Architecture, Planning and Landscape Newcastle University
170751731 Simon Ng Chi Ming
portfolio
19/20
1
Ordinary Resilience
Studio Tutors : Jack Mutton Harriet Sutcliffe Studio Members : Alvin Tsang Bella Jahoda Ella Johnson Heather O’Mara Herbert Winata Jaz Bishop Jonathan Barker Juergen Springer Justin Lin Kieran Forrest Maria Aksenova Migle Zabielaite Rory Dumin Simon Ng Tunu Brown Zoey Fung 3
6. Illustrated Reflective Report 8. Project Primer 28. Project Staging 50. Thinking Through Making Week 58. Project Realization CONTENT.
92. Project Synthesis
4
124. Illustrated Cultural Bibliography 131. Appendix 136. References 5
Reflective Report
Deteriorate
Learn
“So great are the changes required to alter humankind’s dealings with the physical world that only this sense of self-displacement and estrangement can drive the actual practices of change and reduce our consuming desires;” -Richard Sennett Ever since architecture started, humans have been adopting themselves into the artificial environments which imitate nature in order to compliment the fact that we are dislocated from our ancestor’s habitat within the thousand years of evolution. Since the moments when architecture first begun, with just a building of a shelter for protection, to the splendid Corinthian columns demonstrating the emerge of civilization, till now having steel and glass isolating us from our birthplace; the trace of humans trying to “naturalize” architectural elements to simulate the experience of living in nature has always been visible. “Embrassingly unambitious”, “Tree falling capital of UK”.... These have been the criticisim Newcastle has taken for its approach on environemntal strategy. As a city that sits at the forge of industrialisation, all of the dazzling neo-classical and gothic architecures in the city centre are telling the stories of its prosperous past to the people. However, it also came with soot that added an extra layer on those outstanding facades, reminding people of what they have sacrificed for modernization. This once again proved that humans, especially this city have been walking further and further away from nature on the path of seeking for developement.
6
Envolve In Richard Grianger’s vision of the designing Newcastle, he saw newness, brightness and modern elegance as end goal; this projection is embedded in the physical structure of the city, and its modernist timelessness. My proposal sought to explore a rather incremental approach of translating naturalism into architectural language through inheriting the gothic quality of the city with a modern execution. This is not only to embed natural quality into daily life space, but also paying respect to the rich historical context of the city. My goal is to construct space that simulates the experience of natural world into elegant designed archiectural space, creating a delusional sensitivity.
ical vision but also responds to realistic government urban plan guidance as well. From a clients perspective, my proposal will be a bold and elegant approach to respond to urban context with a strong and timeless choice, With this adventurous decision, the proposal will be sharing similar historical qualities with the surrounding buildings and contribute to the city’s green infrastructure network. From a constructors perspective, this design will be a challenge on how far modern technology could push the potential of the material during the construction progress. At the same time, it will be a celebration of craftmenship from gothic construction strategy instead of standardized regulation.
“Nature might be a better guide if we understand own labour as part of its being.” The design process entails constant influence from the nature properties and green quality from the city to strengthen its bond with the concept. From the experiments done throughout primer, massing decisions in staging, to architectural styles selected in realisation and atmosphere pursuance in synthesis, nature has been playing an active role in resolving struggles in each stage. Apart from looking into theories, the project has also taken practical factor into consideration. Programmes and circulation of the proposal were influenced by the Newcastle City Council 2030 Plan and research that have been done in Tyne and Wears Archive. This helped creating a project which is not only achieving theoret-
From a visitors perspective, the building is going to be a unique experience for their senses and will strengthen the bond between them and nature and embrace the industrial legacy which is embbed in the soil they are walking on. On the other hand, this project will also be repaying the communty which defined and gave meaning to the area.
This year has been a bumpy year for me. From the desperation of going through a political movement in my home country, to the frustration I have exprienced during the early stage of my design process, and the global issue in later time of the year that came unexpectedly. “To banish imperfection is to destroy expression, to check exertion, to paralyze vitality.” (John Ruskin, 1851) My design is not perfect. I do admit that there are parts that I could have done better in certain aspects. It was hard to keep my performance up with all the situations that were happening around me. However, this is what I have learnt, to enjoy the constrain, to embrace the hinderance. It is because the final outcome is never what actually matters. It is the experience and the skills that I have developed during the process which is going to benefit me for a lifetime. This might not be the best year, but definitely the most meaningful year.
As a creative person, I love to explore different ideas I have in mind through model-making and crafting instead of just expressing it on paper or having it wonder in my mind. This actually played a significant role during the design developement and provided inspiration for my project, especially TTMW.
7
Reflective Observe
Think
Create
In primer, we were asked to observe the city around us carefully through sketching and photography. Then, refer back to our key artist reference to represent the nature of city through prints and sculptures. This project was actually very enjoyable for me as a person who loves making things. I found my self-guided experimental scultpure, discovering the city languages, extremely useful. It was done at the beginning and it helped me to explore the concept that I am looking for through the process of making. I also managed to learn a lot of new skills like wood turning and casting from crafting all the scultpures, which I find is the most essential part. For me, the execution is never the most important. Instead, it is the skills that I learned during the progress of creating which matters most.
PRIMER
8
9
City Sketches
Ouseburn Bridges Columns This exercise was where I wondered around the city and sketched things I found insteresting. To begin with, I decided to go to Ouseburn, which is a bit far away from the city centre and then sketched my way back into the city. What’s fasinating about Ouseburn is although it is just a few blocks away from the city center, the change of vibe is signficant. It gives you a sense of feeling of walking back into the industrial period and appreciating the traces it left over. After sketching a scenario at the crossing outside Ouseburn farm, I shifted my focus to two of the main bridges at Byker, which I found it’s archs and form ended up inspiring my design a lot. Moving back into the city centre, the neo-classicism is what really makes Newcastle shine. With studies into different kinds of columns I can find along Grey street, I really scratched the surface of classical ornamentation.
