NeueArche by Anastasia Globa DIA_ Studio _X_ WS2009 Christos Passas, Yevgeniy Beylkin, Liss werner
The procreation center, floating in the open ocean “Oasis” “The place, where a new human life begins”. Structure of the thesis Statement: _Introduction _Topicality _Objective _Description _Input\Operation\Output _System of elements _Methodology _Choreography _Conclusions
Introduction Is contemporary Architecture ready and brave enough to leave the Land and learn how to swim? Having no solid soil as a base – no neighborhoods and no land traffic connections, it will be an absolutely new type of Environment and Space, with which to operate. And moreover we are establishing new relations between objects in it, which are not fixed, but free to move in all three axes of coordinates. As architects we are curious to master a qualitatively new environment – the Water World. Project topic is connected to the legendary Noah’s Ark ‐ the vessel, which, according to the Book of Genesis, was built by the Patriarch Noah to save himself, his family and the world's animals from a worldwide deluge. Not taking into account the possibility that the Land will soon be covered by the Ocean but extracting the Idea of escaping to the Sea World to preserve life. Understanding the water environment as a pure and fluent Space free of many restrictions and negative influences which we face building on‐land architecture. We are specifying also: that the aim is not saving the lives of all creatures, which inhabits the Earth, but to begin with‐ considering the human race only. In project “NeueArche” the objective is to design the procreation center, floating in the open ocean “Oasis”: safe and organic architectural structure, which is responsive to the environment and to people’s demands, “place, where a new human life begins”. Taking all the advantages of the fluid environment – we have a possibility to create a “puzzle” structure, which will be free to reorganize and transform itself – in numerous variations. We do not have to predict the future development of the system and guide the processes in it ‐ artificially, to the contrary we design the Whole – as a collection of parts (functions, spaces) and give them a method, the ability to add or remove some parts, re‐link, rearrange and reform the Whole according to the outer or inner changes. Topicality It happened so that, in the modern society negative life and health conditions arose because of global urbanization and the mixture of industrial and residential areas, which affects new generations of human beings. Objective The creation of an organic architectural “human and nature” symbiosis, aimed to overcome the negative influence of the global urbanization, by escaping from the Land to the water, designing the whole as a system of parts which can be reorganized according to the environment and inner changes. Description Imagine – the life in “NeueArche”: people should get into definite surrounding, comfortable, fluid, light and harmonious. The complex is designed for the habitation of 200 people. Those,
who are planning to have a baby, can take up their residence there, for a term of several months to several years, if it is needed. Concept of the complex system is the following: Functionally it consists of four parts, each of whose is connected to the others. They are: ”The Core”, “Inside agents”, “Perimeter modules” and ”Links”. The center of the system – is so called “Core” – the largest and the most static volume in the whole complex, it has a function of people and resources distribution, connection and ruling of Perimeter modules and Inside agents, it also has a storage function ‐ all resources, such as a fresh water, food, and energy are accumulating there. It is a Dominant volume in the special composition of the complex, the head and the heart of the NeueArche, the concentration of all public functions. The structure of the Core is formed by the time line – “Operation Diagram” ‐ translated into the space and volume. “Operation Diagram” – is a part of the Permanent habitation program for residents of the Arche. It consists of 3 basic elements: input, operation and output. Input\Operation\Output
Input represents the people (couples or singles), who is planning to have a baby. Operation stage is represented by time line (symbolic infinity loop) which vary in z axis according to the different periods of habitation – is divided into four parts : the first is an “Adaptation” period (it is the process of integration into the life in the water environment)– the first weeks of the habitation in the center (positions on the time line ‐above the water), the second is the “Preparation” period – which is the segment of the time line during the child‐ bearing (position on the water level) . The fourth stage is the “Birth of the Child” and it is represented by the dot on the line and positions under the water (the deepest location of the time line). The last period of the operation stage ‐ “New life” – is a return‐adaptation, going back (together with the child) from the water world to the habitation on land. I consider a metaphorical aspect to be extremely important for that kind of projects. We shouldn’t avoid the emotional perception of the space and volume, when we are thinking of harmonious, comfortable and meaningful for people environment. That is why, I tried to pay more attention to the symbolic component of the form‐making decisions, which were taken during the design process. According to the research, which was done, I defined a range of the most important symbolic forms, used in many cultures: Symbol of eternal life – Infinity, Spiral – a symbol of development and eternal change, Circle – a symbol of life (Sansara wheel), Flower of life. People have never used angles or straight lines to describe “Life” and “Beginning of life”, the language form expression was rounded, soft, continuous and fluid. This knowledge along
