Portfolio Nikolas Ward 110165280
Stage 5 - 2015/16 ARC 8054
Contents 00_Charrette - 04 01_Plan Rotterdam - 010 02_Rematerialising Rotterdam - 064 03_Technical Investigation - 0120
New Work -
04
00_Charrette Wonder & Success
October 2015
05
Architecture in our cities is becoming increasingly commoditised. It is constructed as an extension to the worship and pursuit of financial capital and being commissioned, with increasing dexterity, as a tool for its proliferation. Economics has become the determining factor in design decision-making. Financial equations the generators of form, and profit the driver of function. Our cities have become bustling monuments to the financial successes of their owners, the buildings - landmarks of a booming, capitalist model. This reality conflates ‘good design’ with financial performance and ambition and ingenuity with risk. We must take action. Architecture and design should not prostate itself to the goddess of success – to the idolatry of money. Throughout history, we have used architecture to inspire, to install awe, wonder, a sense of place, or of identity. The ethereal elements of these spaces cannot be generated through formulae of areas and materials. To generate wonder, we must make a commitment to a multi-sensory human experience - to physicality, to touch. We must appeal to our ears, to our minds, to taste the air and breathe it into us. To work to achieve a spectacle of wonder, we must use all the elements of architecture available to us and test the very limits of our imagination and ingenuity. We must look to the latest technology, examine the oldest crafts and understand the constraints of the materials and environment available to us. All The time, imagining our own and others experience of a place and of the memory that will remain. Design and build a temporary architectural spectacle which appeals to multiple senses. The final piece must incorporate an element of interactivity. Consider: the temporal nature of the work; How you will document it; the sourcing and application of materials; the audience; the after-life of the installation and its components - how it will be recycled, re appropriated or reused. GC3.1, GC3.2, GC3.3
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GC3.3
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08
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The studio critically examines the design processes associated with OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture, founded by Rem Koolhaas, Elia Zenghelis, Madelon Vriesendorp and Zoe Zenghelis in 1975) and MVRDV - half of the group will explore OMA, with the remainder examining MVRDV. As a group of six, the intention was to emulate and embody the techniques and processes of OMA. Through a critical reading of OMA and their associated research, which have gained prominence and influence as an identifiably ‘Dutch’ mode of architectural practice, an understanding of Rotterdam as the site can be generated, allowing a style of design to mimic OMA. We were tasked with creating a masterplan based in southeast Delfshaven - the historic industrial heart of Rotterdam in desperate need for successful gentrification.
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01_Plan Rotterdam Iterations and Intensities OMA
October - December 2015
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that critiques the generic city. Like a petri dish, it is a testing ground that allows for a more condensed place for interaction to occur.
After visiting Rotterdam, and delving into the culture of the Netherlands, we were then able delve into OMA as a practice. Investigating Rem Koolhaas, and his extensive writings, and AMO (the research orientated counterpart) allowed us to provide our own comprehensive proposal. Reading and interpreting Exodus - Rem Koolhaas’ 1972 Architectural Association thesis, as well as ‘The Generic City’ - in S,M,L,XL, provided a strong starting point: Cultured Reality – the laboratory Rotterdam’s biggest social experiment, a quarantine platform of super diversity, blending differences together to create a more wholesome Rotterdammer, informed by the past, cultivated in the present for the future. The Lab draws the population in through propaganda, enticing anyone fleeing from the reality they’re currently in. Through the platform, our aim is to fill in the cultural voids existing in Rotterdam’s infrastructure. The hypothesis to create a new city in forming the ideal Rotterdammer GC2.1, GC2.2, GC2.3 GC4.1
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Optimistic approach to Exodus and the Generic City. Elements observed from Exodus include the voluntary nature of the ‘city’, having separate exaggerated idealistic zones in a unified site, as well as being separate from the existing city. The crux of Exodus was the influence of the Berlin wall therefore providing an exile from the crowded nature of London. However, in Rotterdam the issue was its sparseness and lack of population, thus elements rejected focused around the harsh nature of the wall, instead allowing anyone to enter. In the Generic City, Koolhaas declares that progress, identity, architecture, the city and the street are things of the past: “Relief … it’s over. That is the story of the city. The city is no longer. We can leave the theatre now…”. Density in isolation is ideal, which allows us to zone off six areas within a compacted new platform. The site is located on the periphery of the generic Rotterdam city, which gives a perfect area to reignite the prominence of the once industrial past. The existing is retained with the new city raised up. The historic industrial train-lines will be kept providing an urban plane which accommodates necessary movements. The different zones within the masterplan work harmoniously together to provide a complete and flourishing city: the Sensory Processor, Oasis, Cultural rejuvenation, Harnessing the Savage, Adherence of No Religion, the Apex of Making. Being drawn to the Euromast in Rotterdam, provided a perfect platform to design a building through the eyes of Rem Koolhaas which interacts with the once prominent landmark of Rotterdam. Research first began with Rem Koolhaas and the beginning of OMA and was a theme continued throughout the project in both representation and ideology. Harnessing the Savage derives from investigating the office and the importance of work in the Generic City. Once the theory and writings provided a design response, the final stage was to then critique this response to provide a cohesive project drawing together all concepts investigated.
Harnessing the Savage Critical Introduction
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GC4.1
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Highrise Views
GC1.1
Map - Rotterdam
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View from Euromast
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017
GC2.1, GC2.2, GC2.3
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Concept - Poster
Booklet - Propaganda
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Symposium: a room-sized installation that housed the 1:500 masterplan model. The wall was wallpapered with all internal group information, research and work. Shelving was created to display a selection of the hundreds of iterated models produced from blue foam and hot wire cutters. There was a distinct juxtaposition between the crisp white masterplan model with carefully and intricately designed models, and the shelves and wall of unedited design process. At this stage in the project, it provided an excellent way to display all areas of development through role-playing OMA. GC1.1 GC4.1
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Site plan - 1:4000
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Symposium Presentation
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023
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Symposium - Model
Axonometric - 1:1000
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GC3.3
Model - Diagram
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1860s_Industrialisation 1872_Holland America Line formed 1904_Schiecentrale built 1931_Van Nelle Factory 1934_Quarantine Beneden Heijplaat 1939_Emigration of Jews to America 1940_14th May – Nazi Bombing 1945_Holland America Line – shipping immigrants to Canada 1946_Plan for reconstruction 1950s_Infrastructure constructed, namely stations 1960_Euromast built 1962_Busiest Port in the world – most tonnage 1965_Population peak – 731,000 1970_Space tower on Euromast – 185m 1970s_Port extended 1972_Rem Koolhaas, Exodus Thesis project – AA 1974_Post-fordism, population decline 1980_Boompjes masterplan 1982_Parc de la Villette 1992_Kunsthal – OMA 1993_C3 Maastowers 1995_S,M,L,XL 1996_Hyperbuilding 1996_Erasmus Bridge 1998_AMO started 2013_De Rotterdam 2015_Timmerhuis 2015_European City of the Year 2015_The Manufactured Reality (The Lab) 20xx_Mass influx of immigrants 2xxx_Port decline 3xxx_Manufactured Reality (The Lab) grows infinitely
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Timeline
Timeline - Collage
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Euromast originally designed and built to act as a spectacle. It was the pinnacle of 1960s Rotterdam, new age of transport, aircraft control tower-esque. Attraction for all around. To view ‘new’ Rotterdam. The beginnings of reconstruction to become closer to the generic city, the end goal of Rotterdam’s masterplans. 1970s, the space tower was added. Competition element starting to come to the forefront in Rotterdam - Space race, but also Rem’s beginning. Looking into the rapidly developing Rotterdam.