10
11
Concept Hybrid Evolution Organic Artificial This is a little self-experiment I have done while starting to search for ideas in what I wanted to do in Primer. What really inspired me a lot during the look around city is the layering of history through the exposure of materials, especially palimpsest. The concept of this hybrid is to represent the evolution of layering in a conceptual way. From the very beginning of history, before the exsistance of architecture, everything was just pure organic form with the shape of nature. However, once architecture entered the canvas, artifical elments began to exsist and added on top of the previous layers. Time after time, architecure develops and different materials were invented to be part of the layering. Eventually, man-made components will occupy the entire canvas. During the making of this hybrid, I started by trying the spray paint dipping to create the organic flow of color and form to represent the occupation of nature on the canvas, As you can see, it is a series of four canvases and moving forward, the area occupied by the spray paint dipping becomes less and less. This is when all the laser cut objects which represents stone, timber and brick started moving in. While on the last canvas, experiemental shapes were used to represent furturistic construction materials. What I learned from this is each stage of layering has its own sort of beauty regarding the ratio between organic and artifcial. It is about the way we choose to apprciate and admire its values.
12
13
Large Stacking
&
Scale
Layering
After completing the hybrid, I realized I’m particalurly interested in the layering of materials in the city. Just like Newcastle as a city, it is a scultpure itself with tons of different materials merging into each other. Each layer of material is constrcuted at a different period of time. Through countless deconstructions of old layers and adding up of new layers, it is what composed our city today.
Constanin Brancusi
At the begining of my design, I began by looking into the Le Poisson by Constanin. I found it fascinating to express my concept through stacking up different kinds of materials and create a harmony through combining and balancing them. As in terms of urban development strategies, it is all about balancing the old and the new, the marginalized and the elevated. It is always easier to wipe out exsisting buildings to construct a new one. However, coordinating with the previous layers and creating a harmony through respecting history will always be the best solution. With that concept, I started my city phase of work by stacking and balacning different materials I can find together, referencing the artwork created by Constanin Brancusi.
fig,1
14
15
Jamie North
After my initial approach, I decided to push it futher and carry out another attempt. I began with looking into Jamie North, an Australian artist who studied the conflict between man-made architecure and the biological world. This is kind of a response to what I have exlplored in the hybrid. “The furture is already here, it is just not evenly distributed� - Jamie. Architecture has been competing with natural environment for thousands of years, it is always a competition between who or what is going to take up more space. Once a city is abondoned, nature will take it over, but architecture will expand at the same time in undeveloped areas. This pushed the idea of balancing old and new even further, as perservation is only limited to balacning the buidings that have been built at different times. I began to study relation between nature and architecure. which would be the main concept for my medium scale piece.
fig,2
Final Attempt
What drew my attention to Jamie North was initially his method of blending different colours of concrete together. I found it applicable to my idea of layers. Therefore in my final piece I tried to blend plaster and concrete together to create a transformation of material. With different materials like brick, timber and metal laying on top of each other, my city phase piece is like a stratum of a city, revealing the transformation of materials of the past, present and the future.
16
17
Medium Scale Nature Craftsman Forms
In the medium scale, I inherited the idea from the previous piece and looked into how natural environment emerges into archietcture and normal daily life. In The Craftsman by Richard Sennett, he mentioned humans seem to seek escape in an idealized Nature, rather than confronting the self-destructive territory we have actually made. This responds to the idea of humans trying to “naturalize� achitectural elements to simulate the experience of living in nature while replacing nature with artificial architecture.
Initial Design
The concept of how humankind deal with the physical world, with the sense of self-displacement and estrangement through emerging natural within architectural components. I started the intial design to express the idea through making of a tree by creating an illusion between natural and artificial elements. With the root of the tree set as a base, a column was set on top to represent the tree trunk. Responding to the intercrossing structure of beams and posh as branches, there would be steel and timber frames on top of the colmuns.
This concept can be commonly found in our daily life. Entering a corridor is just like entering a cave, the feeling of walking on carpet is similar to walking on grass, passing through columns willl feel like passing through trees and beams on the ceiling are just like branches on trees. Nature is always the best guide if we understand our own labour as part of its being.
18
fig,3
fig,4
fig,5
fig,6
fig,7
fig,8
fig,9
fig,10
19
Initial Realisation
In the process of making my medium scale sculpture, I started by sourcing for branches as the root for the base of my column. Therefore, I went to Leazes Park to look for suitable wood. After that, I casted a concrete tray for holding the soil and tree. Then, which was the most exciting part, carving the corinthian column out by clay. However, due to me using fire-dried clay instead of airdry clay, the surface of the column started cracking once it was dried, which unintentonally added on to its authenticity. I was going to top it with steel or timber frame. However, due to the complexity and scale, that plan was abondoned and it was replaced by a plant pot which was made by the same timber as the base, with an English Ivy plant. The concrete base was later on filled with soil and moss in order to make it more realistic
20
21
William Morris
After my initial attempt on the medium scale, I found it too literal. Therefore I began to look into William Morris. He once said it was possible or desirable to imitate nature. You can understand it but cant copy it literally. It now became clear that imitating nature was the mistake I had made in the first approach. Then I looked into William Morris’ process of designing. For example his early work Daisy and Trellis, it was derived from the blue serge floral hangings and echoes of the rose trellisies in the medieval garden at Red House. His way of scooping inspiration from daily interactions with nature, without emulating them, furthered my idea for the final attempt.
fig,11
Final Attempt
With the idea of celebrating nature without imitating it, I started my design by going to the nearest area of nature which I can interact with, Leazes Park. I listened to the sounds of trees and the ensemble of nature and recorded the sounds in the park which I later on transformed into a soundwave. I cut part of a fallen branch from a giant tree as my foundation. My idea was creating beauty with the gifts from nature, as Willaim Morris regarded beauty as such human right and Richard Sennett thinks humankind have been displaced from nature. Therefore, I decided to turn a trunk of wood into a column, with a shape referring to the soundwave I have got from the park. This was a significant learning process for me as I got my first chance to try working on a turner and since then working with natural material and it became the driven force for my design.