with the physical modeling experiments – were the origins for the Pattern prototype designed for the System. This Pattern is the key for the architectural translation of the Operation program and for the form making process. A metaphorical study is also a source for understanding and designing a certain tectonics of the shapes and volumes. Output can be considered as a result of the process (Operation stage). It is a new human life – a child, together with the people, who became parents and have got a new social role. System of elements
In this respect the Core is also an architectural translation of the Operation stage with all the functions and required spaces. The Core consists of: the administration, the health department, auditoriums, parks and green zones, of the public open and closed spaces, it has the nourishment department, control center, storage (fresh water\ food\energy) and equipment spaces. All departments are arranged in the space according to the buoyancy properties of the spaces and the stability of the Core. The heaviest parts are situated in the bottom of the Core
for the better stability of the structure (storage and equipment departments) and the spaces with the positive buoyancy such as parks and open public spaces are on the top. So I can describe a form making process as a “translation” of the “Story” with the words of “Pattern” following the logic of material world (Physical Lows). “Inside Agents” are relatively small and the most mobile parts of the system, they can move in the water by themselves (they are not linked to the center), the construction of the agent is similar to the boat. They are designed to move inside the perimeter space and when they need to dock at some location, they can be fixed by the links. The main function of the Agent is a residential function. Each Agent – contains four residential cells, one cell – for one family. So it means that for 200 residents we need 100 cells (two people family). The starting amount of Agents is 20 and it can increase or decrease according to the demand (amount of people). This amount of people forms a small community (big family concept). The other function of the agents is a transportation of the resources from the Perimeter modules to the Core (all accept the water and energy ), such as fish and plants. Along with the fishing and vegetable planting, there will be an algae macrocystis farms involved in the system. These farms are situated on the mobile underwater platforms 20‐30 meters deep and are connected to the Core. Macrocystis pynifera uses a platform as a base and grows up relatively fast (up to 60 centimeters a day),it can reach a length of 60 meters. This type of algae can be used as a food and as a source for medicine. Inside Agents have a special construction for gatherings the top layer of the algae. The movement of the agents inside the Perimeter is controlled digitally from the control center situated in the Core. This movement (based on the demand of the system) along with other transformations of the whole complex, expresses the Idea of fluid architectural space. The Perimeter is the other important part of the system, it is formed by the Perimeter modules. They are relatively mobile and can move in the water forming different special compositions during various environment conditions and NeueArche inner happenings. All together these factors form various scenarios to that the system responds. During the storm perimeter modules are connected together in a fixed shape (circle), which protects the inner space and all the parts of the system. During the calm ‐ modules rotate and move to the maximum remoteness from the Core to which they are connected with the links under the water. The movement and position of the Perimeter modules is controlled by the Core according to the demands and environmental conditions. Along with the main protection function, Perimeter modules have the water desalination equipment, energy facilities (solar set), net system for fishing, docking zones for the boats and a helipad, on the top part of the Modules parks and gardens are situated. In comparison with the very mobile Elements, such as Inside Agents, the movement of the Perimeter Modules is more predictable and gradual. The Links interconnect the System, they have a pneumatic construction and are used as a “muscles” for moving and fixing all the elements of the complex. In the fluid environment the best way of connection – is a flexible contact of the shapes, because all the fixed connections will experience the forces of the fluid environment, which increase a risk of braking. Links are forming a 3D pattern structure, which is controlled by the air flow (pneumatic system). It also gives an additional stability to the Elements (Perimeter Modules, Inside Agents) by creating the