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Photograph - Euromast
GC3.3
Postcard - Euromast
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The Euromast has been through two stages of development and will develop through two more. The project really explores innovative ways in which a critique on a building can be investigated through theoretical analysis.
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Architects - Relationship
Huig Maaskant Euromast 1960
Rem Koolhaas Skytower
Space tower added 1970 Regains status as tallest building in Rotterdam
㨀 㨀
Critique Walkway of Champions and Arena added
㨀 㨀
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The sky tower is conceptually designed and built with the program defined around the banal nature of Office blocks apparent in 1990s society. This is the period within OMA where programming was at the forefront of all designing Iterations, critiquing, Blue foam modelling. The competition is set on moving up the levels within the building to achieve a higher ‘office level’ completing mundane tasks based on a narrow minded set of rules. Koolhaas has designed the centre parts of each floor to have a sense of coliseum atmosphere, theatre, and entertainment as workers head up the building. The point being that members will eventually reach the highest level and the top position within the sky tower. The service core lift allows the competition floor plates to be removed/ replaced/reinserted according to the nature of competition. Service lift has essences of the Euromast in its movable lift plate to illustrate Koolhaas’ subconscious idolisation of Huig Maaskant. Sky tower, the working office. Double skinned have a monotonous skyscraper style - Glass and steel. One way mirrors to allow the outside world to have an experience of the learning process. 27 layered floors becoming larger as you head up. Each floor consists of 3 zones. 2 symmetrical areas for opposing competitors and a centralised battle area for banal competitions. Walkway of champions allows people to view champions and accolades collected by champions of the past.. A gladiatorial expression of success. GC2.1, GC2.2, GC2.3
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Model - Core
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GC5.1, GC5.2, GC5.3
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Iterations - Core
GC3.3
Skytower - Level 0
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GC1.3
Plan - Level 18 - 1:100
Two large banks of cream-coloured computers separated by fabric board dividers provide the perfect monotonous working environment. Efficiency levels always at a company average. The centralised arena allows for an outlet as well as a motivational tool to move up the ranks; metaphorically and literally. The workers finish the necessary business work as quickly as possible to move onto solitaire, cards, and machinery practice - ready for the next battle.
Skytower - Level 18
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GC3.3 GC5.1, GC5.2, GC5.3
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Generic Level - Work
27th
26th
25th
24th
23rd
22nd
21st
20th
19th
18th
17th
16th
15th
14th
13th
12th
11th
10th
9th
8th
7th
6th
5th
4th
3rd
2nd
1st
Level Plans - 1:1000
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New modern day arena. Built with the future in mind. Accommodating for many more people in the city, generic stadium in mind with a very obvious replication of the original Euromast form. Higher level of competition focusing on the spectacle of the banal. Tethered down due to physics of structure and the lightweight nature of its construction. Two times the size of the Euromast below to show advancements in technology and how, during construction it will be winched up - using the euromast as a structural support. Rejects the generic city by being a horizontal element, and not post-modern (traditional underlying tones) in design. Bread and circus effect on the new city. Allowing the office block (bread of the city) to have more entertainment within the arena (circus). Built on top of the Koolhaas building, adding density (against generic) but similar to Exodus with the two close towers in the ‘Park of Aggression’. Looking at the nature of aggression which needs to be expelled. The office block competitions will not suffice. GC1.3, GC2.1, GC2.2, GC2.3
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GC3.3 GC5.1, GC5.2, GC5.3
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Euromast into Arena
GC3.3 GC5.1, GC5.2, GC5.3
Walkway of Champions
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GC3.3 GC5.1, GC5.2, GC5.3
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Arena
GC1.1
Routered Model
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嘀椀攀眀猀
嘀椀攀眀猀
GC3.3 GC5.1, GC5.2, GC5.3 嘀椀攀眀猀
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GC3.3 GC5.1, GC5.2, GC5.3
Section - 1:1000
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GC3.3
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Axonometric - 1:1000 㨀㔀
㨀㔀
Section - 1:2000
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GC2.1, GC2.2, GC2.3
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GC1.1 GC3.3 GC4.1
Urban 唀爀戀愀渀
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The skytower and arena are a vital component to the new city and Rotterdam. For the skytower to function, workers are provided from the sensory processor, and the university within the apex for making. The spectacle and entertainment of the arena attract all from the new city. Cultural rejuvenation and the Oasis are regions for workers to relax and unwind. The raised trainlines provide a direct link from all central locations. GC2.1, GC2.2, GC2.3 GC4.1
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Masterplan - 1:4000 GC4.1
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The Masterplan as a whole is intended to be rolled out over Rotterdam to begin with, and to eventually engulf the world. The densely configured nature of this new proposal could be sensitively replicated on a larger scale using the theory developed throughout the project. The six initial zones all entwine with easy and simplicity to produce a successful new city.
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GC1.1 GC4.1
Masterplan - Exhibition
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Masterplan View
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GC4.1
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The proposal is a spectacle not only for the masterplan, but also for Rotterdam. The hyper-real nature of the arena draws from Koolhaas’ ‘Coney Island’ from Delirious New York. Normal reality is not enough anymore, the advertised nature of what occurs is within the arena is the largest draw. Thousands flock to experience, the new and upgraded Euromast. GC2.1, GC2.2, GC2.3 GC4.1
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GC3.3
Spectacle 䄀琀洀漀猀瀀栀攀爀椀挀
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I sometimes find working within a group quite taxing due to drastically different working styles, however this is something we managed to overcome as a group by regularly meeting and discussing ideas and work to produce. The coherency of the masterplan is something we are all proud of, with a large amount of work being produced to a high level. The scale of the masterplan was a lot larger than work I had done previously, both in undergraduate studies and in the work placement. It is not something I am entirely comfortable with, but by working with blue foam, it really allowed it to be presented at a manageable scale. I am very proud of the work I have produced this semester with the final Crit being a highlight. I was also able to manage my time very carefully, meaning all of the work was produced very efficiently. This is definitely an important skill which was honed in practice and is a necessity for the future. The early style of representation by OMA and Rem Koolhaas is something which I will strive to continue to produce in the future, as each image seems to have a lot more depth than the computer generated images of current practices and even present day OMA. Whilst I have an understanding of Koolhaas’ design During this semester, I have really enjoyed the process of designing through theory. By researching OMA and more specifically Rem Koolhaas, the depth of knowledge has vastly increased when making design decisions. By investigating the driving factors behind past masterplans and building designed by Rem Koolhaas, the masterplan and subsequent individual proposal created have felt a lot more grounded. The key learning curve this semester has been reading as many different theoretical texts as possible to broaden my knowledge base - this is something I will continue to battle with in all future projects. In the past, I was not always sold but the theoretical side, however now I find it the most important factor to grounding a concept.
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process, I cannot say I agree with all of the decisions he has made, or processes he follows, however it is interesting to observe Architects who influenced him. The images opposite are all styles which I want to explore and experiment with, especially the work of Mies van der Rohe, who I have only skimmed the surface with in the past. Model making is a skill which I am very proud of and will continue to use in the future, but I would like to focus some time on hand drawing which I enjoy and want to use more of. I am looking forward to next semester for both the detailed design work, allowing a larger range of scales to be explored, but also Linked Research, where I will be working on some competitions and nice representation techniques with James Craig and Matt OzgaLawn.
