P O R T F O L I O
JAMES YEVGENIY OSBORNE RIBA PART 1 ARCHITECTURAL ASSISTANT
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DOB: 21ST FEBRUARY 1995
ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO | VOL 3 This portfolio contains my most significant architectural projects produced in the last three years (between November 2015 and November 2018). Every project presented in this portfolio is merely a preview.
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1 | INSIDE OUT
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2 | CAGE
ABOVE PROJECT REVISITED | A C A D E M I C | 12 - 13
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STUDIO FOR A WRITER | A C A D E M I C | 04 - 11
3 | COLUMBARIUM
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NEW LA HOSPICE | COMPETITION | 14 - 23
4 | ASYLUM - MENTRAL THERAPY ROOM | A C A D E M I C | 24 - 31
5 | LIMBO
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WAR VICTIMS MEMORIAL | COMPETITION | 32 - 39
6 | EVOLUTION - ARTS CENTRE REVISITED | A C A D E M I C | 40 - 43
7 | UMBRELLAS
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INTERACTIVE FACADE | A C A D E M I C | 44 - 47
8 | WORLDCRAFT - CITY ALPHA TESTING | A C A D E M I C | 48 - 49
9 | DIESELSHIRE
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MIGRATING TOWN | A C A D E M I C | 50 - 51
01
YEAR: 2015 | LOCATION: LONDON. UK | BUILDING: PAVILION | TYPE: ACADEMIC
INSIDE OUT
BLURRING BOUNDARIES BETWEEN IN AND OUT A SMALL PAVILION TO BE USED AS A STUDIO, STUDY AND AN EXHIBITION PLACE FOR A WORLD-RENOWNED FICTION WRITER, TRAVELLER AND A LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHER. THIS PAVILION TRIES TO EXPLORE PERSPECTIVES AND ALTER PERCEPTIONS. THE MAIN SPACE IS MADE WITH ‘PHOTOGRAPHS’ (FRAMES) TAKEN OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD. DEPICTING QUIET SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT OF TRANQUIL FORESTS AND SIMPLE SUNSETS, THE ‘PHOTOS’ CAPTURE CRISP SNAPSHOTS OF MOMENTS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE FORGOTTEN. THE COLLECTION OF INDIVIDUAL PHOTOGRAPHS IS TRANSFORMED INTO A SINGLE SCENE THAT SURROUNDS ITS VIEWERS AND RECEDE INTO THE DISTANCE. ONE WOULD EXPERINCE A FEELING OF BEING INSIDE THE PHOTOGRAPH.
The client is a frequent traveller, which results in a massive amount of photographs which need to be frequently exhibited in the pavilion. The invention of photography revolutionised culture and communication in the world forever. For the first time, images of ‘real’ life could be captured for posterity and sent around the world. A photograph is a time machine, it shows a particular moment that’s gone forever, a place
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where time has frozen. Our eyes are essentially cameras, taking 24 shots per second, and most of those shots are forgotten. What if the pavilion could freeze the time, what if it could focus our attention on those
‘24 FRAMES OF OUR LIFE’ We are all subject to the passing of time, yet each of us feels and perceives it in our own way. Time itself has no shape or boundary and cannot be fixed or grasped.
When we look at the ‘photographs’ in this pavilion, we attempt to fill in the gaps between the individual images. We draw from our physical experiences to fill in missing time and space, both ephemeral and vague. In this pavilion, I attempt to depict time and space as sensations shared by both viewer and photographer” The main section of the pavilion is mage of 24 timber frames, which sit on a concrete plinth.
BARCELONA PAVILION Mies van der Rohe SCALE MODEL
One of the most famous examples of tranquile architecture was built as part of the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona Spain, the Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Mies van der Rohe, was the display of architecture’s modern movement to the world. Unlike
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other pavilions at the exposition, Mies understood his pavilion simply as a building and nothing more, it would not house art or sculpture rather the pavilion would be a place of tranquility and escape from the exposition, in effect transforming the pavilion into
an inhabitable sculpture. Framed views would induce movement through the narrow passage that would open into a larger volume. This cyclical process of moving throughout the pavilion sets in motion a process of discovery and rediscovery during ones experience;
always offering up new perspectives and details that were previously unseen. With walls projecting out into the exterior and the openness of the pavilion, there is a blurred spatial demarcation where interior becomes exterior and exterior becomes interior.
COMPLEXITY THROUGH SIMPLICITY There are many ways of creating ‘separate’ spaces. The most obvious one is “COMPLEXITY THROUGH COMPLEXITY” where if one needs five separate areas one would create five different spaces, however, this method creates too many unnecessary walls that block views and movement. We would use “COMPLEXITY THROUGH SIMPLICITY” just like in the Barcelona pavilion. If we take three shapes and intersect them in a particular way, then we would result in the same five different spaces.
CONTINUOUS RUNNING ELEMENTS Structural or architectural elements (ie. walls) that continuously run from inside out help to achieve an effect of confusion. Barcelona Pavillion showed that a component that spans both the exterior and the interior without any visual obstruction create interior spaces that have exterior qualities to them, thus further blurring the edge between the inside and the outside.
CREATING
A
BUFFER
ZONE
Typically buildings have a flat facade that indicates a boundary between outside and inside. Barcelona Pavilion has plenty of massive glass windows that allow for great views; however one might argue that even though visually we perceive freedom, spacially the boundary is not much different from a masonry wall. So imagine you were to take that wall, cut it into strips and rotate them 90 degrees along the Z-Axis. You would get a series of thin deep columns. Visually it would have a minimal impact, however, spacially it would make a considerable difference creating a buffer zone reducing the impact, and interlocking spaces.
