Ephemeral Interventions: Experimenting with the Performance, the Event, and the Crowd.
Nicholas Patrick Durant
-
M.Arch Thesis Spring 2013
-
Professor Zenovia Toloudi
-
Wentworth Institute of Technology
[I]
Abstract
This thesis proposes the strategic use of ephemeral architectural interventions as a tool to
enliven residual spaces within the traditional city. The innate nature of many ephemeral interventions draws upon the participation and engagement of the public. This is an exploratory process into the problematic relationship of residual space as voids of underutilized potential within the urban fabric and seeks to establish an architectural precedent for dealing with these spaces in an ephemeral and reactionary manner. Using ephemeral interventions, participatory events and responsive components, attention can be brought upon residual spaces, inviting occupation, development and reconsideration with the intention of filling the voids within the urban fabric and creating more continuity within the modern city. Utilizing these strategies, a twenty-first century cultural center is created that evolves, adapts and reacts to the mass will of the public over the whims of a single curator.
[II]
[III]
Acknowledgments I would like to thank the following people for their help and support through this Thesis Process: • Zenovia Toloudi for her unwavering support, guidance and inspiration throughout the process and always pushing us to believe that we can achieve far more than I had imagined within this thesis process. • I am grateful to my mother, father, brother and sister, for their endless love, support and understanding. I am indebted to them forever. • Thesis Prep I + II Professors Linda Weld and Ann Borst for their guidance and influence. • All peers and classmates for their input, conversation, participation in experiments and findings. Without them this thesis truly would not have been possible. • Rolf Bachman and all of the Faculty and staff involved with the Berlin Study Abroad program for the initial inspiration for this thesis. • All Undergraduate Architecture Professors who influenced my architectural education over the past five years. • Last, the entire city of Boston for all of the knowledge, experiences and tough love it has imparted upon me over the years. This city has truly become part of my identity in the years I’ve been living here.
[IV]
[V ]
Table of Contents M a i n B o d y
Thesis Hypothesis Definitions Relevance Thesis Prep Research Essay Conclusion
M e t h o d o l o g y
.001 .002 .005 .006 .014
Frame 1: Ephemeral Vs. Temporary Frame 2: Performative Site Frame 3: Ephemeral Materials and Patination Experiment 1: This Is Your Painting Notes on Participatory Interventions Experiment 2: Carving the Wall Frame 4: Reactive Programing Frame 5: Architectural Proposal Frame 6: Tectonic Connections Frame 7: Storyboard Frame 8: Pressurized Wall Systems Frame 9: Twenty-fist Century Cultural Center Proposals NEOPLAYFORMZ Exhibition
.018 .024 .032 .034 .044 .046 .054 .056 .064 .066 .082 .086 .094
C o n c l u s i o n Conclude and Reflect Annotated Bibliography
.095 .096
[.01]
Can the implementation of event based, participatory and ephemeral architectural interventions as a treatment for residual space within the traditional city, change public perception of underutilized, neglected and unappealing spaces?
[.02]
Definitions ARCHITECTURAL INSTALLATION A temporary, site-specific, three-dimensional work of art. An installation’s purpose has an aversion towards utility but embraces feelings of appreciation, reflection and criticism and puts more focus on the content. ARCHITECTURAL INTERVENTION The act of addition within the traditional city. Site-specific structures that act as intrusions on an existing built environment with the goal of improving site conditions, provoking reactions, increasing public interaction and/or defining space to be interpreted individually by the occupier(s). EPHEMERAL Impermanence that is accompanied by some form of psychological or emotional connection and has a feeling of mortality. An ephemeral object’s fate is tied to its eventual destruction, decomposition, deterioration, weathering or dismantlement but also may be accompanied by an eventual revival. The time of transience is unclear, like the melting of an ice cube or the corrosion of steel. You know it will disappear, you can watch its deterioration, but its time left is only estimated. EPHEMERAL ARCHITECTURE A class of building designed with an observable impermanence and physical departure from the site. The structure may go through life-cycles of death and rebirth. The antithesis of conventional architecture, which strives for permanence, ephemeral architecture embraces its mortality. TEMPORARY Lasting for only a limited, predetermined amount of time. The time of creation, dismantlement and lifespan are clearly defined prior to construction. TEMPORARY STRUCTURES Contrived, manufactured, impermanent objects that are constructed and deconstructed within a set interval, with the potential to be reconstructed elsewhere.
“HARD” ARCHITECTURE The typically ideal architectural structures that are built with encouraged permanence and will withstand the consequences of daily use, weather and time. RESIDUAL SPACES Forgotten, neglected, underutilized or obsolete space within an urban context that are the result of a city’s evolving infrastructure and natural development. These spaces can be broken into four categories; “Non-spaces,” “Leftover spaces,” “Obsolete spaces” and “Dual-use spaces.” NON-SPACES Remnant space as a result of the expansion of vehicular circulation and results in the inadvertent creation of unusable conditions such as median strips and rights-of-way along highways. Since these spaces are usually seen from the perspective of a moving vehicle, they blend into an overlooked landscape of potential space. LEFTOVER SPACES Spaces that are not connected to surrounding areas, usually the result of intrusions to previously open space. They include the irregular geometric spaces that result from intersections, underpasses, traffic islands and buildings setback from the street. OBSOLETE SPACES Areas of previous value that have fallen to underutilization, abandonment, misuse or neglect. These include discontinued highway on/off ramps or bridges and vacant buildings or lots. DUAL-USE SPACES A space that has a single function that is only used at certain times, leaving it mostly underutilized during the off hours. During these off hours, the space becomes a residual site such as a parking lot or garage, a park or marina during the off season and exhibition spaces between events.
[.03]
EVENT 1. A fleeting social occasion or activity involving the presence of many individuals whom experience such circumstance. 2. A mark on one’s memory triggered by an ephemeral experience that left an impression on the individual. From that point foreword, when this individual encounters the site, or similar settings, they will reference the previous experiences treatment of that scenario. Ephemeral Interventions that have positive impacts on residual sites create events that leave lasting impressions on individuals and shape how they perceive these spaces. PARTICIPATORY EVENT A form of creation that is final product is largely reactionary to the mass will of the crowd. Depending on the final goal of the event, the creation of pieces, ideas, choices or other inputs are entirely formed by participants. These events cannot exist without the involvement and engagement by the crowd and its very existence is shaped by said individuals. This form of collaborative design and fabrication may transform over time, or have a set time span of participation before it is deemed finished but usually need a set of guidelines and proper organization to be effective. Crowd The crowd is the demographic and audience of which a participatory event is designed to engage. It is the event designer’s goal to create an inviting, entertaining and interesting event to make enough of an impression on the crowd that they will participate and have a lasting impression of the experience. PARTICIPANT An individual who purposefully engages a participatory event. Even the smallest input of choices, reactions, creations, and ideas by said individual while participating shapes the outcome of the event.