01_Reflective Conclusion Semester 1
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In this project students are challenged to capture the ghosts of modernity by investigating whether or not they are indwelling in selected surviving examples of the heroic period of modern architecture from the 1920s and 1930s, and in projects from the apex of its period of greatest orthodoxy during the immediate post-World War II period from 1945-1960. A key question that must be considered during this project is whether or not the assigned study building not only harbour the ghosts of modernity but in particular are also hosts of the spectre of Utopia that has struck fear into the hearts of architects (and others) since at least the1950s. Tracking the Ghosts of Modernity & the Spectres of Utopia Amongst the most promising ways of tracking the ghosts of modernity and the spectres of Utopia is to make very close readings of the details and material assemblies of relevant works of heroic and modern architecture alike, which students will be required to do during the first part of the project. Ultimately, the aim of this studio is to explore the possibility of resuscitating modernity and Utopia alike. Not just any modernity and not just any Utopia however. Indeed, it is the modernity of the ‘Great Gang’ identified by Aldo van Eyck (encouraged by his association with Carola Giedion-Welcker). Members of this gang represented not the spent modernity of technocratic excess but rather the modernity of near infinite possibilities and a belief in the real possibility of re-enchanting the world. The Utopia under consideration here is equally not the caricatured totalising and blueprint Utopia of convention and its critics, including Karl Popper and Colin Rowe for example, but is rather Utopia as method, in particular engaged in cultivating desires for better ways of being.
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Brief
02_Rematerializing Rotterdam Spectres of Utopia and Modernity Van Nelle Fabriek
February - May 2016
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Marco Frascari’s Tell-the-Tale detail sought to explain how detailing is more instrumental than the construction drawings which the term is commonly associated with. This triggered an intense amount of reading to further my theoretical knowledge. Investigating modernism and utopia was crucial in giving a grounding to analyse the buildings given in the brief. A key piece of text which stood out and was constantly referred to was by Jurgen Habermas, ‘Modern and Postmodern Architecture’ (1981): “There is a good deal of truth in this opposition to modernity; it takes up the unsolved problems that modern architecture pushed into the background - that is, the colonisation of the lifeworld through the imperatives of autonomous economic and administrative systems of action. But we can learn something from all the opposition movement only if we keep one thing in mind; At a fortunate moment in modern language, the inherent aesthetic logic of constructivism encountered the use-orientation of a strict functionalism and united spontaneously with it.” This project has become a serious theoretical exploration into the spiritual side of materiality and architecture. Carlo Scarpa, Peter Zumthor and Louis Kahn have provided stepping stones to understand the immaterial qualities of material and space. Their sketches, detail drawings and representation were all influential in the stylings of this project, very different to any previous work. The Van Nelle Factory is an amazing building to explore and understand the complexities which defined its conception and legacy. By delving into the traces of modernity and spectres of utopia, allows an interesting interpretation to be investigated.
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The Van Nelle Kroon Critical Introduction
vN
Kees
Van Nelle Factory
Kees van Der Leeuw
Theosophy
1st Order
2nd Order
3rd Order
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As we enter a new century the tendency to abstraction is being accelerated by digital media, and in turn this appears to be promoting a compensatory emphasis on the material qualities of buildings. Richard Weston (Materials, Form and Architecture)
‘Are you listening?’ The fabric has much to teach us. How does the cloth want to drape, to sway, to fall? If one keeps these things in mind and looks very carefully, the fabric itself begins to speak.’ Yohji Yamamoto
Each material has its own message and, to the creative artists, its own song. Frank Lloyd Wright
The Intuitive Phenomenologist ‘There was a time’, he recalls, ‘when I experienced architecture without thinking about it. Sometimes I can almost feel a particular door handle in my hand, a piece of metal shaped like the back of a spoon. I used to take hold of it when I went into my aunt’s garden. That door handle still seems to me like a special sign of entry into a world of different moods and smells.’ Peter Zumthor
068
Are you listening?
Intuitive Phenomenology in Fashion and Architecture Grasp Workshop Create an outcome to communicate to others your emotional response from the box. Each box contains a different material or fabric. This allowed the participants to engage with what materials really mean in the built environment, alerting to the need for materials to be considered from conception, instead of as an after-thought.
Thinking Through Making
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Using Richard Meier as an example for initial analysis drawings, the eight buildings allocated in the brief were investigated. Each set of six drawings explores a different set of analyses to give a glimpse into potential traces of modernity and spectres of utopia. This gives a coherent set of drawings to explain my interpretations on each site.
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Building Analyses
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vN
Kees The Van Nelle factory in Schiedam, a suburb to the west of Rotterdam, is one of the outstanding industrial buildings of the Nieuwe Bouwen, the Modernist style of the Netherlands. The Van Nelle company originated in 1782 when Johannes and Hendrica van Nelle established a shop in Rotterdam selling coffee, tea and tobacco. In the 19th century the family business developed into a factory-based business processing raw materials obtained from its own plantations in Java. By the early 1920s the company had no more space for expansion and its director C H van der Leeuw (1890-1973) commissioned the architects J A Brinkman (1902-49) and L C van der Vlugt (1894-1936) to design new premises. Van der Leeuw and Brinkman were both adherents of the Theosophical movement. The factory, built between 1925 and 1931 is characterised by its use of concrete mushroom columns and glass curtain walls. It is an 8-storey building, 300m long, with separate sections for the processing of coffee, tea and tobacco. Raw materials of all kinds were lifted to the top of the building and moved by gravity from one process to another. The fire doors were designed to shut automatically by gravity. The factory included a canteen, a tea room on the roof, a cinema, a library and sporting facilities, and there were pot plants in every part of it. At its peak more than 2,000 people were employed in what was regarded as a bright, hygienic place in which to work. The modern aesthetic so successfully created, Le Corbusier even praised it as “the most beautiful spectacle of the modern age” (1932) with many utopic qualities present. This project seeks to realise the reason why the factory is no longer as successful. Since its demise in the 1990s, the restoration which has been so fondly received by UNESCO (granting it World Heritage status in 2014), has failed in its recuperation, providing a lifeless atmosphere. The 2500 page UNESCO document was instrumental in explaining why the building was given World Heritage status. Although there were hundreds of drawings and surveys carried out justifying the importance of the building, the term ‘spirit’ was raised a handful of times with no explanation - this allowed a more indirect route into the Van Nelle Factory.
Production process
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History - Van Nelle
Location - 1:20000
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Wassily Kandinsky - Gravitation (1935)
El Lissitzky - Proun (1923)
Yakov Chernikov - Composition 26 (1929)
Gerrit Rietveld - Schroder House Axonometric
Piet Mondrian - Composition (1921)
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The Van Nelle Factory shows the influence of Russian Constructivism. Mart Stam, who worked during 1926 as employee-designer at the Brinkman & Van der Vlugt office in Rotterdam, came in contact with the Russian Avant-Garde in 1922 in Berlin. In 1926 Mart Stam organized an architecture tour of the Netherlands for the Russian artist El Lissitzky and his wife Sophie KĂźppers, collector of avant-garde art. They visited Jacobus Oud, Cornelis van Eesteren, Gerrit Rietveld, and other artists. This project really seemed to be a culmination of artists and architects from all over Europe to influence the aesthetic as well as the theory behind design. Many associations are obvious, in addition to El Lissitzky; Wassily Kandinsky, Yakov Chernikov and Piet Mondrian (De Stijl) were producing graphical works very similar to the physical build of the factory. The set of consultants designing the Van Nelle Factory were all focussed on creating an innovative factory. The mushroom column is a prime example of how form follows function within the project. Structural engineer J.G. Wiebenga determined that the form would allow for easy of construction and would allow the concrete floor slabs to be as thin as possible (200mm). However, the client, Kees van der Leeuw set out three main rules in which all design should follow: 1) 2) 3)
Appearance must be a consequence of requirements Design as much to human demands as to mechanical Additional costs for finishing are legitimate even without advancements
The charisma which van der Leeuw provided to the conception of the Van Nelle factory, seemed unusual for a successful businessmen who, from an initial outlook would only be concerned about monetary gains. This allowed for a route to be investigated further.