22
23
Small Decay
Rusted
Scale
Redefine
In the small scale, I looked into the natural properties of materials. I studied the honesty of materials and how nature elements were hidden inside materials within contempary architecture. However, humans will always choose to focus on the fancy shell of architecture and ignore the hidden beauty of nature underneath. From the very beginning, architecture only exsisted for survival. With time and the advance in technology, different kinds of materials got invited into archiecture and furthered it from its natural properties; an example of this is carbon fibre or glass, something that wouldn’t exist in natural environment. However, through time and weathering, the biological world will take back its territory, everything will return to its original form, to soil. At the end of the day, “every man made thing when it is broken, it reveals its natural properties and returns to its orginal form.�, this is the concept I have taken from Jamie North in my early work. Therefore, I started to look at the interaction between nature and material through studying its decay.
Initial Expectation
Initially, I planned to make a print with the surface of deconstructed material like broken bricks and timber to express the idea of revealing how nature interacts with archiecture. First, I began to make the background of my print with the rust of metal, using rust as its natural pigment on the canvas. I started this by rusting four sheets of metal on my balacony, using four different liquids, vinegar, Coke, salted water and detergent to quicken the process. Through observing the effect and patterns of rust it created on the metal, I went for the one rusted by detergent and poured vinegar on top to help release the rust. I then printed it on the canvas as my background for the print. Then, I started breaking up brick, timber and concrete to get the roughness of the broken sides. I painted the broken surfaces with acrylic and printed the texture of them on top which completed my detailed piece. Through this, I began to appreciate the beauty of decay and deconstructivism. I think this process redefined the meaning of broken as you can generate beauty from something which is incomplete and damaged through the help of nature.
24
25
Final Print The final print was completely unintentional. When I was rusting metal on my balcony for my print, I only put liquid on one side in order to rust that side. I didn’t think about the fact that my balcony was made of metal as well and could potentially rust my sheet of metal at the same time on the other side. Therefore, when I thought the metal was properly rusted and picked it back up, I noticed this fascinating pattern the rain and moisture had rusted at the back of my metal sheet. Therefore, I thought that even though I have spent time and effort planning and trying to control the way metal should rust so as to create the flow and pattern I want for my print, the artifical result that I recieved can’t even compare. Eventually, I chose the beauty created by nature as my final piece instead of the print of me trying to imitate the formulation of nature.
26
27
28 28
Reflective
Obstancy Constraint Selective To be honest, staging was actually quite a dark time for me throughout the year. With my insist on preserving the local community, I was having a hard time sorting out massing on site due to the awkward site sharp I had given myself. Moreover, I had too many ideas and concepts that I didn’t learn to be selective. Instead, I tried to shove every single idea I had in my mind into my design. This led to quite a chaotic design development process. It ended up with me having an over complicated proposal, overwhelmed with ideas that weren’t put together delicately and thoughtfully. However, with time for reflection afterwards, I managed to clarify my concept in realisation and stepped futher.
STAGING St. Thomas
Context plays a crucial role in design. My site is located along the St Thomas Street, which is now mainly occupied by car parks. As an area located in the city centre, this place is clearly a “Heterotopia”, described by the French theorist Michel Foucault as a site that distorts, unsettles or inverts other spaces and is awkward for everyday life. With the residential area on top, university campus to the right and Eldon Square down below, this underdeveloped area seems to be a bit odd and behind the pace of what is around it. It is an interesting site considering how the city council could let such marginal space exist in the city center next to the university campus. That’s why the reason I chose this site is because I saw huge potential with its unique location and how surprisingly quiet it is as a space located right next to the busy Percy Street.
29
Site Analysis
WIDER CONTEXT : The site is located next to the Haymarket station which provides incredicbly convenient transport for visitors to travel to the site.
fig,12
30
ACCESS ROUTE : The site is surrounded by alleys, little paths and gaps inbetween buildings, easy for acess from all directions.
fig,13
VEGETATION : There is barely any vegetation in the site considering its central location. Main concept for the proposal will be adding more green infrastructure.
fig,14
Listed Building : Basically no building within the site is listed, which means it would be completely fine to demolish any building.
fig,15
31
Site Section - Percy Street
Site Section - St Thomas Street
32
Secret Path
Ornamental Elements
Materiality
This is tiny little path connecting the site directly to Leazes Park. It is vegetated and peaceful, with hardly any people walking past. That’s why I think it will be great to be able to bring this hidden path back to life.
There are plenty of ornamental elements which were left on the listed buildings around the site. They were mostly built around late 19th to early 20th centuries. It will be imporant for my building to inherit the ornamental quality of the area.
The buildings along St.Thomas Street feature an array of different material finishes on the extrior. The materiality in the area is mostly dominanted by a mixed used of brick. Pavings with different patterns are also one of the significant features as well. 33
Univeristy Mapping
Roof Line Study Another special accent about the site is that there is a lot of buildings with different shapes and heights of roofs which intersect with eachother and form these fasinating skylines which can be hardly found in others places. This will be one of the qualities I want to inherit into my design in the future. 34
35
Ve g e t a t i o n
Embrassingly Unambitious
After investigating into the vegetation distribution around the site, I realized that there is barely any green space within the city centre and the area around my site. Tracing back to 1788, that was the time when greenery was still able to boom before concrete covered up the soil. Even with the city councils 2030 urban vision, the green belt will still be ignoring the centre area of Newcastle
fig,16
“A range of measures will be supported, including climate change mitigation or adaption measures to address gaps in our Green Infrastructure Network” -City Council
fig,17
Newcastle was branded as the tree-falling capital of UK and the City Council tree plans were called out as “embarrassingly unambitious”. - BBC Therefore, with my primer overall concept closely linked to nature. This vegetation analysis in the city indicates me to take landscape design as an essential element of my building. This not only responds to the idea I have explored during primer, but also fulfills the responsibility to bring vegetation back into the city centre.