CATALYST When a participatory event is taking place, the actions of even one participant can set off a sequence of happenings that affect the entire outcome of the event. The catalyst may be something that other participants see and mimic in their on input, something destructive that effects the event as a whole, or something that other participants slowly build upon. Catalyst can also refer to the incentives that affect a potential participant’s willingness to engage the event. Word of mouth, monetary incentives, public spectacle, curiosity, advertisement and direct engagement from people running the event are all possible catalysts for participation.
[.04]
[.05]
Relevance
Examine any city and one notices that modern metropolises are teeming with residual spaces that
are underutilized, neglected and unpleasant as well as a disconnect between user and architecture. These spaces are the physical manifestations of poor urban planning, the expanding infrastructure that shadows the natural growth of a city and the underutilized real estate taken up by dual-use spaces. This thesis proposes the strategic use of an architectural “tool kit� developed from experiments in ephemeral interventions, participatory events, reactionary design and modularity. The final goal is an architecture that leaves an impression and implores more public attention is placed upon these sites, encouraging occupation, development and the reconsideration of idle residual urban spaces in future applications.
[.06]
Research Essay of the occupier, making them very personal experienc
The Webster’s dictionary definition of intervention
es, different for everyone. The following writings create
is the “…act of intervening, especially a deliberate entry
an informed discussion on Ephemeral Architectural In-
into a situation or dispute in order to influence events or
terventions as a new strategy for dealing with residual
prevent undesirable consequences.” In the realm of ar-
space within the urban fabric.
chitectural jargon, “Intervention” is the term commonly
used to describe strategies of addition in the tradition-
forms and are usually the results of a city’s evolving infra-
al city. The use of an intervention has been adapted
structure and natural development. Although they can
to remedy many forms of metropolitan design compli-
be the result of poor initial urban planning, little can be
cations and adaptive techniques for residual or unused
done to prevent its formation. When they are not over-
space. Ephemeral Architecture challenges the perma-
looked as background in the urban landscape, these
nence methodology, pushing for an approach that
urban conditions are often seen as eyesores in the city
may provoke those whom experience them and disre-
fabric. The intention of utilizing ephemeral interventions
gards normal conventions of form and aesthetics. Many
within remnant sites is to change public perception from
ephemeral interventions have no defined function and
contempt and disregard to looking upon them as sites
no programmatic use other than to redefine or re-imag-
with potential and latent possibilities. These conditions
ine a previously overlooked or underutilized space. Many
can be broken into four categories: non-space, leftover
times this redefinition is up to the individual interpretation
space, obsolete space and dual-use space.1
Urban residual space can be manifested in many
1
Winterbottom, Daniel. “Residual Space Re-evaluated.” Places: Landscape as Mentor 13.3 (2000): [40]
[.07]
A non-space is a residual space created as a result
of reusing the obsolete object or space in a more adap-
of the expansion of vehicular circulation and results in
tive way, contrary to its previous intention.
the inadvertent creation of unusable conditions such as
median strips and rights-of-way along highways.2 Since
at certain times, leaving it mostly underutilized during
these spaces are usually seen from the perspective of
the off hours. During these off hours, the site becomes a
a moving vehicle, they blend into an overlooked land-
residual space.5 Dual-use space can have many forms
scape of potential space. Leftovers are spaces that are
that are in clear site most of the day, but are poorly
not connected to surrounding areas, usually the result
utilized during off hours, such as parking garages and
of intrusions to previously open space.3 They include the
lots, off-season public parks or marinas, and exhibition
irregular geometric spaces that result from intersections,
spaces between events.
underpasses, traffic islands and buildings setback from
the street.
a foundation for new tectonic systems, materials, and
Areas or structures of former value that have fall-
construction methods. Due to the ephemeral nature of
en to underutilization, abandonment, misuse or neglect
these installations the fear that the assembly may ‘fail’
can be considered obsolete spaces.4 This can include
structurally, socially or economically is slightly relieved
discontinued highway on/off ramps and bridges and
when compared to their more enduring counterparts.
vacant buildings or lots. These kinds of residual space
This gives rise to the opportunity to test new technologies
contain another form of adaption, leaving the possibility
in the real world urban conditions.
2
Winterbottom, Daniel. “Residual Space Re-evaluated.” Places: Landscape as Mentor 13.3 (2000): [40]
5
3
Winterbottom, Daniel. [41]
4
Winterbottom, Daniel. [42]
A space that has a single function that is only used
Temporary architectural interventions can create
Winterbottom, Daniel. [42]
[.08]
Carole Levesque, an architecture professor at the
retically eliminating the original problem.7
University of Montreal who received her Ph.D. in the re-
searching, working and writing of temporary architec-
as a means to test emerging technologies for potential
ture, believes that small scale temporary architecture
common permanent applications applies to materiality
has the liberty to explore and test larger problems in
as well. In recent years there have been vast improve-
higher scale permanent developments through its abil-
ments in the realm of technical high performance tex-
ity to have “direct engagement with their site and their
tiles. Sarah Bonnemaison and Christine Macy, two pro-
audience.”6 Social, Economic, ecological and ethical
fessors at Dalhousie University in Canada, in their paper
impacts of these large-scale developments are applied
entitled Responsive Textile Environments, tackle head
to a single small-scale urban intervention so that new
on the use and development of this new potential in
hypotheses and technologies can be tested through it-
materiality. New technology has developed textiles that
erative processes.
have the potential to be stronger than steel, yet lighter
In Transportable Environments, Robert Kronen-
and cheaper than any other material on the market.8
burg notes that many of the most successful ephemeral
The use of textiles in temporary installations has been in
interventions are a result of the need to solve challeng-
effect since Nomadic cultures of prehistory within tem-
ing architectural execution hurdles in a realistic way. The
porary tent shelters and enclosures. Advances in the
resulting products, if successful, have the potential to be
material’s strength and durability now open doors for its
applied to the permanent structures of the future, theo-
use in architectural situations.