Influences
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Kees van der Leeuw (1890-1973) was very influential on the design of the Van Nelle Factory, but was also a valued member of society in Rotterdam. 1911_Sent abroad to America for business training, as the wish of his parents. He intensely investigated the daylight factories, Fordism and Taylorism, grasping the concept of functionalism. Although, his true interest was in painting, playing music (especially the organ) and philosophy.
vN
Kees
1913_Joined Van Nelle, following the footsteps of his two older brothers. In 1917 he became a partner and co-given task to create a new business for the company. For this, he came into contact with Leendert van der Vlugt. 1926_He returned to America, to further his knowledge on factory construction, however this time he focussed more of the social side. Looking at how workers should be treated fairly and women given equal rights in the workplace. 1931_After the completion of the new plant, Van der Leeuw company had nothing more to offer than the daily purchases and sales and advertising practices. He therefore decided to take a completely different direction: in 1931 he moved to Vienna to study psychiatry, taught by Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler. 1939_He obtained his doctorate in the Department of Psychiatry. Then he returned to the Netherlands in November of that year because of the threat of war. Also, Van der Leeuw was back to running the Van Nelle company to restore order after the death of his brother Dick . In 1940 he became assistant at the psychiatric hospital Maasoord in Poortugaal in Rotterdam. 1940 1946_During the Second World War were held in the office of Van Nelle discussions on the reconstruction of the bombed town. From 1944 to 1946, Van der Leeuw was authorized by Minister ringers for the Reconstruction of Rotterdam. This makes Van der Leeuw had great influence on the Basic Plan for the Reconstruction of Rotterdam. 1946 - 1960_Van der Leeuw curator of the Delft University of Technology, from 1953 he was chief curator. There he introduced the departments of architecture and architectural review lectures (19581966). 1957_Chairman of the board of regents of the Kröller-Müller Foundation and Chairman of the Board of purchases for the Kröller-Müller Museum . He was also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and president of the Federation of Medical Nations Educational Agencies. Van der Leeuw was a Theosophist and was heavily involved with the Theosophical society in Amsterdam, he looked to Theosophy to provide the subconscious qualities necessary to reinvent the modern daylight factory beyond a purely functional working environment to a more harmonious lifestyle for workers.
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Kees van der Leeuw
vN
Kees Madame H. Blavatsky
Theosophy is a Unity of Religion, Science, and Philosophy. It can be defined as, ‘to explore human spirituality and the occult and to integrate numerous religions of the world with contemporary science.’ The Theosophical Society was founded in New York City in 1875 by Helena Blavatsky, William Quan Judge, and Henry Steel Olcott. Blavatsky’s magnum opus, The Secret Doctrine, one of the major foundational works of modern Theosophy, was published in 1888. Krishnamurti ran and Van der Leeuw helped the society thrive in the Netherlands, with the Order of the Star in the East. The three characteristics of theosophy are listed below. Divine/Human/Nature Triangle: The inspired analysis which circles through these three angles. The intradivine within; the origin, death and placement of the human relating to Divinity and Nature; Nature as alive, the external, intellectual and material. All three complex correlations synthesize via the intellect and imaginative processes of Mind. Primacy of the Mythic: The creative Imagination, an external world of symbols, glyphs, myths, synchronicities and the myriad, along with image, all as a universal reality for the interplay conjoined by creative mind. Access to Supreme Worlds: The awakening within, inherently possessing the faculty to directly connect to the Divine world(s). The existence of a special human ability to create this connection. The ability to connect and explore all levels of reality; co-penetrate the human with the divine; to bond to all reality and experience a unique inner awakening.
Theosophy
Study model
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Theosophical symbol
J.L.M. Lauweriks and K.P.C. De Bazel: Architecture and Theosophy Lauweriks and de Bazel where theosophist architects in the late 19th and early 20th Century working in the Netherlands. They made great advancements in translating the teachings of Theosophy into architecture, providing some interesting buildings with a strong symbolic nature to further the movement. They created a Theosophical symbol by which designs could be moulded upon, as well as stating three orders which can be abstracted into built form. First Order - Chaos -The undifferentiated cosmic state of matter from which all forms emerge. Second Order - Fine Matter - The cosmic primeval matter has developed into form: an illusion (sensory deception). Materialised form stimulates the senses but it also veils the insight into the spiritual essences of matter. - Kundalini - Spirit of circulation, when awakened at the base of the spine an ecstatic spiritual realisation is found. Third Order - The Immaterial - Astral Light, in a cosmic sense brings life to matter. The astral light shoots downwards and imbues matter with the spark of life, charges the matter with energy and forces it to develop. - The enlightened state of astral spirit is reached. To recuperate the spectres of utopia and modernity from within the Van Nelle Factory, it is essential to ensure that all three orders of theosophy are fulfilled to the highest degree. In doing so, a utopic building complex can be re-instated as once imagined by Kees van der Leeuw. Each order relates carefully to tell-the-tale details which are necessary to recuperate the spirit of theosophy and in turn, utopia and modernity.
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J.L.M Lauweriks detail (1913)
Ghost Analytique - Theosophy
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Abstracting the theosophical spirit from within the Van Nelle Factory is crucial to understand which areas need to be recuperated further to reinstate all three orders fully within the factory.
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Orders Present - Collage
First Order - Chaos - 100% The Mushroom Column: - Column is on a grid of 5 x 5.7m. - Designed as an amalgamation of innovation and a nucleus for uninhibited modernity, the faรงades were none loads bearing and the floor width narrow at 19m to allow for sufficient daylight (ghost of American daylight factories) - Mushroom shape for functionality in the production process rather than constructional advantages
1st Order - 100%
Second Order - Fine Matter - 50% Kundalini is very present: - The circulation throughout the Van Nelle is key to the efficient production, however the most prevalent is within the staircases. The double helix staircase was split between men and women when moving between floors. This is highly unusual and relates to the twisting nature of the snake at the base of the spine within Kundalini. Illusion is not present: - Glazed faรงades do not provide any sort of illusion. The expenses were kept down by using a standardised greenhouse glazing panel (1000mm x 500mm) very common in the Netherlands, however this does not provide the sensory deception necessary.
2nd Order - 50%
Third Order - The Immaterial - 0% There is no traces of astral spirit within the building. - This order need to be developed entirely.
3rd Order - 0%
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1st Order - Chaos
Construction photographs (1928)
Marco Frascari’s Tell-the-Tale detail excellently describes the characteristics of the column in a poetical way. As the first order of theosophy states; ‘the undifferentiated cosmic state of matter from which all forms emerge,’ truly is the concrete mushroom column in the Van Nelle Factory. The strength and flexibility of functionality which it provides allows the floor plates to be used in a variety of ways.
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Frascari - Tell-the-Tale
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2nd Order - Fine Matter
Facade in a state of disrepair (1991)
To recuperate the second order of theosophy fully, the sense of illusion needs to be inserted into the buildings. One failing is the repetitive nature of greenhouse glass used in the facade, which was put in place to keep costs down. Therefore, by placing a new layer of irregular coloured (in line with the merging colour palette of the Van Nelle and Theosophy) glass to the facade, the internal and external senses of illusion should increase.
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Existing Facade Model - 1:20
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Kunsthaus Bregenz - Peter Zumthor (1997) The faรงade consists of 712 finely etched equally sized glass panels weighing some 250 kg each, secured by clips to a steel framework. These panels form a free-standing, light-diffusing skin, independent of the actual building, that serves to initially refract the incident daylight and conduct it to the light ceilings in the exhibition halls.