36
Vegetation Distribution 37
Green Route
Vegetation
Sequence
“Nature might be a better guide if we understand our own labour as part of its being.� - Richard Sennett With the ignorancy on green infrastructure by the city council, the quality nature environment within the city needs to be embraced once again through my buildings. An urban green route will be planned out to highlight all the significant green spaces around newcastle city centre.The aim of the green route is to not only provide a sequnce of green spaces for people to experience throughout Newcastle to escape from the hectic city life, but also getting peoples awareness to the environmental issues of Newcastle in order to push the city council further on green infrastructure plans.
38
39
The previous existence of these places informed me the idea of bringing the history back to life, to remind people of what was here before. The concept was pushed further when the form of Percy Iron Work resolved my struggle with the massing. Also, Palace Theatre and Thompson animated my decision of a music school and garden as my programme.
Site History
Theater Factory Garden The decline of St Thomas Street nowadays doesn’t reflect how it was. My design is going to respond to the history, to absorb the traces of human life. The marginal space used to accommodate the Percy Iron Work, Permanent Circus, Palace Theatre and Dr T.Y Thompson Garden. With access to the Newcastle Archive, I found two elevations of how the sites used to look back in the early 1900s. It is such a shame to see such elegant and magnificent street fronts getting replaced by those sketchy buildings on the site nowadays. As a result, this laid the dedication for me to bring back what was buried in the history by time and introduce a new gloden age of St. Thomas Street. fig,18
40
41
Community Local Businesses
When I first thought about what buildings to demolish to mark my canvas for the design, it shouldn’t have been a concern since most buildings there are not very appealing.
“We’ve already had firm interest from software, arts and research firms planning to accomodate here” -Charlie Hoult (Developer of Haylofts)
However, after talking to people who run their life and businesses there, I really hesitated to take any of them down. As wiping things out is always easier than working along with the existing fabric, having constraints will help my design to adapt into the context more appropriately.
“People have said that they get a family feel when they walk in and we have been running this pub for 30 years now.”
That’s why I will be trying to preserve them. With the plans from City Council of constructing Permanent Circus abandoned, which would have accommodated a few shops in the site, I think it would be great to bring that back to life to provide opportunities for local businesses and start-ups.
-Tony and Sue (Owner of Percy Arm) “We only moved here for 2 years due to the cheap rent and we really want to provide a different option for the citizens other than big enterprises”
With the site mainly being an enclosed car park, access is limited. In order to provide a convenient access route to the building users, temporary buildings on the north side of the site will be demolished.
-Owner of Mean-Eyed-Cat
Demolsihed Buildings
LOCA L St Tho BUSINESS mas S treet Busin ess C
entre
view
TOTAL SITE AREA 4300m2
LOC Per AL BUS cy A rm INESS
DEMOLISHED BUILDING
SS IS NE at BU s-C AL -Eye C LO ean M
DEMOLISHED BUILDING
view view
Local Business Distribution 42
43
Initial Design Design
Concept
“Humans seem to seek escape to an ‘Idealized Nature’ rather than confronting the self destructive territory we have actually made” -Richard Sennett From the collage showing the delusion between human natural habitats and archietcural space, it proves that they are actually both sharing similar spatial quality. With the study of relation between human and nature during primer, I want to create a buildings that translate the form of nature and represent it in an architectural language. In order to achiceve that, my building will begin with contributing to the green sequence of the city, providing an oasis for people to escape from the hectic city life and strengthen our connection with nature. This is going to involve a certain amount of landscape design in my proposal, which influnced me to generate voids during the massing development for a courtyard and gardens.
44
45
Massing development
Nature Guidance
Historical Narrative
Circulation
Initial Massing
The massing that I ended up choosing for staging is different from my final decision in realisation. However, they both share the same principle. After deciding to demolish part of the temporary houses on the north side of the site, I started my design by marking the boundary of how much area I would be able to work on. Within this canvas, I started putting blocks and mass inside to test out different possiblities. Taking vegetation as inspiraton, instead of looking at urban grain, I seeked my inspiration from the nearest green area, Leazes Park. One of the most important feature of Leazes Park is inveitably the lake in the middle. Therefore, I generated two voids in the two seperate blocks in the north and south. Translating the language of the lake inside a park; the garden inside the building; the oasis inside the city. With the idea of bringing history back to life, I took reference to Percy Iron Work which I discovered earlier in historial study. It is an L shape factory which used to be located right in the middle of the site for around 100 years before being demolished. That building reflected the industrial period of Newcastle and how this city used to be. With the concept of the layering of history in Primer’s large scale, I saw this as an opportunity to reflect to that idea and resolve my massing. Moreover, this also resolved my struggle of fitting the building in such awkward site.
Typology
Final Proposal
After having the core massing sorted, I adjusted the height of the southern and northern block to the same height as the terraced houses along St. Thomas Street. This leaves the main block having the same height as the Bruce Building opposite the site 46
47
Initial Proposal Newcastle Faculty of Music
With the history of the site used to be occupied by Palace Theatre, the second largest theatre in Newcastle at the time, this backed my decision of having the building to be a Music School. This is not only paying respect to the sites history but also contibutes to the cultural developement in Newcastle. Roofs with different shapes and angles are introduced to respond to the intercrossing roof line of the buildings on site. Green roof and courtyard are placed to bring in vegetation to enrich the green infrastructure of Newcastle city centre. However, this proposal ended up being unsuccessful due to the over complication in massing and a too literal response to the concept.