6
7
Kronenburg, Robert, Lim, Joseph and Chii, Wong Yunn. Transportable Environments. London: Spon, 2003.5 Winterbottom, Daniel. [2]
8
Macy, Christine, and Bonnemaison, Sarah. Responsive Textile Environments. Proc. of Metabolic Network Sensory CDRN, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Canada: Tuns, 2007. [8]
Lévesque, Carole. Actions in Indeterminability: Exploring the Possibilities of Temporary Architecture. Proc. of Reconciling Poetics and Ethics in Architecture, McGill University School of Architecture, Montreal, Canada. Montreal: McGill University, 2007. [5]
The same notion of using temporary installations
[.09]
It will be a long time before we see this technology
reason of the creation of an ambiguous space and
readily used in modern applications but its implementa-
transformation of a site that challenges and provokes
tion has already begun within retractable roofs of large
audiences to interpret the space personally.
stadiums and tensile installations around the world. The
compliant and malleable nature of the material allows
the normal client based program fueled by ‘hard’ de-
for a wide range of applications that have the capabil-
signing. According to authors Sarah Bonnemaison and
ity to create immersive environments within small-scale
Ronit Eisenbach in their book, Interventions by Architects,
adaptations. Textile-based installations can “range from
installations are a way to explore architectural ideas
flexible skeletons and mesh-work skins to structures that
without limitations placed on the architect by clients.10
move and respond to their occupants.”9
To elaborate, the design process of an ephemeral archi-
Phenomenology often goes hand in hand with
tectural installation varies greatly from that of a conven-
the innate features of ephemerality. The experiential
tional design process. First, the concept of permanence
qualities that are expressed in ephemeral architecture
is immediately removed from the thought process. This
are much different than more ‘hard’ architecture. There
design will be removed, dismantled and possibly nev-
transient nature of the intervention on the site trigger
er assembled again. Second, the purpose of the space
emotions that you would not have experienced prior to
shifts from solving issues of utility and program and takes
its implementation. Many temporary installations have
a more abstract approach of designing for an experien-
no set function, in that it was constructed for the sole
tial space focused on “criticism and reflection.”11
9
10
Macy, Christine, and Bonnemaison, Sarah. Responsive Textile Environments. Proc. of Metabolic Network Sensory CDRN, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Canada: Tuns, 2007. [10]
Temporary installation design differs greatly from
Bonnemaison, Sarah, and Eisenbach, Ronit. Installations by Architects: Experiments in Building and Design. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2009.
[.010] Last, Bonnemaison and Eisenbach say that the new
of the enormous response, inferring that this was
foreground of the installation is its content, meaning
“...testimony to a new public interest in innovative building strategies and a forecast of a change in attitudes to what a building might be expected to do. Temporary interventions have ambitious design objectives that are not based on limitations but on possibilities.”14
what it may represent and how it fits within its temporary context. In their more succinct prose they write, “In some way, an installation is a distillation of the experiences of architecture.”12
Elaborating on the design process under the
guise of ephemeral architecture, Levesque claims that a design has endless possibilities for interpretation of space. Furthermore, Levesque says, “By focusing on this element of potential, the designer of architectural installation is at liberty to explore different actions perpetrated by the architectural gesture and to engage directly the installation’s site and audience. In this regard, it proposes a design method in which generative and provocative ideas take the place of design as a problem solving activity.”13’
Levesque also makes the analogy of comparing
the audience’s sometimes unpredictable interpretation of installations to the understanding of a spoken word within its linguistic context. In different contexts, a word may have very different meanings, but when one experiences the word in the context that it is prosed, it is immediately processed and interpreted.15 This holds true when applied to one’s interaction with a piece of ephemeral architecture. The context in which you experience the installation completely defines the
Robert Kronenburg also adds to the design
piece in itself. Levesque continues on and quotes famed
conversation, citing that after a conference on
installation artist Cedric Price, who when speaking of
transportable architecture, he reveled in the enthusiasm
the indetermination of use in one of his installations said,
11
14
Kronenburg, Robert, Lim, Joseph and Chii, Wong Yunn. Transportable Environments. London: Spon, 2003.5 Winterbottom, Daniel. [4]
15
Lévesque, Carole. [3]
Bonnemaison, Sarah, and Eisenbach, Ronit. Installations by Architects: Experiments in Building and Design. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2009. [11]
12
Bonnemaison, Sarah, and Eisenbach, Ronit. [11]
13
Lévesque, Carole. Actions in Indeterminability: Exploring the Possibilities of Temporary Architecture. Proc. of Reconciling Poetics and Ethics in Architecture, McGill University School of Architecture, Montreal, Canada. Montreal: McGill University, 2007. [5]
[.011] “Choose what you want to do – or watch someone else doing it. Learn how to handle tools, paint, babies, machinery, or just listen to your favorite tune. Dance, talk or be lifted up to where you can see how other people make things work. Sit out over space with a drink and tune in to what’s happening elsewhere in the city. Try starting a riot or beginning a painting – or just lay back and stare at the sky.”16
The
contemplation
of
urban
ephemeral
interventions may last much longer than the physical structure itself. For example, if a person walks to work everyday, consistently taking the same path through the city, the walk becomes so ordinary that it is completely unmemorable. Now, imagine if for just two weeks there was an ephemeral intervention that weaved a brightly colored textile fabric throughout a quarter mile of park space, much like Christo’s “Gates” of silk fabric in New York City, that until now, had been a simple tree lined asphalt sidewalk that was nothing more than a simple circulation path to the commuter. For those three days
16
Lévesque, Carole. Actions in Indeterminability: Exploring the Possibilities of Temporary Architecture. Proc. of Reconciling Poetics and Ethics in Architecture, McGill University School of Architecture, Montreal, Canada. Montreal: McGill University, 2007. [3]
of experiencing and interpreting and interacting with the installation, an event is created within their memory. From then on, every time the commuter arrives at the quarter mile of now ordinary sidewalk, he will reminisce about the intervention, forever changing the perception of the space that it once intruded upon.
Architect and Associate Professor at the Aarhus
School of Architecture in Denmark, Boris Jensen expands on the concept of ephemeral architecture’s relation to an ‘event’ as a cause and effect and its stamp on one’s memory, in his article in the Aarhus schools annual publication, Context 2010/2011, entitled, When Context Is An Event – on temporary and performative architecture. In speaking of Raumlabor, a Berlin based firm specializing in temporary architecture, Jensen uses the example of an urban pop up by the firm entitled Kitchen Monument.
[.012]
FIGURE 1: Kitchen Monument by Raumlabor. Berlin, Germany. 2010.