Casa de Musica - OMA (2005) Curved glass increases its load bearing ability and strength. The shadows vary during the day due to the refracting nature of curved glass.
John Lewis Leicester, FOA (2008) Four panel types with very similar patterns but varying thickness of fronds, so that the degree by which the transparency was reduced ranged from 34.25% to 43.47%. The pattern can be viewed both internally and externally.
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Precedents
Development sketch
Having a new skin of facade allows a new spectrum of coloured light to enter deep into plan. Using the panelled natured Zumthor uses in the Kunsthaus with the pattenated effect of shards of off-cut coloured glass, should provide an essence of illusion both internally and externally.
2nd Order - Tell-the-tale Details
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Existing coffee factory section showing the monotonous nature of light passing into the building - 1:200
Colour palettes taken from the Theosophical manuscripts (left) and UNESCO World Heritage application for the Van Nelle Factory (right). In both instances, bold primary colours are obvious, but the nature of the coloured glass to be used in the new facade will gradient from a royal purple, through to a golden yellow. According to Theosophy, the kundalini spirit meanders between a royal purple and gold, the colours of male and female, light and dark, and thus the facade will radiate these colours.
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Development sketches
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2nd Order - Tell-the-tale Details
Proposed Facade Model - 1:200
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3rd Order - The Immaterial
Astral Light What is astral light and how can a building be created to imbue people with astral spirit? Creating the immaterial is a concept which has troubled architects in the past. To recuperate the third order of Theosophy, a deeper theoretical analysis is necessary to provide a response that will not fail, but instead tie the Van Nelle Factory together and become the spectacle of Rotterdam as once intended. By investigating J.L.M. Lauweriks and de Bazel’s buildings, although the three orders of Theosophy were arguably present, there was a lack of ambition or literary knowledge to attempt to provide the utopic qualities which the Van Nelle Factory desires.
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Reflective properties of glass
Glass The heavy nature of concrete was a necessity in the first order of theosophy, and looking into the material properties of stone opened up avenues into how astral light could be imbued into the building. Stone released from its weight becomes spiritualised as is apparent in grand Cathedrals. Glass as a material is not transparent, its translucent which allows the reflections to have a large effect on the light passing through. It is in fact a heavy material.
Glasarchitektur, Paul Scheerbart (1914)
Paul Scheerbart (1863 -1915) was a German author of fantastic literature and drawings. He was best known for the book Glasarchitektur (1914) and was associated with expressionist architecture and one of its leading proponents, Bruno Taut. He composed aphoristic poems about glass for the Taut’s Glass Pavilion at the Werkbund Exhibition (1914). Scheerbart was convinced that glass, through its contemplative beauty, architecture could create some significant spiritual changes in human beings, and even bring them to a condition of universal brotherhood with each other and their surroundings. Coloured glass was Scheerbart’s rhetorical tool: anyone who was successfully exposed to a harmony of coloured light, could turn into an astral body whose wild desires and emotions would then come under the full control of the mind.
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The City Crown, Bruno Taut Taut designed an immense circular garden city with a radius of about 7 km (4.3 mi) for three million inhabitants. The “City Crown” was to be in the very centre. “Mighty and inaccessible”, it would have been the culmination of a community and cultural centre, a skyscraper-like, purposefree “crystal building”.
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The redevelopment of the Van Nelle factory began with the larger scale to reignite the stark industrial area which has consumed the local surroundings. The sparsity of people in central Rotterdam gives a strong enough reason to create a new thriving community in the region where the Van Nelle factory was originally conceived. The city crown provided an insightful look into a newly developed city. Drawing from Charles Fourier and the socialist utopia’s and Ebenezer Howard’s Garden Cities, Taut created a new city with utopia intentions. Using this as a base, the Van Nelle factory complex and surrounding areas have been transformed via a masterplan to stimulate growth and to allow the Van Nelle factory complex to thrive once more. The connections and programmes chosen relate to the analysis done in the early 20th Century by Taut which is the closet link to the original Van Nelle factory as this is when it was conceived. Existing Site Plan
Masterplan - 1:2500
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Glashaus Drawings
Glashaus The aim of the coloured prismatic glass wall, which wraps its prominent dome was to remove any feeling of heaviness, earthliness by transforming the surface into a weightless layer of coloured glass. Ordinary visitors to the Glashaus frequently remarked on the profound emotions they encountered, not merely the experiences of the five senses, but of the psychic and often visceral reflexes they had - feeling of purity and luck that seems to almost suppress reflections on the architectural of technical merits. Here was the elusive multi sensory experience that could only be fully understood if experienced in person. This can be compared to a cathedral experience; ascending the stairs for some time to be rewards with the dome at the end.
Glass - “The longing for purity and clarity, for glowing lightness and crystalline exactness, for immaterial lightness and infinite liveliness found a means of it fulfilment in glass - the most ineffable, most elementary, most flexible and most changeable of materials, richest in meaning and inspiration, fusing with the world like no other. This least fixed of materials transforms itself with every change of atmosphere. It is infinitely rich in relations, mirroring what is above, below, and what is below, above. It is animated, full of spirit and alive... It is an example of a transcendent passion to build, functionless, free, satisfying no practical demands - and yet a functional building, soulful, awakening spiritual inspirations - an ethical functional building.” - Bruno Taut (1914)
Stiftskirche, Stuttgart
Bruno Taut, Paul Scheerbart, and Adolf Behre (1914)
Interior of Glashaus (1914)
“Beautiful cupola room, vaulted like a sparkling skull, or of the unreal, ethereal stair, which one ascended as if walking through pearling water, that moves me and produces happy memories.” - Adolf Behre (1914)
Glashaus, Cologne Werkbund Exhibition (1914)
Glashaus - Bruno Taut (1914)
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I. Chernikov, Composition 18 (1929)
J. Turner, Rain, Steam and Speed (1844)
Constructivist analysis
W. Kandinsky, Composition VIII (1923)
The Van Nelle Factory is now without the spirit of art, it has lost this element. Therefore it reads like the drawings of constructivist Chernikov, and needs to be more like the Theosophical art of Kandinsky. To do this, the functionalist and constructivist tendencies of Turner’s works be abstracted.
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Kees Gesamtkunstwerk (Total art) has a strong relationship to Theosophy and the three orders. William Morris, Richard Wagner, Oscar Wilde, and Peter Behrens all called for collaboration and unification of the arts through opera, theatre, music, poetry, and above all architecture. They attempted to synthesise various artistic media into a single total for of art that would evoke and intensify such universal laws. In both their creative process and the resulting art works, these artists sought to confront the perceived chaos, anonymity, and the spiritlessness of modernity with a greater artistic, social, and philosophical unity than was possible through more conventional art. Therefore the concept of the design is a combination of Theosophy and Gesamtkunstwerk. The treble clef, for example, is a representation of the circulation through the Van Nelle Kroon.
Gesamtkunstwerk (Total art)
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Analytique
An experience, a journey, a route to enlightenment “One long staircase wraps around the inside of the cylindrical glass block wall. As you spiral upwards the colour changes from a bottle green to a bright white. Step-after-step astral light and spirit imbues into your body, the higher you climb, the more apparent it becomes. Once you reach the top, the crisp glass dome provides a brilliance never experienced before. Spend as long as you need before making your way back down through the existing Van Nelle Factory structure. A series of theosophical teaching spaces becoming more private the further down you venture will allow you to explore and understand the experience you have received.�
Astral Spirit
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Apex of Dome view
Glashaus (1914)
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Dome level view
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Internal staircase, Glashaus
Engraved with a theosophical symbol
The Glass Block Wall is integral to the project and is the material which visitors have most interaction with. Careful detailing of the staircase and hand rail as essential to give a seamless experience for visitors allowing them to focus on becoming imbued with astral spirit.