48
49
Thinking Through Making Concept
After staging, I discovered that brick and sandstone have been the dominant material around that site. Moreover, I looked into the possiblity of using recycled brick. With the NE Reclamation Supplies located at Gateshead, which is near the site, it would be more sustainable to apply recycled bricks to my building. In terms of acoustic performance, brick absorbs sound and has low reverberation time for sound. Therefore, by choosing brick as my material, I wanted to study the capablity of brick and understand its construction method alongside the potential form that it could achieve. One way to break through ordinary perception of brick will be making it curved instead of just a straight wall. With the analysis toward the formation and pattern of Gothic vaults, I drew several sketches to expriement how my idea could be transfromed into reality.
50
51
fig,19
fig,20
Precedent Study fig,21
fig,22
52
With the interest in organic brick form, it drives me into the arch and vault elements which were embraced in Gothic architecture. I looked into the Christ Church by Carlos Mijares Bracho, Grundtvigs by Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint and Tate Britian by Caruso St John. These are all took a new approach in experimenting with Gothic elements without imitating them. I am particularly interested in the half circle brick layering shape in the Christ Church and the intercrossed archs which somehow created vaults in Tate Britain. I was fascinated in testing out how it was constructed and structurally supportable, which led to my design after.
The Amalgam This is my expectation of what I was going to build throughout the week. With an introduction of concrete into the selection of materials, it is great to see how concrete compromised with brick to take a new attempt in celebrating the constructuon of a Gothic rib vault. Therefore, I was going to have a concrete base with concrete columns and vaults made by concrete on top. On the other side, I want to test the acoustics performance of brick by creating a shell like shape structure which could be applied to my project.
53
Process The fundamental element of this model is the production of bricks. I possibily made over a thousand bricks during the construction of this model. First, I laser cut out a brick mold with a 1:10 scale to a standard UK brick. Absorbing from the exprience of dealing with clay in Primer, I used Nylon reinforced airdry clay instead of fire clay so as to prevent cracks once finished. Then I nipped a suitable amount of clay into the mold before pressing them and scraping the excess clay off, which smoothed the surface. Eventually after it dried, it fell off the mold naturally and then it’s ready for the next run. For the shell shaped one, I began with laying brick into herringbone bond for the floor paving as a base for what I am going to build on top. Then I started building the shell with a tiny semi circle, which I continuously added on more and more layers by sticking out a bit more on each layer. Eventually, this led to the final product. For the vault, I casted the base and pillars with concrete first. By adopting the Gothic construction method of building a supporting element for brick work then removed afterwards, I cut out the negative of the vault with foam as support for me to build the arch. After laying brick after brick on the pillars and the foam, the vault was completed and I removed the foam with a hot wire pen and revealed the structure underneath the vault.
54
55
STAGING - PHASE 02
Exhibition Brick
Vault
Arch
Although the journey of trying to produce so many bricks in such a short period of time was stressful, this has been an inspirational and joyful week. I basically experienced the whole transformation of changing clay into brick and then brick into architecture. There was countless techniques I have learned either on brick making, bonding and constructing through out the progress. This has been a rewarding adventure. 57
Pr o c e s s
Fail
Reflect
Growth
After the failed attempt on massing in staging, I took a step back and had a pause to clarify what I am persuading in my concept. It was painful to fall back. Nonetheless, it is the learning process which is important and I managed to reflect on the mistakes I made and grow.
REALISATION
58
After my reflection, I wanted my design to respond architecturally to nautralism, as German philosopher Martin Heidegger imagined in his old age, establishing an equilibrium between ourselves and the resources of the earth—an image of balance and reconciliation. The project will not only be providing an environmentally sustainable solution to accommodate the programme but also a response to historical narrative which tells the story of what happened there before. I stood back up by creating a natural wood site model showing how my massing sits within the context, strengthening my design process with nature.
59
Final Massing I took a step back and went for a more simplified massing, which is still achieving my thoughts of providing an inviting and unique vibe to the visitors through the circular courtyard. This massing is still inheriting the same pricinple as the one in staging, while having a more elegant execution. 60
61
Facade Study After TTMW week, I was fasinated by what brick construction can achieve. Therefore, with the concept of layering I studied in primer, I looked into ARC in Sydney,by Koichi Takada Architects. This inspired me of what brick layering can accomplish on facades. This is not only responding to the layering concept but also releases a sense of gothic quality which is an architectural style that is inpsired by nature as well. Therefore, I made a cast model showing the kind of quality I want to achieve on my facade later on.
fig,23
62
63
A r c a d e Gothic Revival
After the facade study, it brought me into Gothic Architecture and how its relation with, most importantly, what I can take from that and apply to my design. I started by searching for gothic elements around the site and university campus. Due to the wave of neo-gothic, there are suprisingly quite a lot of buildings sharing gothic qualities in the surrounding area. This backed my idea of following the path of gothic. This is because not only do we both share the love of nature, but also my building can respond to the context and inherit the same languages campus buildings share as a univeristy builidng.
Barbarism & Savageness One of two the most important Gothic charateristics ,according to Stone of Venice, is the savageness and obstinacy. I believe this perfectly represents my obstinacy on insisting to fit my building in such awkward site. As the studio theme is to explore the timelessness in architecure, by adopting gothic elements in my design, the buiding will be less likely to age through time. The idea of creating arcade sparked when my TTMW study met with my interest in gothic elements. This is not only fully showcasing the potential of brick construction but also providing a more convenient circulation concerning there is multiple access to my building.
64
65
66
67
Structural Stacking
of
Strategy
Material
With my primer study into stacking of material, I would like to represent that in my structural strategy. During the construction of brick vaults, timber frame will be built as a temporary structure to support that. Therefore, I want to reuse those timber for flooring in the building. At the same time, the brick vault will be supporting a CLT structure back on top, repaying the timber back. Moreover, this will allow a lighter structure sitting on top of a heavier structure, providing rigid support for the building.
68
69
Materiality Recycled Material
With my design celebrating natrualism all the way through, I have to take environmentally friendly into concern when deciding materiality. The bricks from the demolsihed builidngs on site will be recycled and used for cladding on my buildings. Moreover, reclaimed bricks will also be transported from NE Reclamation for the facade and brick vault construction. This is not only reducing the pressure on the environment during brick production, but also giving my building an authentic finish since the material is literally adopted on site. For the timber, it will be transported from Quay Timber in Ouseburn which provides recycled timber for construction purposes. These approaches are going to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of my building during the construction process.