FIGURE 2: Olympic Basketball Arena by Sinclair Merz, Wilkinson Eyre and KSS. London, England. 2012
[.013] In this intervention, a grimy area under an underpass
final goal of the country is to use these buildings after
was briefly converted into a friendly, clean local street
the fact, but their scale is often too grand to financially
kitchen (see figure 1). The pop up was so brief that it
support after the games, essentially turning these areas
leads Jensen to make this statement:
into monumental ghost towns.18 Jenson praises London’s
“It is necessary to be in the right place at the right time to experience Raumlabor in action. The physical construction disappears rapidly and the long-term effect of their projects is first and foremost established through memory. The physical context remains untouched, but the memories of and the narratives about the place have changed. All projects are connected with a certain event and are designed to disappear as soon as the occasion for them is no longer present.”17
approach to the games, tearing down areas that are in dire need of a face lift, and building half permanent and half temporary structures (see figure 2).19
Although ephemeral architecture has a physical
temporality in that it will ultimately be torn down as according to plan, there is now a very timeless feature
Jenson also speaks on ephemerality not only
attached. Given their ephemeral status, they are
causing the event that gets ingrained into memory,
extensively well documented and is relived in a digital
but also beneficial when used as a tool with large
form. The work then lives on through Internet blogs and
scale ephemeral events. Traditionally, the Olympic
social media sites and, if successful, is seen around the
games incite host countries to spend billions of dollars
world. Jenson refers to these phenomena as “twitter
on large-scale projects that aim to flaunt the countries
architecture.”20 This gives the interventions a form of
architectural prominence to the world. In the world
permanence that has been unprecedented until the
of ephemeral use buildings, this is not a good thing,
last decade with the vast technological advances in
specifically in the case of the Beijing Olympics. The
social media and its accessibility.
17
18
Jenson, Boris B [9]
19
Jenson, Boris B [9]
20
Jenson, Boris B [8]
Jenson, Boris B. “When Context Is an Event - on Temporary and Performative Architecture.” Ed. Annette S. Jakobsen. CONTEXT 2010/2011 2nd ser. (2012): [8]
[.014]
Conclusion
Ephemerality in architecture can result in vast
improvements to future permanent structures through experimentation of tectonic systems and materiality. Using ephemeral interventions strategically, public perception of residual urban space can evolve into seeing these areas as potential for adaption and reuse. The permanence of these ephemeral ideas rattles on through not only research of methods and tectonics but also in the memories of all who experienced them. Ephemerality will always be a function of memory and event, leaving lasting impressions in the mind of the visitor. Designing ephemerally gives architects the opportunity to test and push the boundaries of architectural concepts and ideas that help shape the language of making. Creation and destruction will always be a part of man-made creations, but designing with both in mind allows for a concept that disregards normal conventions of form and aesthetics and allows for emphasis to than be placed on its content.
[.015]
Can the implementation of event based, participatory and ephemeral architectural interventions as a treatment for residual space within the traditional city, change public perception of underutilized, neglected and unappealing spaces?
[.016]
M E T H O D O L O G Y [.017]
Framing the Problem “Framing is a concept used variously in many disciplines and practices: communication theory, sociology, literature, visual arts and construction. For the purpose of this Charrette, we draw on research that “...begins with the assumption that frames are powerful rhetorical entities that “induce us to filter our perceptions of the world in particular ways, essentially making some aspects of our multi-dimensional reality more noticeable than other aspects. They operate by making some information more salient than other information...” (Him A. Kuypers, Rhetorical Criticism: Perspectives in Action, Lexington Press, 2009.)
[.018]
durantn.wordpress.com
[.019] Ephemeral Explorations is a blog that has been in development throughout the Thesis Prep I + II and into my final thesis proposal. It represents the evolution of my thesis from inception to its present form through the use of mind maps of a broad assortment of ideas to precedents, research, experiments, writings and assignments. This documentation of process expresses a vast understanding of my thesis topic, and the different avenues in which brought me to the ideas currently expressed within this book.
[.020]
Frame 1:
Thesis Topic - Defining Ephemeral vs. Temporary The need to create a defined difference between the psychological perception of the term ephemeral and temporary was essential in defining a language and purpose behind this thesis. There were several probes into this idea of ephemeral and temporary in the form or creating and destruction of models and materials as well as observing material transformations.
[.021]
[.022]
Frame 1:
Thesis Topic - Defining Ephemeral vs. Temporary The result of this frame defined a clear difference between temporary and ephemeral. Ephemeral has a link to an emotion that temporary lacks. Temporary is much more prescribed and tectonic, while ephemerality draws on the innate feelings of loss once something is gone, deteriorated or destroyed. Ephemerality also has the quality of transformation. A temporary state is put forth and is taken down but does not change during its brief existence. On the contrary, something that is ephemeral has the opportunity to change, evolve or react to its environment over time.
[.023]
[.024]
Frame 2:
Site - Abstraction of residual space When framing a site I began with abstract models and graphics, depicting different themes within the typical urban residual space. This model shows how a residual site can be viewed as a ‘void’ within the urban fabric and how use and movement circulates around the site but has little interaction within.
[.025]
This digital illustration represents an ephemeral intervention as a figurative spark within a residual space to incite its occupation, development and reconsideration.
This digital illustration depicts the need to create a tactic that weaves these residual areas back into the urban fabric, creating a better continuity within the city.
[.026]
Frame 2:
Site - Ephemeral intervention’s interaction with residual space
This Design probe served to show the
of the visitor, causing them to pay further
idea of an ephemeral intervention’s time
attention to the space during their next
limit within the residual site. The white cube
encounter with it. Once the shroud is gone,
represents and unaltered residual site prior
the space goes back to its white cube state,
to its intrusion by an ephemeral intervention.
but the mental event that was created
Blank and devoid of interest to the general
through the ephemeral intervention sticks
public, residual spaces lack the qualities
with those whom have encountered it. This
needed to be appreciated by society. The
event will incite a different line of thinking
black plaster shroud that is placed over
whenever the affected individuals encounter
the white cube is representative of an
this residual space as well as similar residual
ephemeral intervention. The shroud has the
spaces in the future. Now the spaces will be
ability to disregard the nor mal conventions
looked upon as areas of potential worth,
of for m an aesthetic, which may provoke
instead of eyesores and wasted space in
a reaction to new visitors of the site. This
the urban fabric.
reaction or interaction with the shrouded cube produces an event within the mind
[.027]
[.028]
Frame 2:
Site - Honing in on possibilities From this point I set out to find possible sites within Boston that fulfill my criteria for a residual site. This collection of residual sites are all neglected, underutilized and unappealing, but all have the latent potential to be adapted in a new way by the addition of an ephemeral intervention.
Underpass Approximate address: 500 Rutherford Avenue, Charlestown, MA 02129
Area underneath The Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge between the mouth of the Charles River and the Adams Memorial Hwy
160 North Washington St The Lovejoy Wharf attached to the old Hoffman Building.
Created by route 99’s merging from below into the middle of Rutherford Avenue, this site is a raised ramp and an eyesore as one commute into the city.
This residual Space is formed by two edges of the expressway and the water. The Zakim Bridge creates a sheltered area defined by its structure and is teeming with possibilities for adaption.
An Old Submarine Signal Building was built by Raytheon in 1907. Since its obsolescence, it has fallen to disrepair. This location with high visibility from I-93 makes opportunity for intervention
[.029]
Wharf behind the Bank of America Pavilion
Large Parks pace and vacant tunnel outside of the Broadway Red line T Stop.