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Glass Block Wall - 1:2
Natural lighting study showing fluctuations in light levels during the day
3rd Order -Tell-the-Tale Details
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Although the glass wall will provide sufficient daylighting during the day, the staircase has an inset LED strip to produce light when lux levels are low and at night. The light is carefully built into the hand rail detail in-between the two pieces of joining steel. This will provide a warm glow onto the step, sufficiently lighting the path of visitors.
Artificial Lighting
Being inspired by the radiator in the staircase leading up-to the tea room in the Van Nelle factory gave the origins for the heated handrail. A hot water pipe passes through the entire handrail and heats the visitors as they make their way up. The steel handrail is lined with an insulating material to ensure the heat is directed inwards whilst not burning the visitors. The plant room on level 9 provides an ideal position for a boiler, gravity allowing the water to flow downwards.
Radiator Heating
After investigating perforated glass patents from the 19th Century, a sensible solution has been formed to enable fresh air to cool the visitors ascending the staircase. As with many long winding cathedral staircases, only a small amount of ventilation is necessary to comfort the visitor. In this case a detail has been devised to have a custom designed ventilation block under every step. Angled to ensure no rain enters, it allows air to circulate in and out of the external wall.
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Natural Ventilation
Individual Strategies
Artificially lit handrail detail
Radiator below handrail, Van Nelle Factory tea room
Ventilation glass block example, 15 cubic metres per hour rate
The environmental strategy has been tailored to provide comfort on the individual scale. Whilst the intermediate nature of the building means that climate will fluctuate naturally, the staircase will contain all necessary technologies to provide a naturally ventilated, and a mechanically lit and heated experience; thus keeping energy consumption to a minimum and running costs low.
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Stack Ventilation occurs through the double glass skin dome facade. Providing a naturally controlled space. Due to the size, and materials used, it would be inefficient to mechanically control the climate for the entire space. Instead, a fluctuating climate is allowed for with solar gains and controlled natural ventilation providing localised comfort. The existing services within the Van Nelle Factory have recently been renovated so heating, lighting,
water, and waste are all readily available. These will be sufficient for the new teaching spaces. A new heating system will be installed on level 8 to provide hot water for the radiator system passing down the new staircase. Inlet water will be pumped up through service risers and once heated pumped up one level before allowing gravity to allow the heated water to flow downwards. Environmentally, these design decisions use the services of the existing, with a sustainable approach to new additions allowing a large size building to be very environmentally friendly.
External, intermediate and internal spaces
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Ventilation and Heating Solutions - Integrated Section, 1:200
“No space is a space architecturally, unless it has the natural light of the sun in it. - Primary role of structure was to determine not where light will be, but where light will not be.� - Louis Kahn
Lighting Solutions - Integrated Section, 1:200
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Church, The Hague, Aldo van Eyck (1969) The small spaces created with fantastic natural light lend to the aesthetic created in the lower levels of the Van Nelle Kroon. The private spaces for thought and practice will be naturally darker in shadow compared to the higher floors where astral light is more prevalent.
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Plans
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Phillips Exeter Academy Library, Louis Kahn (1971) Louis Kahn has a special subconscious relationship with light. The upper floors in the Van Nelle Kroon will have essences of the open and luxurious spaces in the Exeter Library. The larger meeting rooms and auditoriums will be open plan with a strong relationship to the structural mushroom columns gridded along the floor plates.
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Programme and Circulation
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Model - 1:200
Ground Plan - 1:2000
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Construction Diagram - Site
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Constructional Isometric - Van Nelle Kroon
Structural Detailing
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The overall aim of this semesters design work was to focus on the detail. However, the conventional sense of detailing, made more apparent by working in practice, was only a small proportion of the investigation carried out. Marco Frascari’s, ‘Tellthe-Tale Detail’ introduced the concept of details being far more than a flashing detail or window sill. With this approach in mind, my choice of project allowed me to enter the detailing side of design from an alien region. Having steered clear of tackling utopia in the past, this seemed a perfect opportunity to challenge myself. In hindsight, even with a furthered knowledge of utopia’s, I still struggle with using the term, due to the stigma which is so commonly associated with it. Spectres of Utopia and Modernity begun with an intense research and reading learning curve; trying to understand many different theoretical writings on modernism, modernity, utopia, post-modernity and detailing. This period of time related heavily to Rotterdam and the series of buildings given to investigate; which were a few decades either side of WWII. Rotterdam has an illustrious past which had been touched on in the first semester project, however, Rotterdam pre-1940 bombing was most attractive to me - the Van Nelle Factory (19251930) was an ideal ghost building to focus on.
direction was determined by the route least travelled by writings or explanations. By piecing together the web of connectivity which modernity provided, I was able to quickly generate links which were useful in exploring the Van Nelle Factory. The client (Kees van der Leeuw) was the most attractive component of the Van Nelle and provided a starting point to recuperate modernity and trace the spectres of Utopia within the project. This led to Theosophy which has been the driving force behind the project. I had no prior knowledge of it, but by immersing myself in all aspects of it has allowed for a very detailed study. It has been very interesting allowing Theosophy to guide the project and has given me a new outlook on architecture as a whole. The ‘tools for thinking’ module in the first semester was an excellent way to introduce theoretical discussions into architectural learning, and is something I have continued through into the second semester.
Linked research involved creating a room sized exhibition for the ‘Mountains and Megastructures’ symposium. Designing and welding a large fabric wrapped steel structure was exciting and informed by Mallory’s expedition to the summit of Everest. Watching the 1924 film and producing an Architecture which I am most intrigued by relates interactive room was the highlight of the two day to feelings and thoughts which made without exhibition. explanation. With this in-mind, the project’s Stage 5 has really broadened my knowledge and theory so far that it is impossible to not continue in this fashion in the future. The thesis year will be an exciting year to carry on investigating an aspect intensely, and will allow more time to develop a project relating to it. Linked research will focus on exploring virtual reality and could be a potential springboard into the thesis, potentially informing a new style of representation. A general pointer to focus on is being able to produce drawings which explain as much as a model can. Mountains and Megastructures Exhibition
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02_Reflective Conclusion Semester 2
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The technical aspects of this project should be seen as opportunities for rigorous investigation and creative problem solving, for exploring the material and environmental challenges of the project as critically and inventively as you would other aspects of the design. Your final presentation for the project will include drawings and models that cover both the design and technical requirements of the project. Throughout the project, you are required to collect your technical research, investigations and strategies in a technical portfolio.
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03_Technical Investigation Contents Van Nelle Construction - 0122 Column - 0124 Facade - 0126 Glashaus - 0130 Luxfer - 0132 Glass - 0134 Glass Blocks - 0136 Lighting Studies - 0138 Staircase - 0140 Individual Strategies - 0142 Overall Strategies - 0144 Structure - 0146 Dome - 0148
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Van Nelle Construction
Built in 1925, the Van Nelle Factory was constructed using an innovative mushroom column system. This meant that the curtain walls were hung onto the concrete structure, and in turn allowed for light open floor plates - a stark contrast to traditional 19th Century factories. The tobacco, coffee and tea production lines were separated and the building form followed the stages of production necessary for each commodity - (tobacco 8 floors, coffee 6 floors and teas 3 floors).
Photograph of internal column grid
Original section drawings.