Clay Extraction
Manufacture
Drying and Firing
Recycling
New life
Transportation
Demolition
50 years life span
Construction
N E Reclamation 70
Gateshead Glass Newcastle
Quay Timber 71
Final Design 1:100 Model
72
73
74
75
Back Courtyard Front Courtyard
76
77
“Idealized Nature” With the idea of expressing naturalism in an architectural language, the experience of walking around an arcade provides the same sense of feeling as walking around in a forest. This creates a delusion between architecure and nature, responding to what Richard Sennett mentioned as “Idealized Nature”. 78
79
Urban Strategy
Nolli Plan
Once I decided to build an arcade in my deisgn, drawing a nolli plan to understand and document the accessibility and flow of public and private space within a city almost become unavoidable. In Newcastle, there are numerous churches which follow the grid arcade structure. The cloest one to the site will be St Thomas Church locating next to Civic Centre.
80
There will be vehicle access from the southern courtyard for material transport. In order to encourage the cycling tendency of Newcastle, responding to City Councils plans on building cycling paths along Percy Street, cyclist access will be provided from all sides of the buildings. The core aracde hall way will provide direct circulation from Percy Street to Leazes Park, getting the marginal path on the west side back in use.
81
Floor Plan
Programme Summary Musical Space -Practise Room -Recording Room -Intrumental Teaching Room -Music Classroom
Commercial Space -Local Business Shops -Startup Companies -Music Shop -Musical Instrument Workshop
Theater Space -Lecture Theatre -Musical Theatre
Common Area -Lobby -Pantry -Cafeteria
Office Space -Staff Office -Reception -Computer Centre
Service Space / Storage -Main Storage -Back Stage -Toilet
Circulation -Elevator -Staircase
82
83
3
8
GF GROUND FLOOR
4 2
1:500
8
6 5
10
12
1
9 5
9
11 7 12
13
84
1. Ba r 2. Lo (Blind E 3. M cal Clot yed Ca t u h 4. M sic Sho es Sho ) p u 5. Lo sical In p stru 6. C bby men afe t Wo 7. M rksh ain S op 8. S tora torage and 9. R g ecep e Serv 10. S tion ice A rea 11. C taff Offi lass ce 12. W room C 13. L ectu re T heat er
85
86
87
88
89
03 THIRD FLOOR
1:500
24
24
27
12
26
25
12
28
12. T o 24.L ilet oung 25. S e 26. tudio M 27. C eeting R 28. ompute oom Clea r ning Center Clos et
90
91
Atmosphere
Oasis Shangrila Sanctuary “Art of adoption is more painful than people who feel entitled to belong, at peace with their surrounding.” -Georg Simmel
SYNTHESIS
92
After adopting to the displacement of physical environment for thousands of years, it’s time to break through the isolation of humankind with its own habitat and reflect on our origin.
93
Section
94
95
1:20 Section
96
97
Percy Street Elevation
98
99
Percy Street Entrance Recycled brick is used for the layering facade to provide a sense of gothic charateristic in order to inherit the quality shared by buildings on campus. Openings are designed to align with the Bruce building next to it to respond to the context. Shops that were forced to move away from the site like Mean-Eyed-Cat will be relocated in the commercial area of the buiding facing Percy Street. The community that was originally here will be preserved. 100
101
Leazes Park Entrance The Leazes Park entrance is designed to be as grand as the Percy Street entrance to show that access from the main street as important as access from the marginal path. There will be a double ceiling height arcade entrance be more inviting. This is to embrace the path which lead direct to Leazes Park and provide people a more peaceful and quite choice when entering the buildings.
102
103
104
105
Arcade & Front Courtyard The courtyard garden will be a hang out spot and opportunity for people to interact with each other in this cold city. This acts as a shelter protecting people from the busy Percy Street.
106
What the pubs and community were originally doing is providing chance for strangers to come together and get to know each other. I think it would be lovely to inherite that tradition.
Plenty of bike parkings will be provided to encourage visitors to travel to the buildings throgh cycling in order to lower the carbon footprint.
107
Back Courtyard Busking space will be provided in the back courtyard garden and under the aracde for people to interact and enhance the cultural developement in Newcatsle. The vegetation will be protecting buskers from noise of the street. The back courtyard will also contribute to the green space sequence across the city, being an appetiser before people enter Leazes Park. 108
109
Grand Hall With Gothic as one of the representatives of timelessness, coordinating its relation to natural. It is the main key space of the building which simulates a similar experience as walking around tress. In celebration of timber construction, one of the main features of the building will be the grand entrance hall covered by three storey height glulam gothic columns and arches structure. The columns hall is not only serving as ornamental purpose, but also acting as structral support for the primary structure in order to create space with such huge volume. Performance space will be provided at the west side of the hall. When a person is playing music there, the music will be able to travel across the building through the open space and void, infusing the building with music to every single corner.
110
111
Music Warehouse
Life of Music Industrial
Legacy
With the site previously occupied by a factory before, it will be unreasonable to ignore the industrial legacy that was infilled in the soil.
The music warehouse will be located next to the commercial area of the building, connected to a music shop and a storage space which has direct entry to the alley for the transporation of material. There will be classes for students and the general public in crafting and fixing musical instrutments. This provides the most efficient equipment maintiance service for the students and contributes to the music industry in Newcastle
Therefore, instead of being an ordinary music school. There will also be musical instrument warehouses in the building. In the buildings, music can live its life from being made into an instrument from raw material, to being practised by the student who studied here, and finally serve it ultimate purpose when performing in the auditorium.
112
113
Music Classroom The building will be mainly occupied by practise rooms and music classrooms. They will all be acoustically insulated with Attenuated Ventilation in order to minimize the noise pollution to the residential area nearby. Music classrooms on top floor will be able to enjoy the south facing windows and skylight. Lockers will also be provided for instrument storage.