The Old Northern Avenue Bridge
Used to repair and construct large shipping vessels, the Wharf is largely underutilized. The potential lies in its varying water levels and large area.
This residual space is the result of an old tunnel emerging from the Broadway subway and the raised Broadway Bridge. The grade change and tunnel addition make this a site of interest
Deemed unfit for vehicular traffic, it has been a pedestrian bridge since1995. It is the oldest bridge of its kind in the world that is still in working condition.
[.030]
Frame 2:
A reactive and performative site Upon further analysis of the sites, the Old Northern Avenue Bridge was chosen as the best choice. The bridge is both a residual space and has many of ephemeral qualities. Being the oldest bridge of its kind in the world still with the capability to rotate 90 degrees to an open position, it creates a transient nature to the bridge in that its state can change at anytime. Its abandonment as a vehicular traffic bridge for a pedestrian bridge speaks to its obsolescence within the city. It causes many to view it as a rusting eye sore that is unnecessary to preserve. The use of an Ephemeral Architectural Intervention can paint this bridge in a new light, giving it a renewed sense of purpose within the city, as well as set a precedent for other residual sites adjacent to bodies of water, elsewhere in the world.
[.031]
[.032]
Frame 4:
Ephemeral Materials and Patination Study
Facade materials play a detrimental role to the performance of a building in both the literal and
figurative sense. An expression of ephemerality is key in the choice of these materials to properly create a building that’s truly evolving, reacting and performing within its environment. I began with an investigation into precedents with materials that expressed the ephemeral qualities that i was searching for.
Reconstruction of the SzatmĂĄry Palace by Budapest Architecture Firm MARP incorporates Corten steel in its design. An ephemeral material, it will slowly rust and patina over time, both showing age and creating a protective layer of rust.
These photographs by Norbert Rosing show the traditional Ice Igloo shelters that have been created by Inuit tribes for centuries. Snow as a building material has a surprising amount of insulating properties make these shelters up to brave the frigid temperatures to which the Inuit people were exposed to. Snow is an incredibly ephemeral material in that it only materializes during the right weather conditions, and in New England, many times leaves as quickly as it comes. The transformative, transient nature of snow sculptures and shelters make for a notable avenue of study within the realm of ephemeral materials.
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In 2002, Ned Kahn worked with the staff of Technorama, the major science center in Switzerland, and their architects, Durig and Rami, to create a facade for the building,v which is composed of thousands of aluminum panels that move in the air currents and reveal the complex patterns of turbulence in the wind.
USC architect Doris Kim Sung is taking a material normally found in thermostats known as thermobimetal and applying it on an architectural scale. This metal transforms with changes in temperature, curling, as it gets hotter. When put in exterior wall cladding, the panels will “bloom” in the heat of the sun, and close as it cools causing the building have varying fenestration throughout the day.
The wood material in Louis Kahn’s Salk Institute will decompose long before the heavy concrete forms that hold it. This quality evolves over the decades and becomes more evident, causing the effect that the occupiable spaces are alive and are housed within it’s concrete shell
Overtime copper builds a oxidation on its exterior due to chemical reactions when exposed to the elements. Above is a Photoshop rendition of the Statue of liberty circa 1886 compared to its current green patinated exterior. This process developed over many years and can be aided or prevented by the application specific chemicals.
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Frame 4:
Ephemeral Materials and Patination Study
The material chosen to best express the qualities of ephemerality was copper. After some experimenting
with different solutions to achieve a fast patina on the surface of the copper, I have found that simple mixture of salt water applied and left to air dry, every few hours, over the course of a week can begin to develop a strong green coating over the metal. Other metals, including brass and tin, and solutions were tested, as well as vinegar, sea salt, ammonia and liquid liver of sulfur. Salt water was successful in that the site will have constant exposure to it, drastically shortening the time it takes to develop a strong patina.
Lotus flower stenciled onto copper sheeting with clear-coat spray paint than treated with liquid liver of sulfur to patinate the surface.
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Copper soaked for three days in a salt water solution.
Copper soaked for three days in a solution of ammonia and salt water.
Copper soaked for three days in a solution of ammonia and vinegar.
Lotus flower stenciled onto copper sheeting with clear-coat spray paint, then placed in a salt water and vinegar bath three times daily for 5 days
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This Is Your Painting.
This experiment is the first venture into
the intricate study of human interaction and participation with a temporary installation. I set up a 5’x6’ canvas, an assortment of acrylic paints, brushes and pallets and the sign shown to the right. I left this installation up for a period of five days and encouraged as many people as possible to participate in the activity. I left the rules completely up to the individual. One was able to paint whatever, wherever and however they pleased on the canvas whether it is destroying, complimenting or completely avoiding a piece that had previously been painted. The goal was to get people involved in an activity where they had no control over the end goal and see if, as a community, a cohesive painting could be created.
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This Is Your Painting: The Evolution
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Individual Painter’s Pallets
Participants to the installation had the option of using a wooden pallet with a blank piece of paper to
aide them in their painting. After each person used a pallet, the paper would be replaced. These different pallets give a snapshot into the individual contributions of each participant. Analyzing the final product of the installation , it is difficult to discer n the individual contributions by participants. Examining the pallets, one can see the colors used, the amount of paint and the amount of time each participant spent engaging the installation.
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This Is Your Painting: Conclusions attracted
nearly
35
or giving the users immediate incremental gains
astounding
amount
of
in order to foster intrigue, and get users to stop
anonymous contributions over the five-day period
and participate. Within a short amount of time it
it was assembled. This success led to significant
was clear that some individuals were very mindful
breakthroughs in understanding of the dilemmas
of
that frequently befall events that rely on a multitude
supplement or not disturb the previous work. On
of contingent participants. An issue that quickly
the contrary, some individuals made it their goal
became evident was the general aversion to being
to paint over what they did not like in the painting.
the first engage to the installation. For nearly 2
Whether they decided, disregard it or added their
hours crowds crossed the hallway housing the
own piece overlaid on top of it or simply crossed it
mural without a single bite. While the majority were
out what they disliked with big bold strokes. After
hesitantly intrigued and asked many questions,
further analysis and examination of this experiment
nearly everyone concluded their survey of the of
and notes, a list of dilemmas, solutions and ideas
the intervention with politely saying, “I’ll come back
was developed to aide in future participatory
and paint after someone else has started.� Vowing
events and experiments.