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Located on the outskirts of Rotterdam allowed for a large open plot, with open spaces and strong transport links to Rotterdam and more importantly the port road, rail and water.
3D view of columns
Plan view of column grid
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Column
The mushroom column is the existing Tellthe-Tale detail of this project, providing the springboard into Theosophy and the three orders relating to it. Constructed from a steel supporting core, the concrete was then cast in site, column by column. This was a new method of construction for the majority of labourers working on site, with every column unique and becoming more accurately constructed as time passed. They were cast splaying out at the top to negate any sheering effect on the floors above and below. Constructed on a grid of 5m x 5.7m with a diameter of 600mm provided enough support for all of the machinery necessary in a factory. To this day, the strength of the columns is unwavering.
Detailed diagrams of column
1:20 model of column structure
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1:20 model of column structure
Constructional photograph (1926)
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Facade
The existing facade was constructed from single glazed green-house glazing panels (500mm x 1000mm) which were very common and inexpensive in The Netherlands. The aim of adding a new skin of glazing to the external facade is to refract coloured light deep into the floor plate of the factory floors. This will intensify the sensory illusion, to fulfil the second order of Theosophy. A new system is bolted onto the existing concrete floor structure. The glazing is constructed from two layers of laminated glass with centre of coloured float glass. These offcuts will give the sense of illusion by refracting light. The sandwiched glazing panels (2400mm x 2000mm) will be strong enough to deflect wind and the elements.
Tobacco factory photograph (1930) Laminated glass detail
Washi glass example detail
John Lewis, Leicester (2007)
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1:200 Facade model
John Lewis Leicester, FOA (2008) Four panel types with very similar patterns but varying thickness of fronds, so that the degree by which the transparency was reduced ranged from 34.25% to 43.47%. The pattern can be viewed both internally and externally.
Kunsthaus Bregenz - Peter Zumthor (1997) The faรงade consists of 712 finely etched equally sized glass panels weighing some 250 kg each, secured by clips to a steel framework. These panels form a free-standing, light-diffusing skin, independent of the actual building, that serves to initially refract the incident daylight and conduct it to the light ceilings in the exhibition halls. 1:20 Facade model design
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Environmental glazing diagram
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Stack ventilation example in double skin facade
Development sketches
The new facade also provides an opportunity to insulate and ventilate the existing building better. By incorporating stack ventilation and having an insulating barrier of air, the internal floor plates should be warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. The colour of the glass is very important to the overall effect of the scheme. By investigating colour scheme from the UNESCO document and the Theosophical society, a spectrum from a dark royal purple through the greens to a bright white.
Van Nelle internal colour palette
New atmospheric cross section
Theosophical colour palette Existing facade in state of disrepair (1996)
Internal coloured glass effect
Close detail of proposed facade
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Glashaus
Bruno Taut’s Glashaus was an essential precedent for this project. Built in 1914 for the Cologne Werkbund exhibition, it was an advertisement for the qualities that glass could provide for a building. The structure was in fact over engineered as it was a brand new way of building. A huge concrete plinth was used as a base and concrete and steel structures continued up throughout the building. Although glass was the material mainly seen, it was not providing the structure which it had originally set out to do. The form was based on many precedents, including flowers and nature, however, the similarity to cathedral domes is unmistakeable and proved vital in my exploration. The experience and spirituality provided by cathedrals and churches alike can be argued to the large open dome spaces. Looking at construction techniques led to investigating the properties of stone and concrete. A link back to Cologne where the Glashaus was exhibited is to the fantastic cathedral present. The journey to the top via a long winding staircase was very impressive, providing a reward at the end with amazing views over Cologne and the inside of the cathedral dome. Cathedral example
Cathedral cross-section, Florence
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Stiftskirche, Stuttgart
Glashaus mid-construction photograph (1914)
Glashaus original drawings
Glashaus dome details, 1:25
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Luxfer
4/11/2016
American Luxfer Prism Company 1906 Sweet's, Page 262 | glassian
AMERICAN LUXFER PRISM COMPANY
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346348 WABASH AVENUE, CHICAGO, ILL. BRANCH OFFICES NEW YORK, 160 F IFTH AVE. B OSTON, 15 F EDERAL S T. S AN F RANCISCO, 121 NEW MONTGOMERY S T. S T. LOUIS , 327 ODD F ELLOWS B LDG. C LEVELAND, 1022 GARFIELD B LDG.
B ALTIMORE, 505 AMERICAN B LDG. KANSAS C ITY, 948 N. Y. LIFE B LDG. S T. P AUL, 627 R YAN B LDG. C INCINNATI, 424 MAIN S T. NEW ORLEANS , 904 HENNEN B LDG. LOS ANGELES , 603 S OUTH S PRING S T.
MILWAUKEE, 1112 R AILWAY EXCHANGE B LDG. WASHINGTON, D. C., 520 THIRTEENTH S T. INDIANAPOLIS , 19 P EMBROKE ARCADE. P ORTLAND, ORE., 218 F RONT S T. S EATTLE, WASH., 313 C ORDOVA S T.
FIG. 1. A SINGLE LUXFER PRISM LIGHT
FIG. 2. THE MANNER IN WHICH LUXFER PRISMS REFRACT DAYLIGHT
PRODUCTS. We are the manufacturers of the original "Luxfer" Prisms, making them for every conceivable position where it may be necessary to flood buildings with daylight. Upwards of 12,000 buildings have been successfully equipped with LUXFER PRISM WINDOWS AND TRANSOMS, LUXFER SKYLIGHT PRISMS, LUXFER PAVEMENT PRISMS, LUXFER SHEET PRISMS, LUXFER FIG. 3. LUXFER VAULT LIGHT No. FIREPROOF WINDOWS. 62 We have recently added to our list For Steel Concrete Setting of products IMPERIAL PLATE PRISM GLASS. 4/11/2016
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FIG. 17. LUXFER VAULT LIGHT No. 65 For SteelConcrete Setting FIG. 16. COLUMBUS CIRCLE STATION, RAPID TRANSIT SUBWAY 59th Street, New York City
The American Luxfer company funded the Glashaus and thus used it as an advertising campaign to sell their products. Because of this, many different types of glass were used throughout the building.
The proper daylight illumination of mills, factories, warehouses and school buildings is a matter of importance to the architect, owner and tenant of such buildings. This can be readily accomplished by equipping the windows with Luxfer Sheet Prisms (Fig. 19). Luxfer Sheet Prism glass is made under United States Letters Patent, and comprises various angles of prisms. The lighting results obtained from any prism glass depends on the angle of prism used, and, therefore, should be scientifically prescribed in every case. INSTALLATION. This glass is made in sheets and can be cut to any size desired up to 84 inches wide by 60 inches high, and can be installed in ordinary window sash at a price which will justify the use of large quantities in any building. A wonderful increase in the illumination is obtained and a consequent saving of from twentyfive to fifty per cent. in the cost of artificial lighting is effected. LUXFER PRISM SHEET.
The glass block walls were made from a modified luxfer vault light. It was interesting to investigate the luxfer glass blocks and the patents in creating them. Luxfer originated in America but soon spread over the world providing innovative ways of using the vault light initially designed to provide natural daylight to basements. Frank Lloyd Wright created over 50 designs for the vault lights which were all patented. This provided a lot of income for him and are still used today.
FIG. 18. SECTION VIEW OF LUXFER SIDEWALK
Replicating one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs was useful to work on a 1:1 scale of block designs.