pneumatic belt around the element. But they are not only the “muscles”, they are also the veins of the system, because they transport energy and fresh water to the Core storage department from the Perimeter modules. All these parts and elements form a very flexible structure, a system of different functional elements. It performs like an Organism, establishing a symbiotic relations between the Water world and People. Methodology I would define the method of the project development as a Mixed method, and approach could be described as “from the whole to the particular and from particular to the whole”. That was the first and basic rule, which I was tough in the Drawing school. Following this rule (approach) one can create a harmonious and very precise picture. After the research and experimental parts, after establishing the concept of the NeueArche project Idea and defining all the necessary functions and spaces, we came to the question of the form and architectural translation of the concept. There is a concept – process diagram – which creates an image of what is happening inside and why. And of course there are various ways to create a form for the “Story”, which is described and which is constantly evolving and transforming during the process of projecting, researching and experimenting. And now I am trying to describe the process having a no exact image of “How it will be” and what shape it will have. The starting point of the form making is the pattern, which guides the form (together with the Operating diagram and functional subdivision of the system). It establishes the language of the shape and the unique tectonics, which are repeating in different scales and forms (in plan, interior shape and in the skin subdivision), so all the parts will be able to reorganize and replace each other. This pattern is not a flat projection on the surface but a 3D pattern system. And the transformations and re‐linking process should happen in X,Y and Z axis. Going back to the Water environment and its particular qualities we establish a special quality of the architecture which will match the liquid environment. If we ask ourselves: What is “liquid”, one of the answers could be, that the water transforms and changes when the “Forces” are applied on it, it responds even to the micro influences, unlike the solid ground ‐ Land. It is neutral from the very beginning, but very responsive one, it has almost no its own inertia. In respect of fluid architecture – we are to establish a code of special laws (what to do if something happens or changes). And let the system regulate itself, be fluid and responsive. As “Forces” – we can understand – the environmental conditions (sun/temperature/waves/wind) and inner happenings (new people coming, birth of a new child, public activities, gathering of resources). Choreography And finally, we come to the question of choreography of the parts movement, the physical respond to the “Forces”(which I described before).In other words: Where direction to move, how fast, when to stop, what to do if several “Forces” are applied. And what is border of Chaos and Order, in this respect. The best solution for establishing a successful choreography rules is to make an experiment and test the system in real life (or simulate in the computer). After an
experimental part we will have an opportunity to change certain rules and to make conclusions. As any experiment this one needs the starting parameters, basic rules and regulations, which I will specify later. Now I want to concentrate on the strategy of the regulation system. It shouldn’t be a fixed list of actions and responds, but as any contemporary operation systems (like Windows for example) it could be able to develop and constantly upgrade itself, an Operation system, where we are able to create various configurations and updating. As we all know, there are no perfect solutions, but in this case we will have an opportunity to avoid or correct mistakes, to performance of the system more efficient and responsive. But let’s establish the configuration of the basic rules. The simplest way to do that is to use a script language (I want to skip the syntax part, because it is a conceptual script only and I will not run it in any type of computer program (at least at this stage of developing a project). The way we usually do it is the following: …If “X” = “A” Then “Y” moves to the location (0, 0, 1). When “X” =”B” “Y” stops… That is the basic approach and a simple formula for scripting the choreography, which will be specified in the attached table. In real life it will look like this: if the fishing storage in the Perimeter Module is full, the signal goes to the Core and the Core finds the closest located Inside Agent and sends it to the Module, to take the fish and transport it to the storage department, situated inside the Core. A signal to the Residential Agent could be given by people as well, saying to move to a certain location, and to this type of request will be given a priority. According to the weather and Inner process data (scenarios) – the movement program will be given to the Perimeter Modules. As a starting point, we will consider 3 types of scenarios (“Forces” cases): Storm – perimeter is closed (forces of environment dominate), Calm –open perimeter, Happening –the big ship is coming (inner scenario domination). Conclusions In conclusion, following the logic “from the whole to the particular and from particular to the whole”, I would like to zoom out from the details and describe the project in three sentences. NeueArche ‐ is a flexible module structure with the responsive regulation system, translated into the space and volume language – Architectural concept. It is an attempt to understand and use all the advantages of a fluid environment. It is a concept of symbiotic existence between the Water environment and People, who are performing a certain operation program – creation of a new human life.