The
participants
Installation and
an
to not participate myself, I was forced to enlist a friend to take the first leap into the transfor mation of the canvas. One success was the realization of the need to make the installation fun, entertaining
previous
participants
work,
trying
to
either
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Notes from Research and Experiments with Participatory Events Dilemmas:
• Nobody wants to be the first to participate make initial beginning less intimidating • Cooperation between strangers is needed to work. • Everyone needs to be on the same page, working for the same goal. • Whether risk is real or not to jump in and participate is irrelevant, it is the perception of risk that keeps people from joining. • The end goal is not enough incentive to have people participate and cooperate on achieving an end goal.
Allow different levels of involvement:
• Be prepared to deal with individuals who have all different skill sets and varying levels of interest. • Allot for variance in exactly what people want to do and what you are asking them to do • Design the participatory event so that those who want invest more time and effort and energy may do so just as easily as someone who want short term, low impact involvement • Enable passers-by to ignore, transient visitors to stray, and more interested individuals to stay and tinker.
Incentives:
• Difficult to achieve end goal without complete agreement by all participants on reaching said goal. • Solve problem by creating a short-term, intermediary incentive. • Engage on a short-term basis. • Allow participants to opt-out of participation in the event whenever they please • Disassociate participants from the end goal and thus ends fear of commitment to the goal • The feeling of no commitment opens the doors to more participants involved. • As more people interact with installation, more people are evidence to its benefits. • Invite friends • Gains the interest of passing potential participants • People return to contribute more • People interact with strangers
Complexity:
• Keep it simple with tasks that are understandable • Do not confuse people • Should be self fairly self-explanatory • All tools and supplies should be readily available.
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Build trust before expecting cooperation:
• Engage users • Friendly • Inviting atmosphere • Fun • Design so that individuals who mistrust can opt out at any time • Increase ways people discover about installation to increase legitimacy • Don’t expect participants to clean up after themselves.
Increments:
• Must rely on incremental gains throughout – cant rely on all or nothing strategy • Cannot rely on everyone’s immediate participation or cooperation with each other • Keep it as a communal experience but with immediate individual gains for each participatory act. • Create a logarithmic experience where more participation returns more incentives
Public spectacle: Participants feel personally invested:
• Visible gains with each individual act of participation • Participants create their own “piece” that is used to create the whole • Do not broadcast the authors of individual “pieces” so that only the creator of said “piece” knows exactly what they contributed when viewing the installation as a whole, leaving the rest of the installation up to objective interpretation.
• Attracts peoples attention • Engage the population • Clear and bold advertisements and signs • Make it an ‘event’ • Encourage people to observe, ask questions, occasionally even to participate
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Carving the Wall
This
installation
is
the
second
venture
in
experimenting with participatory events. The goal was to take what I discovered after the first installation and try to see if my discoveries were valid in a different context. After cutting hundreds of 3”X7”X3/4” polystyrene foam blocks I proposed a challenge to my fellow M.Arch students. Participants were asked to carve whatever shapes or carvings they want out of the blocks provided. For each block carved, they would receive one piece of candy as incentive. I then collected all of the blocks carved and strung them together and hanged them side by side. Then I pinned the strings of personalized carved blocks together to create a makeshift “wall”. The participants were provided with a hot wire cutter, which is incredibly entertaining to use, adding another layer of fun to the installation.
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Carving The Wall: The Evolution The following sequence of images is a time lapse video taken over a 12 hour period during the installations creation. You may notice some participants returning several times to carve more blocks, and most people refused additional incentives upon their return.
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Carving the Wall: Conclusions
This installation proved to be far more
was
made
to
disassociate
the
participants
successful in terms of the quantity of participants,
completely with the end goal of creating a wall.
incentives, rules and creating an awareness
I only asked that they take a brick from one bin,
to the potential crowd. There were numerous
carve the block with the hot wire cutter, place
people who came strictly for incentives. The
it in a separate bin and receive their incentive.
participants cut a few blocks in half and grabbed
This lead to less people worrying about whether
some sweets. These individuals engaged quickly
or not they were going to accidentally throw the
and efficiently cutting a large number of blocks
installation off course and fostered a fun and
in a very short amount of time. After the rush for
exciting environment around the installation.
incentives died down slightly, a different sort of participants started engaging the installation. This group had more of a fascination for the hot wire cutter and were having more fun creating incredibly intricate carvings depicting dragons, fish, alligators, studio tools and abstract geometric shapes. The incentives went largely untouched for hours as these participants would leave and return with more ideas to sculpt with the wire cutter. For this installation a deliberate decision
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GENERATE MAKE PRODUCE DEVISE FORM CRAFT DICTATE DIC BUILD CONSTRUCT INVENT DESIGN CONCEIVE DISCOVER CUSTOMIZE FABRICATE ENGINEER ASSEMBLE
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Reactive and Performative Program
your very own
Traditional Architecture is a poor performer and is
comprised of movable and modular parts allows an extreme
too slow to solve the ever-evolving problems attributed
amount of flexibility of form and use and provides a break
to modern society. A faster, and more reactive building
from the stagnant world of “hard” architecture. This program
typology is required to feed the ever evolving mass will
does not define specific functions, but leaves the space
of potential occupiers. The Ideas expressed in this thesis
open to adaption and reaction as it draws on all of Boston’s
required a program that express an ephemeral, reactive
energy in on building. This resolutely transdisciplinary program
and performative nature as well as aiding in creating
will be the living embodiment of an event and will constantly
a new strategy for use the of residual space. This was not
transform its use, drawing multitudes of visitors to the site to
going to solve the problem my thesis proposes, but amplify
see its latest architectural performance. The program will be
it’s potential. After toying with many possibilities it became
a twenty-first century cultural center where each potential
clear that there was a need to create a program that could
use will be chosen for the purpose of fostering community
never be considered static and would have the ability to be
ties, involvement, entertainment, cultural exploration and
completely reconfigured on a whim. Creating a complex
education.
“A city that doesn’t change and replace itself is a dead city.”
- Cedric Price, 2004
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Frame 5:
Architectural Proposal
The final architectural implementation of this thesis
the bridge just as it was. Taking the tactics, strategies and
comes in the form of the twenty-first century cultural center.
implications of all of these explorations and applying them
In order to incorporate all of the ideas contained within the
to a system in which the building is as flexible in form and
previous chapters of this thesis study, many harsh decisions
function as possible is the next step in the designing process.
had to be made. Each choice made was carefully
considered to best incorporate the best qualities from my
simple enough that an untrained participant can assemble,
explorations.
rearrange or disassemble the complex quickly and with
The first issue was creating a proposal that was a clear
ease. These modules are required to have the ability to
architectural manifestation of the ephemeral, reactive and
be configured, and reconfigured, to house an infinite
participatory events framed within this thesis. From the very
amount of possible programs, occupancy loads and space
start, I realized taking what I have learned and creating
requirements. The Northern Avenue Bridge is also the oldest
a simple ephemeral participatory intervention with one
swing bridge of its kind still fully functioning in the world. It is
function and placing it on the bridge could easily prove
important that this intervention not impede on this feat of
this thesis correct. Although this route would have been the
time-tested resilience and attached to the bridge without
quickest and easiest way to implement this thesis, it ignored
destroying the integrity of the historic landmark as well as
it’s innate potential to create an honest architectural
not impede upon its ability to open on a moments notices
effort. The intervention will strive to make a statement as
to marine traffic.
a genuine building; it will still have transient qualities of an
ephemeral intervention. The eventual removal of the edifice
the next logical step. With a floating structure, it could easily
will be designed forthright to have the capability to leave
glide across the water and swing with the bridge as it opens.