Auditorium As a music school, the acoustic performance of the building is essential. As the main feature, the msuic theater will have take a few approaches to enhance its acoustic performances. The music theatre will be insulated by Isolation Acoustic Foam Pads to minimize its noise creating to other building users while the theater is in use. Reflectors will be placed on the suspended ceiling to provide a small but significant reinforcement of direct sound.
114
115
F a c a d e 1:20 Model
With concrete base sitting at the bottum, the brick layering cladding facade will be sitting on top. As the building goes up, the density of opening will be increased. This is not only to reflect the purpose of the interior space through the exterior finish, but also responding to the concept of stacking. There will be ornamental descending arches above to celebrate the potential of brick work construction and contribute to the ornamental accent of the surrounding buildings. Guarding will be placed on top to finish off the facade and provide safety protection for the workers during the maintiance of green roof.
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
Cultural Bibliography Stand with Hong Kong
Lebbeus Woods once said “Architecture is a Political Act. It has to do with the relation between people and how they decided to change their condition of living.� As an architect, I have to understand and accept archietcures relation with poltics. I was an activist during the Anti Extradition Bill movement in Hong Kong. As in Hong Kong, archiecture is never meant to serve the people, but the government and capitalists instead. This made me question my philisophy as an architect. Therefore, in my project, despite having such awkward site shape, I have chosen to deal with more constrain instead of betraying the community. Moreover, the thought of the community became one of the dominant factors in my design programme.
fig,24
fig,25
124
125
Fight
for
freedom
In order to contribute to the movement even though I wasn’t in Hong Kong, I joined the Newcastle Stand with Hong Kong group in Newcastle. I was responsible for the design work of posters and protest signs, and production of the keychains for the organisation. This provided me a chance to apply my architectural skill outside academic work and actually contribute back to the society with it.
126
127
Architecture Placement
During the summer break in 2019, I had an internship in an architectural firm named XLMS which is based in Hong Kong. That was one of the best learning experiences for me as how being an architect is going to be like in real life. I was given a chance to communicate with clients and constructors. I learned that running a project is not only about having amazing concept and drawings, it is also a process of compromising and negotiating. I got involved in plenty of projects during my internship. This is one of the projects I participated in the most, from meeting the client to providing a design that reached the clients requirement.
DIY Craft Project I love to make stuff and I am a crafty person in general. It is becuase designing a building is just like making furniture. You are given different variations of raw material and you can create something magnificant and functional at the same time. With my passion in crafting, it actually gave me a chance to be in the workshop longer, this not only polished my crafting skills a lot which actually came in handy when I was making all my architectural models, but also allowed me to seek inspiration during the making process just like what TTMW was trying to achieve.
128
129
Appendix Field Trip Case Study Report & Charrette
130
131
Charrette What
Lies
Behind?
During the charrette week, I particapted in a project which is called “WHAT LIES BEHIND?� We were asked to study the retail streets of Newcastle, searching for materials to re-appropriate and combine to create new garments, home-ware or accessories. For me, fashion should reflect the era it is in. As a HongKonger, I had been through months of protests by that time. Therefore, I wanted to create a piece that inherit the pain and suffering that people were going through at the time and represent the perseverance of people defending the value they embrace. As a result, with a yellow plastic bag and some metal wires, I made my helmet; with a file and some used plastic bags I collected from primark, I made my goggles; with a mask recylced from the workshop and posters I recieved from a store in grainger market, I made my gas mask. All of these elements are made of fragile materials, they can be easily crushed. However, it is the spirit behind it which is indefeatble. It is the idea it represents that is bulletproof.
fig,26
fig,27
132
133
Field Trip Case Study Report See Attachment
134
135
Biblilography BBC News. (2019). Tree plans ‘embarrassingly unambitious’. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englandtyne-46756811 [Accessed 10 Feb. 2020].
Figure. 10 : Limited, A., 2020. Stock Photo - The Bare Branches Of A Tree Without Any Leaves Against The Sky. [online] Alamy. Available at: <https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-the-bare-branches-of-a-tree-without-any-leaves-against-thesky-129676899.html> [Accessed 18 December 2019].
Diébédo Francis Kéré, ”How to build with clay... and community”. TEDx New York. 2013.
Figure. 11 : Fashioninteriors.co.uk. 2019. William Morris & Co Newill 216703 Wallpaper | Indigo/Saffron | Fashion Interiors | Fashion Interiors. [online] Available at: <https://www.fashioninteriors.co.uk/william-morris-and-co-newill-wallpaper-216703.html> [Accessed 21 May 2020].
Eyelinepublishing.com. (2020). Jamie North, Remainder | eyeline contemporary art magazine australia. [online] Available at: https://www.eyelinepublishing.com/eyeline-86/review/jamie-north-remainder [Accessed 4 Feb. 2020].
Figure. 12-15 : Rory Dumin (2019), Group Work Site Analysis
Foucault, M. (n.d.). The order of things. New York.
Figure. 16 : Beilby Robert, (1788), A Plan of Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead 1788 [ONLINE]. Available at: https://collectionscaptured.ncl.ac.uk/digital/collection/p21051coll44/id/0/ [Accessed 16 December 2019].
Georg Simmel, “The Stranger” in The Sociology of Georg Simmel, trans and ed. Kurt Wolff (New York: Free Press 1964). Heidegger, M., Macquarrie, J. and Robinson, E. (2013). Being and time. Malden: Blackwell. Jamienorth.com. (2020). Jamie North. [online] Available at: https://jamienorth.com/ [Accessed 2 Feb. 2020]. Morris, W. (1890). News from Nowhere. United Kinfdom: NA, p.164. Nick Forhes, Planning for the future- Core Strategy and Urban Core Plan 2010-2030 (Newcastle: Newcastle and Gateshead City Council, 2015) Sennett, R. (2009). The craftsman. London: Penguin, p.13. Zumthor, P., Oberli-Turner, M. and Schelbert, C. (2006). Thinking architecture. Basel: Birkhäuser, p.34.
