Section Perspective: Entrance Hall and Transition to Residencies
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Works of Influence: La Tourette, Middleton Inn, Barnes Foundation, FDR Memorial
Thoughts about site and context.
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The Imagined Landscape
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Plan Iteration III
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2 3
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Entry Promenade Reflecting Pool Entry Stair Entrance Hall Sculpture/Model Gallery Gallery/Exhibition Space Reception/Dining Hall Kitchen Architecture Studios Library Public Courtyard Student Residencies Path to Additional Residencies
Plan Iteration III
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2 5 3
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Entry Stair Reception / Coat Room Entrance Hall Hall to Residencies Academic Archive / Special Exhibition Bathrooms Library Shop Space / Archive Support Wood / Metal Shop Covered Exterior Space Student Residencies Covered Exterior Space Uncovered Exterior Space
Ground Floor Plan
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Stair from Gallery Hall Studio Space Storage Stair to Studio Below Uncovered Exterior Space Covered Exterior Space
Third Floor Plan
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Main Entry Section
Entry Promenade Section // S-E Elevation
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Section Through Dining Room and Student Residence
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Plan of the Architecture Studio
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Chapter 4
The Limit of a Surface
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“Architecture is not simply the brilliant expression of an idea. After the architect has finished his work, the idea which motivated it is somehow dead, and at the same time, kept alive by the reality of the building.� Rafael Moneo
coal-fired brick: ’reduced white’ color with darker rough tones; 22”x 1 5/8” x 4” dimension; 3/8” flush vertical mortar joints, 3/4” raked horizontal joints; rough and inconsistent texture with strong horizontal lines honed travertine: cream or tan color; smooth, matte finish; large (4’x8’) slabs with narrow joints for continuity (contrasting the brick lines)
oak wood: for interior floor and ceiling; parquet-pattern (8”x8”) for floor adds texture (contrasting travertine); dark but varied stain finish; soft for touched surfaces (material of ‘relief’) brushed copper: for travertine joints (emphasis on the joint); add contrasting color and smooth texture; cooler temp. polished steel: high reflectivity for repeated exterior columns
The Limit of a Surface
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Entrance Hall Study
What is the relationship between building construction and spatial experience? A study of the unfolded section reveals the spatial and atmospheric consequences of construction and material. The textural qualites of both the interior and exterior of the building are carefully designed to contribute to the experience of the space.
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Unfolded Wall Section
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Unfolded Exterior Elevation
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The floor of the interior space is oak wood laid in a modified parquet pattern, bringing texture and softness to the ground plane. The interior wall finish is large slabs of travertine stone, contrasting the highly textured brick surface of the exterior walls.
Unfolded Interior Elevation
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brick joint: flush mortar joints create a natural base for the brick wall while the raked joints emphasize the horizontal lines of the brick surface.
Free-Standing Brick Wall Detail
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Construction Sequence: 1. concrete foundation 2. brick coursing (with brick ‘form-ties’) 3. concrete in-fill pour every 6’
Axonometric Detail: brick coursing as concrete formwork (with brick ‘form-ties’)
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reinforced concrete column steel support studs, shaped steel wrapping sections, steel top plates
Steel Column Detail
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Limit of a Surface Roof Structure: Glu-laminated beams
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Spatial Fragments
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A Place in the Landscape
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Appendices
The Duration of a Project Endings and Beginnings
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A line is the productive tension between thinking and making. A drawing is an exploration, a representation, a manifestation of knowledge. A project is the careful confrontation of architectural theory with constructive reality. A thesis is a means and a method of thinking, making, and seeing architecture. The conclusion of the fifth year marks the beginning of a more intimate and defined relationship to the discipline of architecture.