The complex had to be modular, with connections
The decision to take the building to the water was
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Also assembling, reconfiguring and disassembling of the
by the name of Flexifloat sells a type of sectional barges
modular pieces would be much easier as all one would need
typically used for marine drilling and construction. The
is a small watercraft to guide the modules to their desired
module that worked best with my architectural adaption
destinations. This development also made access to the
was the S-70 DuoFloat sectional barge. This is a 10’ X 20’
complex possible from land and sea and direct interaction
barge with a 7’ draft that features a rigid locking system
with the water possible.
capable of creating an incredibly strong connection with
The most significant breakthrough in design was made
zero flexibility. These barges are incredible strong and are
when researching possible barges that have the potential
capable of supporting 20 tons and still remain buoyant and
for adapt as the base of the floating modules. A company
stable.
First schematic design attempt with floating modules that slid on a submerged track to react to changing programs requirements. This design proved far too static and lacked the amount of adaptability required for this intervention.
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Frame 5:
Architectural Proposal
The barges were adapted into four “control” segments.
The first three are bases of varying elevations that can stand alone as exterior spaces or support the prefabricated modules. The smallest level base barge is a simple wooden platform built onto the top of the stock Duofloat. It is as close as possible to water level allowing boat access to the intervention as well as increasing possibilities of programmatic options that benefit from water access. These may include kayak tours of fort point channel, a marine biology laboratory and testing facility or bait and tackle shop and fishing pier. The largest base simply takes the lowest base and ties a tall structural steel frame into the existing steel truss structure of the Duofloat. The steel frame creates a 12’ elevated platform for bridge level modules and would serve as the main pedestrian entrance level for the intervention. The third and final base is a simple steel platform elevated 4’ above the Duofloat barge and serves as an intermediary level between the two other levels. This base may be suitable for use as a stage for performances, and additional room for lower level areas that require mechanical or plumbing space, or simply just as a further division of spaces. The one remaining barge is the vertical circulation barge. This feature a staircase and handicap lift and has the capability of serving all three levels.
The flexifloat S-70 Duofloat sectional barges are 10’ X 20’ x 7’ and is capable of holding 20 tons with only 65% of the 7’ draft submerged. The yellow male/femal connections can create a completely rigid bond. The connection is made with ease requiring no specail traing. The only requirements are two adults, rope and a sledgehammer and two floats can be connected in under 15 miniutes.
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As the four “control� segments of the building modules, these three bases and the vertical circulation barge are the most detrimental to the intervention. They function as the structure, circulation and physical connections between barges.
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Frame 5:
Architectural Proposal
The building modules all include a wooden floor, raw copper cladding on the facade and self-contained
roof and one of ten different combinations of walls water collection system within the roof. The water that together make an architectural kit of parts. This kit collection system withholds a set amount of water and of parts is capable of creating a large array of varying
uses it to supplement the intervention’s water needs.
spatial conditions, all of which are reactive to the whims
All of the structure for the connection is in the
of the potential program. The steel framed modules are barges but for weather proofing purposes each module prefabricated pieces that are constructed off site and have simple bolt connections between them. Using assembled directly onto the “control” segments. The M16 structural bolts every 5’ on center, a pressure seal is completed modules are than towed by boat to the site
created between beads of rubber sealant that run along
and then quickly assembled by the participants as one
connecting faces. Once the connections are completed
unified building. The modules feature optional windows, the occupant is free to furnish their new space.
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Exploded Axonometric drawing of an L-shaped module built onto a 12’ base barge showing the prefabricated members.
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Frame 6:
Tectonic connections within the modules The connections between barges are made very easily. A 10-section raft can be assembled from scratch with remarkable efficiency. Two untrained individuals using nothing more than a sledgehammer and rope can complete it in less than three hours. It is recommended that a third be present to aid the transport and movement of the floats with a small watercraft. A crew of two, working on deck and using only a sledge hammer, pry bar and rope can assemble a large platform in only a few hours. Female locking bars are first raised with the pry bar. Adjacent modules are then pulled into alignment with ropes until opposing male and female locks are mated and the upper and lower faces are in near contact. The locking bar is then driven down with the hammer. After a few hits with the sledgehammer to nail the key in, the connection is so rigid that there is zero flex between modules. A wedging action by the locking bar pulls the modules into final position and captures upper and lower male locks simultaneously. All of the structural support for modules and connections are in the barges but for weather proofing purposes each module have simple bolt connections between them. Using M16 structural bolts every 5’ on center, a pressure seal is created between beads of rubber sealant that run along connecting faces.
[.065] M16 Structural Bolt - 5’-0” O.C. Steel Framed Base for prefabricatied module Insulation Hardwood Flooring
Access Panel to Locking System Locking Key Female Lock Male Lock Raised Hardwood Decking Interior Structural steel truss system inside barge is tied into module steel framing
(Above) Axonometric illustration of two C shaped moldules connected to create a 20’ x 20’ enclosure. (Far left) Technical Drawing of barge structure and locking systems. Section cut location as shown in Axonometric illustration. (Left) Larger scale details of connections and structure.
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Frame 7: Storyboard
The following pages will guide you through a series of events in which a acting troupe discover, design and put together
a performance center at the Northern Avenue Bridge.
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I was reading about this new place called northern a|VENUE! Maybe we can make our own theater this summer...
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Well, lets apply! It would be great to have our own space with everything we need, plus we can change sets really easily during the show by floating them in!
well lets cut it short for today and start planning our summer theater!
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So are we all agreed on what we’ll need and at least how many modules we should ask for? We can always figure out the shape once we are putting it together. Yes, we have the basic idea. We’ll have two levels, we need these peices for the box office, concession and bathrooms, we have the stair peice, all of the lower level ones for the seating and the 3 big peices for the stages. Lets submit our proposal!
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We got the site for the summer! Lets get designing!