List of Images Figure. 1 : artnet News. 2020. A Collector’s Brancusi Sculpture Fell Off A Pedestal In The Office Of An Art-Financing Company. Now He’s Suing For $22.5 Million. [online] Available at: <https://news.artnet.com/art-world/brancusi-sculpture-fell-collector-sues-1619323> [Accessed 15 March 2020]. Figure. 2 : ASA. 2018. Jamie North Produces More Great Work With Slag. [online] Available at: <https://www.asa-inc.org. au/blog/2016/05/jamie-north-produces-more-great-work-with-slag> [Accessed 5 February 2020]. Figure. 3 : Colourbox. 2019. Dark Corridor And Light At Destination | Stock Image | Colourbox. [online] Available at: <https://www.colourbox.com/image/dark-corridor-image-32677676> [Accessed 27 November 2019]. Figure. 4 : Cat, L., 2018. It Turns Out You Can Photosynthesize In Dark Caves. [online] Forbes. Available at: <https://www. forbes.com/sites/linhanhcat/2019/08/14/it-turns-out-you-can-photosynthesize-in-dark-caves/#57cf0c103780> [Accessed 29 October 2019]. Figure. 5 : besthqwallpapers.com. 2019. Download Wallpapers Beige Carpet Texture, Flooring Texture, Beige Carpet Background, Floor Texture Besthqwallpapers.Com. [online] Available at: <https://besthqwallpapers.com/textures/beige-carpettexture-flooring-texture-beige-carpet-background-floor-texture-107515> [Accessed 22 April 2020].
Figure. 17 : Nick Forhes, Planning for the future- Core Strategy and Urban Core Plan 2010-2030 (Newcastle: Newcastle and Gateshead City Council, 2015), p. 154. Figure. 18 : Co-curate.ncl.ac.uk. 2017. Palace Theatre Of Varieties, Percy Street, Newcastle | Co-Curate. [online] Available at: <https://co-curate.ncl.ac.uk/palace-theatre-of-varieties-percy-street-newcastle/> [Accessed 15 January 2020]. Figure. 19 : Designspiration. 2019. Creative En, Carlos, Mijares, Siglo, And La Image Ideas &Amp; Inspiration On Designspiration. [online] Available at: <https://www.designspiration.com/save/609835211255/> [Accessed 10 February 2020]. Figure. 20 : Designer | Curator | Brother. 2019. Designer | Curator | Brother. [online] Available at: <https://ryanpanos.tumblr. com/post/60825446884/chapel-in-zacatecas-pedro-lechuga> [Accessed 9 February 2020]. Figure. 21 : Divisare. 2020. Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint, Roberto Conte · Grundtvig Church, 1940. [online] Available at: <https://divisare.com/projects/325370-peder-vilhelm-jensen-klint-roberto-conte-grundtvig-church-1940> [Accessed 3 February 2020]. Figure. 22 : AFASIAARCHZINE.COM. 2018. Caruso St John Architects. [online] Available at: <https://afasiaarchzine. com/2013/11/caruso-st-john-architects-10/> [Accessed 4 February 2020]. Figure. 23 : Astbury, J., 2020. Brick Arches Are Topped By Glass Tower At Arc By Koichi Takada Architects. [online] Dezeen. Available at: <https://www.dezeen.com/2019/03/18/arc-koichi-takada-architects-sydney-bricks/> [Accessed 11 March 2020]. Figure. 24-25 : Justin Lin (2020), Newcastle Stand With Hong Kong Protest Figure. 26 : Business Insider. 2019. The US House And Senate Both Passed Bills To Defend Human Rights In Hong Kong — A Powerful Act Of Defiance Against China As Pro-Democracy Protests Rage. [online] Available at: <https://www.businessinsider.com/senate-unanimously-passes-hong-kong-human-rights-bill-protests-china-2019-11?r=US&IR=T> [Accessed 29 September 2019]. Figure. 27 : Commons.wikimedia.org. 2019. File:2019-07-20 Lennon Wall In Hong Kong Book Fair(1).Jpg - Wikimedia Commons. [online] Available at: <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2019-07-20_Lennon_Wall_in_Hong_Kong_ book_fair(1).jpg> [Accessed 30 September 2019].
Figure. 6 : Cn.freeimages.com. 2020. Free Grass Texture Stock Photo - Freeimages.Com. [online] Available at: <https://cn. freeimages.com/photo/grass-texture-1571636> [Accessed 3 January 2020]. Figure. 7 : Un jour de plus à Paris. 2018. The Colonnes De Buren. [online] Available at: <https://www.unjourdeplusaparis. com/en/paris-insolite/colonnes-buren> [Accessed 24 April 2020]. Figure. 8 : mural, B., 2019. Black And White Forest Wallpaper Murals | Online Store. [online] All wallpapers. Available at: <https://www.homewallmurals.co.uk/black-and-white-forest--wallpaper-mural-4731-p.asp> [Accessed 13 December 2019]. Figure. 9 : ACJ Group. 2020. Standard Roof Truss | ACJ Group. [online] Available at: <https://www.acj-group.co.uk/standard-roof-truss/> [Accessed 11 February 2020]. 136
137
Applasue for the blood, sweat and tears I have spent on architecture 139
For me, The architecture of a city reflects and brings together its people, it is the soul of a city, it is the sound of million hearts beating. The use of space is often misconstrued to serve only a partical purpose, yet it is so much more. Buildings speak to us, they inspire us. Creators of those buildings change lives and produce excellence. All of the world is a stage and architecture are the permanent props, together symbolizing an era and iterating the stories of those who lived before us. I want to be part of that history. I want to make every brick count. I want to be the storyteller that ears down the invisible wall of time, space and culture that segragates humans. And hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s my story...