FIG. 19. A REFORM IN MILL AND FACTORY CONDITIONS
Luxfer information sheet - Glassian
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Luxfer advertisement
Luxfer vault light atmospheric drawing
1:1 Luxfer vault light model
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Glass
Float glass production process Het Bouwbedrijf - Making Concrete Vault Light Panels | glassian
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Het Bouwbedrijf - Making Concrete Vault Light Panels Home > Prism Glass > Het Bouwbedrijf
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Photos of concrete vault light panels being made (presumably in The Netherlands) from Het Bouwbedrijf ("The Building Trade"), 9 (1932) nr 11, page 120 and 121. Scans courtesy Taco Hermans of the Netherlands Department for Conservation.
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Afb. 2. Bestrijken der holle zijkanten mey loodwitvert ("Painting the Sides with White Lead Paint")
Afb. 3. Onder de rij brengen van een dunne laag vochtig zand opde bekisting. ("Putting a Layer of Sand as Base in the Mold")
Afb. 4. Afteekenen van de plaats der voegen. ("Marking the Joints")
Afb. 5. Leggen der glastegels. ("Putting the Tiles in the Mold")
Afb. 6. Neetlaten van het wapeningsnet in de voegen en aankloppen der tegels. ("Putting the Reinforcement in the Mold")
Afb. 7. Invoegen van de mortel. ("Pointing")
Coloured glass blocks
Chemical properties of coloured glass
Constructing a 1:2 scale block was essential to work out how the main component of the proposal could be built. The first stage was to laser engrave the adapted theosophical symbol onto the glass block. A mould was created to place the glass blocks into. Using 6mm steel rods acted as the steel re-bar to be used in the real construction. It also provided the necessary structure to stabilise the glass blocks. Concrete was then mixed and poured into the wooden encasement. It was interesting to construct a wall using the same process as was done over 100 years ago. The model also provided an excellent way to investigate the natural lighting effect.
1:2 Glass Block structural re-bar model
1:2 Glass Block construction model
1:2 Glass Block model
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Glass Blocks
Soda lime glass block diagrams
Glass Block Wall elevation and section
Soda lime glass block construction diagrams
Glass blocks are most commonly used in architecture as a non load bearing external wall, with a steel structure supporting the weight of the building. Although these precedents provide usual evidence of the light effects produced, they are not entirely useful in helping understand the structural side necessary. However, a research article has investigated soda lime glass creation which when configured in a correct way can provide a load bearing wall.
Hermes Glass Block wall, Tokyo, Renzo Piano (2001)
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Yamanashigakuin elementary school glass block outer wall
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Lighting Studies
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Concrete translucent block
Glass wall refraction example
Using the 1:2 scale glass block wall, a series of light studies were conducted to generate the natural lighting effects the new proposal will have on the internal areas within the building. The fluctuations in natural lighting throughout the day are not always obvious, but this study shows how the building will change throughout the day. This is important to the design as the changeable light qualities are part of the astral light qualities. 1:20 wall detail sketches
Light Studies
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Staircase
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The staircase winds around the cylindrical glass wall on one loop. Built up of 360 steps, 200mm riser, 250mm going. The staircase is an integral part to the design and has been carefully detailed. Small condensation channels and glass inset detailing ensures each step controls the environmental effects upon it. Using a cast concrete step provides the strength necessary to spiral up the entire building, with each step bolted onto the external wall, with steel ‘L-plates’ to stop any twisting motion.
Stair riser and going specifications
Handrail detail
Carlo Scarpa glass detail
Handrail structural connection detail
Concrete stair connections
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Individual Strategies
Artificial Lighting Although the glass wall will provide sufficient daylighting during the day, the staircase has an inset LED strip to produce light when lux levels are low and at night. The light is carefully built into the hand rail detail in-between the two pieces of joining steel. This will provide a warm glow onto the step, sufficiently lighting the path of visitors.
Artificial Heating Being inspired by the radiator in the staircase leading up-to the tea room in the Van Nelle factory gave the origins for the heated handrail. A hot water pipe passes through the entire handrail and heats the visitors as they make their way up. The steel handrail is lined with an insulating material to ensure the heat is directed inwards whilst not burning the visitors. The plant room on level 9 provides an ideal position for a boiler, gravity allowing the water to flow downwards.
Natural ventilation After investigating perforated glass patents from the 19th Century, a sensible solution has been formed to enable fresh air to cool the visitors ascending the staircase. As with many long winding cathedral staircases, only a small amount of ventilation is necessary to comfort the visitor. In this case a detail has been devised to have a custom designed ventilation block under every step. Angled to ensure no rain enters, it allows air to circulate in and out of the external wall. The environmental strategy has been tailored to provide comfort on the individual scale. Whilst the intermediate nature of the building means that climate will fluctuate naturally, the staircase will contain all necessary technologies to provide a naturally ventilated, and a mechanically lit and heated experience; thus keeping energy consumption to a minimum and running costs low.
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KlusDesign - PDS4-ALU L.E.D detail
Lighting effect produced from handrail lighting
Handrail radiator in Van Nelle tea room
Radiator within Van Nelle managers office
Perforated glass block detail
Ventilation glass block precedent
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Overall Strategies Stack Ventilation occurs through the double glass skin dome facade. Providing a naturally controlled space. Due to the size, and materials used, it would be inefficient to mechanically control the climate for the entire space. Instead, a fluctuating climate is allowed for with solar gains and controlled natural ventilation providing localised comfort.
The existing services within the Van Nelle Factory have recently been renovated so heating, lighting, water, and waste are all readily available. These will be sufficient for the new teaching spaces. A new heating system will be installed on level 8 to provide hot water for the radiator system passing down the new staircase. Inlet water will be pumped up through service risers and once heated pumped up one level before allowing gravity to allow the heated water to flow downwards. Environmentally, these design decisions use the services of the existing, with a sustainable approach to new additions allowing a large size building to be very environmentally friendly.
Typical boiler installation
Handrail radiator in Van Nelle tea room
External, intermediate and internal spaces
Ventilation and Heating Solutions - Integrated Section, 1:200 0144
“No space is a space architecturally, unless it has the natural light of the sun in it. - Primary role of structure was to determine not where light will be, but where light will not be.� - Louis Kahn
Lighting Solutions - Integrated Section, 1:200 0145
Structure
The outer aesthetic of the proposal has been purposely designed to have a similar aesthetic to the existing Van Nelle factory. This is partly to fit in to the existing context but more importantly, to provide a juxtaposition to the beautifully flush interior of the building. The outer facade of the new cylinder will be supported by curved steel ‘I-beams’ and vertical glass fins to negate any bending moments created from wind or weight loading. The part of the tobacco factory which will segmented by the new proposal will be cut away at. The new structural ‘I-beam’ system will put in place first before the concrete floor plates are removed. All existing mushroom columns will remain intact and untouched as they are necessary to provide structural support for the remaining building and the new dome proposal on the top of the cylinder.
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Van Nelle Kroon construction isometric
I-Beam with glazing connecting detail
I-Beam detail
Existing building splice details
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Dome
Steel connector between glulam beams
External glazing panel wall
Glulam base exploded construction drawing.
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Sketch design 1:20 detail
Renzo Piano, Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center
Apex of dome example Using glass as the main material is very important within this project. However, it should not be used in a false way if another material is better suited to completing the task. A combination of steel and glass are necessary to build the dome. Constructed from laminated annealed glass panels fixed together with steel plates gives an alternative to a glulam beam. Fixed with a large steel connector to the base ensures the load passes down to the concrete slab at the base of the dome. The base of the dome is a wheel of concrete affixed to the mushroom columns on the tea room. The dome is split into 8 beams rising up to take the loading. There are two skins of glazing which allow stack ventilation to occur in between.
Tokyo International Forum, glass canopy details, Dewhurst MacFarlane
Dome detailing
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