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The Duration of a Project First Drawing and Current Drawing Eight Months Between Two Drawings
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Thesis Book Leporello 6.5” x 10” 100 lb. cardstock paper smooth white 131 pages Font: Avenir Book Times New Roman
A Collection of Drawings derived geometry overlay // 8.5” x 11” graphite pencil on trace paper opening Thesis diagram // 8.5” x 11” pen on trace paper introduction Durational Lines // 18” x 24” graphite pencil & charcoal on paper i blind contour sketches // 8” x 10” pen on paper ii-iii Movement in Space Diagram // 18” x 24” graphite pencil on paper vi-vii ‘500’ line drawing // 24” x 48” graphite pencil on vellum 1 3 drafted line diagrams // 9” x 12” graphite pencil on paper Line-Making series // 18” x 24” graphite pencil on paper 4-11 Perspective Series 1 // 12” x 12” graphite pencil on vellum, rendered in Photoshop 16-17 Perspective series 2 // 12” x 12” graphite pencil on vellum, rendered in Photoshop 18-19 reflecting pool perspective // 36” x 72” graphite on charcoal paper, edited in Photoshop 21 22-25 Perspective series 3 // 7” 7” graphite pencil on paper, rendered in Photoshop building Plan iteration 1 // 24” x 36” graphite pencil on paper 30 watercolor series // 9” x 12” watercolor on WC paper 34-35 Sketchbook series // 8” x 10” graphite pencil and pen on paper 36-37 building Plan iteration 2 // 24” x 36” graphite pencil on paper 38-39 40-41 Section Perspective Series // 18” x 24” graphite pencil on vellum Site and context sketch // 8.5” x 11” pen on paper 42-43 building Plan iteration 3 // 24” x 36” graphite pencil on vellum 46-49 ground floor Plan // 18” x 24” graphite pencil on vellum 50-51 Third floor Plan // 18” x 24” graphite pencil on vellum 52-53 54-55 entry stair section // 18” x 24” graphite pencil on vellum, edited in Photoshop entry promenade section // 24” x 36” graphite pencil on vellum, edited in Photoshop 54-55 Dining room Section // 18” x 24” graphite pencil on vellum, edited in Photoshop 56 Student residency section // 18” x 24” graphite pencil on paper, edited in Photoshop 56 architecture studio Plan // 18” x 24” graphite pencil on vellum 58 66 exploded axonometric of entry Hall // 18” x 24” graphite pencil on trace paper Detail wall section // 24” x 36” graphite pencil on paper, edited in Photoshop 68 Axon and Plan detail // 18” x 24” graphite pencil on paper, edited in Photoshop 69 unfolded exterior elevation // 24” x 36” graphite on charcoal paper, edited in Photoshop 70 unfolded interior elevation // 24” x 36” graphite on charcoal paper, edited in Photoshop 72 coal-fired brick texture // 24” x 36” charcoal rubbing on vellum 74-75 76 Brick wall section & elevation // 18” x 24” graphite on paper, edited in Photoshop Brick wall sequence drawing // 18” x 24” graphite pencil on paper 78 brick wall axonometric // 18” x 24” graphite pencil on paper 79 Free-standing steel column detail // 18” x 24” graphite pencil on paper 81 a place in the landscape // 9” x 12” pen on trace paper 91
All drawings and models produced by the author
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Architects of Influence; Le Corbusier Peter Zumthor Carlo Scarpa Rafael Moneo Aldo Rossi Louis Kahn Alvaro Siza David Chipperfield Herzog and de Meuron Williams and Tsien Writers of Influence Paul Valery Julian Barnes Edgar Allen Poe Artists of Influence Richard Long Sol LeWitt Paul Klee Helene Benet Philosophers of Influence Henri Bergson Gilles Delueze Rene Descartes
A Collection of Influence Alberti, Leon Battista, On the Art of Building in Ten Books. trans. J. Rykwert, N. Leach and R. Tavernor, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1996 Barnes, Julian. A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters. New York: Knopf :, 1989. Print. Bergson, Henri, and Nancy Margaret Paul. “Chapter 4: The Delimiting and Fixing of Images. Perception and Matter. Soul and Body.” Matter and Memory,. London: G. Allen &;, 1912. Print. Bergson, Henri, and Frank Lubecki Pogson. Time and Free Will, an Essay on the Immediate Data of Consciousness. New York: Harper, 1960. Print. Deleuze, Gilles, and Paul Patton. Difference and Repetition. London: Continuum, 2001. Print. Frampton, Kenneth, and John Cava. Studies in Tectonic Culture: The Poetics of Construction in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Architecture. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT, 1995. Print. Long, Richard, and Clarrie Wallis. Richard Long: Heaven and Earth. Tate, 2009. Print. Moneo, Rafael. “The Idea of Lasting. A Conversation with Rafael Moneo.” Perspecta 24 (1988): 146-57. JSTOR. Yale University School of Architecture. Web. 1 Jan. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1567131>. Moneo, Rafael. Theoretical Anxiety and Design Strategies in the Work of Eight Contemporary Architects. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT, 2004. Print. Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. Chichester: Wiley-Academy ; 2005. Print. Rossi, Aldo. A Scientific Autobiography. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT, 1981. Print. Valery, Paul, and Thomas MacGreevy. Introduction to the Method of Leonardo Da Vinci,. London: J. Rodker, 1929. Print. Williams, Tod, and Billie Tsien. “On Slowness.” TOD WILLIAMS BILLIE TSIEN Architects | Partners.1999. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. <http://www.twbta.com/3031>. Zumthor, Peter, and Maureen Turner. Thinking Architecture. 2nd, Expanded ed. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2006. Print. Zumthor, Peter. Atmospheres. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2006. Print.
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‘The Editing Process’ courtesy of Shelley Martin
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Final Building Model
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A line gives one time to think.
Marcus Confino Bachelor of Architecture 2010-2015 2015 Pella Prize Winner Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University College of Architecture and Urban Studies School of Architecture and Design