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Frame 8:
Pressurized Wall Systems
To give the participant even more control of
the spatial qualities and foster greater possibilities and variations within the modules a temporary wall system needed to be developed. In my research, a wall type called “pressurized walls� consistently caught my attention, but offered little to no explanation of exactly how the wall stayed in place. Pressurized walls seem to be a localized term in New York City. People hire companies to come and build these temporary pressurized walls in order to divide NYC apartments into more bedrooms without damaging walls and forfeiting security deposits. Because of the secrecy within these companies to safeguard their construction techniques, i was left with little more than pictures of completed walls to reverse engineer the process. After further research sketching and diagramming I decided the only way to know how they work and possible improvements I could make is to attempt to build one myself. Using 2x4 stud posts and good friend’s carpentry expertise the first prototype was built.
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The results were very successful. The concept
behind my pressurized wall is very simple. There is a stationary lower part that is put together like any other stud wall would be but end ever other vertical 8“ from the ceiling and rabbit in horizontal posts to support the adjustable upper half. The joints that connect the adjustable pressure peace is rabbited into the vertical studs and connected to the long screws so that when tightened th wall becomes wedged snugly into place.
Using this prototype as my starting point, i began
to design a heavy-duty industrial pressurized wall system that would be able to used as interior or exterior walls as well as hold doors and windows. The end result are two possible pressurized wall systems that have the strength and rigidity of traditional steel framed walls, but also the flexibility of the rest of the intervention.
Pressurized Wall Mock up 1
Pressurized Wall Mock up 2
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Frame 9:
Twenty Fist Century Cultural Center Proposals The next series of pages will contain small collection of proposals using the modular building blocks to create buildings with very different spatial, use and occupancy qualities.
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Performance Center, Music room and cafe
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Locker Rooms, Soccer field, concession stand
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Public Swimming Pool, Cafe, Bar and Lounge
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Marine Biology Research and Education Lab
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Art Gallery, Sculpture Garden and Cafe Bar
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NEOPLAYFORMZ Exhibition The Final exhibition proved to be an exciting experience. Each scene in act presented individually and than talked about how all of our thesis related to each other. It was interesting to compare thesis with fellow classmates and realize how similar someones line of thinking was, yet how drastically different the avenues taken with this thinking over course of thesis development.
For this exhibition i created an artifact that
required participation to become anything. I had built a site model of the bridge complete with swiveling bridge and real water. This artifact was to be used as a game in which a grid with small holes is attached to the bridge. Modules scaled to the 10’ x 20’ barges with pegs on the bottom allowed you to place the intervention in whatever configuration you pleased on the board. This allowed users to fully embrace the ideas that this intervention can literally take any form.
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Conclude and Reflect
During each of my critics there were very similar
combinations and allow the users to have even more control
conversations of things that needed clarification. The
over their space.
first being: Who is the owner of this intervention? I see the
owner being a developer and owner of the company
it wasn’t such a good thing that the connections are so rigid
that creates the modular systems. The people would rent
between modules. Upon further investigation I ran with the
or lease the modules much like you would an apartment
idea of a rigid connection for it would make the most sense
or office space. It is completely possible for someone to
for circulation and occupation of the building, yet this addition
assemble their portion of the intervention with a group
or at least the option to raise or lower the floats would have
of their friends in an afternoon, but you may have the
added a great deal to the finished product.
company assemble your intervention for a fee.
Looking at how far this thesis has come and all of
research into site-specific interventions, and has originally
the developments, transformations, peaks and valleys
designed this intervention to be site specific. The strange part
that have happened, its clear that the development is
is as i complete it, the intervention becomes increasingly clear
not over and further study can be continued. For the next
that this is a typology that can be applied anywhere with
step, a less static form could be used for the modules.
access to a large bodies of water. This reactive architecture
Given the time, and my now current understanding
can serve to revitalize spaces throughout the country and
of these sectional barges, i believe its necessary to
world. After Boston it is open to attach to another site, and
completely redesign them to a different shape. An
invite participation from a new crowd.
octagonal module would create incredibly interesting
A comment received in my final critic was that maybe
The strange thing about this thesis is I’ve done so much
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Annotated Bibliography Bonnemaison, Sarah, and Ronit Eisenbach. Installations by Architects: Experiments in Building and Design. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2009. One of the best sources of information about the theory, context, design and construction of ephemeral interventions from the point of view of the Architects and artists themselves. The first hand view gives a great view into the design ideas and site specific reactions that the architects manifested within their interventions. Jenson, Boris B. “When Context Is an Event - on Temporary and Performative Architecture.” Ed. Annette S. Jakobsen. CONTEXT 2010/2011 2nd ser. (2012): 8-9. Jenson’s article from the schools yearly publication focused on numerous aspects of ephemeral architecture such as the intervention as a form of memory ‘event’ as well as event based architecture. Through precedence and examples, Jenson gives a very clear and concise window into ephemeral interventions. Kronenburg, Robert, Joseph Lim, and Wong Yunn. Chii. Transportable Environments. London: Spon, 2003. In this collection architects, designers, engineers and artists explore topics related to the generation and manifestation of temporary and transportable buildings and places. Their investigations provide an insight into the history and context of such buildings, the wide range of functions they fulfill today, the varied forms they take, and the concerns and ideas for future development in the field.
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Lévesque, Carole. Actions in Indeterminability: Exploring the Possibilities of Temporary Architecture Proc. of Reconciling Poetics and Ethics in Architecture, McGill University School of Architecture, Montreal, Canada. Montreal: McGill University, 2007. Carole Lévesque’s exploration into the possibilities of ephemeral interventions set groundwork for a lot of further exploration. Although this source lead to many dead end sources, it remained a quality place of viable information about applications of ephemeral interventions. Lévesque got her PH.D. in architecture studying temporary interventions and shows an incredibly vast knowledge of the topic within this article. Macy, Christine, and Sarah Bonnemaison. Responsive Textile Environments. Proc. of Metabolic Network Sensory CDRN, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Canada: Tuns, 2007. 8-14. The second source from Sarah Bonnemaison, this article tackles ephemeral architecture’s affinity towards off-beat materials, Specifically textiles. This is a scholarly source siting a brief history of textiles in architecture, its possible future application, and the uses that we can currently achieve with this technology. Winterbottom, Daniel. “Residual Space Re-evaluated.” Places: Landscape as Mentor 13.3 (2000): 4047. This is the most definitive source on residual spaces in the urban fabric. This 7 page article from Seattle architecture magazine Places, contains a fantastic definition of residual space, breaking it up into four separate categories of space. Also Winterbottom calls for more interventions within these spaces, siting 5 separate art installations that have transformed a residual space back into the urban fabric.
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Nicholas Durant durantn@wit.edu durantn.wordpress.com M. Arch Thesis Dr. Zenovia Taloudi Spring 2013 Department of Architecture Wentworth Institute of Technology