SCALE CONCEPT MODEL
The resulting internal space is both complex and simple at the same time. The main volume is intersected by a secondary rectangular wall, which creates additional spaces. The wall is only 2.4m tall, comparing that to 4m of the floor to ceiling clear height of the main space seems rather small. Since the wall is only halfway between the floor and ceiling it creates floating interlock-
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ing spaces above, allowing for a continuous visual movement. The entirety of the wall is perceived to be an external element due to the fact that the majority of the ‘wall’ runs externally, and the small internal section follows those perceptions too. Having all of the connections between the fins made of glass helps that cause too. One might say that a glass wall would
generate a stronger perception of being outside, in this case, it’s the opposite. Having strong distinct timber frames and a bigger transition surface area distracts you from the fact that there is a glass sheet. The fact that you can get beyond the perimeter line of the wall creates a much greater illusion of being in an open space than a glass sheet instead.
ERASING INTERIOR SPACE Even though this is a private land, the public is free to use the park, which means that people will end up walking next to the pavilion which is closed to the public (except during exhibitions days). Considering that the pavilion is surrounded by vegetation on all four sides it was decided to use oneway-mirrored glass. Since the image behind the pavilion is identical to the image in front of it using the oneway-mirrored glass allows us to ‘erase’ interior volume altogether, thus adding even more visual confusion.
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02
YEAR: 2017 | LOCATION: N/A | BUILDING: N/A | TYPE: ACADEMIC ESSAY
INSIDE OUT: (REVISITED) A STUDY OF BIRD’S USE OF IT’S CAGE
Last year my friend’s parrot has stayed with me for a couple of weeks while his owner went on holiday. Analysing his behaviour gave me the following thought human architecture, where interior and exterior are designed using the same principles is impossible. The parrot uses the cage as an object, the use can change depending on the conditions, but the essence stays the same. Whether it cleans its feathers on the grille in the same place, whether it moves to the feeding trough along the most efficient trajectory, the entire operation of the ‘house ‘ corresponds directly to human handling of objects (Valeriy Podoroga). At the same time, the parrot also perceives the cage spatially, which was confirmed by my observations ( they can be seen in the images on the left). The cage was placed in the centre of the room opposite the window. On the other side of the window was a busy street with birds making a lot of noises. The parrot usually tried to make contact with them. Thus came an exaggerated model of the parrot-cell relationship, where there was a single event that entailed a particular use of the cell. We can primitively summarize this use as follows: the parrot perceives the window as a danger, but at the same time it expresses curiosity; the cage is used as a protective tool; staying internally the bird realizes the impossibility of any external danger getting inside; staying externally, it discovers a
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protective “bump” on the top that allows it to be as close to the window as possible, while remaining protected; Thus, the parrot corresponds to the cage in the external position to the same extent that it corresponds to the cage in the internal position. When it comes to human architecture, this does not happen. As a whole, the ‘interior’ concept contains everything that can be described as particular internal foundations of architecture: structural algorithms, thanks to which a new kind of society is formed (Peter Cook); phenomenological figures of “house as shell sheter” (Gaston Bachelard); Italian Renaissance theaters whose scenes depicted perspective (Giovani Battista Aleotti); etc. The interior will always be defined by position and routine inside the space, regardless of the imperative behind architectural appearance. This means that experience of the interior is both visual and tactile (alter Benjamin), while the experience of the exterior is only visual. I remember those who completely ignore the exterior (hypermodernist. tumblr.com), pointing out that it is merely a shell and a cast of internal stories, I remember those like Beniamino Servino who say the opposite, whose architecture is merely a box filled with anything, I remember Claude Nicolas Ledoux who wrote about ‘talking architecture’, Robert Venturi who said that exterior dictated
interior, or vice versa, or mislead altogether, I remember Rem Koolhaas who said that gigantism leads to the loss of all connections between interiors and exteriors. Finally, I recall vernacular huts that cannot be evaluated through the lens of this particular criticism. It is a shame that instead of concentrating on the “imperative behind architecture”, one must pay too much attention to the relationship between these two elements. Although I have designated such architecture as impossible, it seems that there are quite a few prospects here, one of the most relevant among them is the movement towards the visual aspect of design, as well as virtual and parametric architecture. Lets imagine an object, the whole existence within which is built purely on visual solutions. These principles can be transferred to the exterior so that the object works holistically. We should also mention Mies van der Rohe and his buildings. However, we should not talk about banal materialistic things like ‘visual fusion’ of the exterior and the interior at the level of visual transparency. Mies achieved the equivalence of perception of the plan and the volume of his buildings. In order to relate to human architecture in the same way as our parrot relates with a cage, one needs to be able to fully perceive the building, both from the inside and the outside. Phillip Johnson ‘glass house’.
AS | GL N SO JOHN P I L PH I L
SH
EM OUS
ODE
L
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YEAR: 2018 | LOCATION: LA. USA | BUILDING: SKYSCRAPER | TYPE: COMPETITION
LIVING COLUMBARIUM REPRESENTATIVE ARCHITECTURE
LOS ANGELES’ NEW HOSPICE BUILDING. THIS BUILDING TRIES TO EXPLORE SOCIAL NORMS WHEN IT COMES TO HOSPICES, UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE END UP THERE AND PUSH THE BOUNDARIES OF WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE WHEN IT COMES TO A PLACE OF DYING. UNLIKE OTHER BUILDINGS, THIS PROPOSAL DOES NOT TRY TO HIDE ITSELF, AND THE PROCESSES THAT HAPPEN BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. THE BUILDING ITSELF IS A STATEMENT, AND IT PROVOKES THOUGHTS AND RECONSIDERATION OF SOCIETYS ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE PROCESS OF DYING. THE TOWER IS A LIVING ORGANISM THAT RESPONDS TO THE PROCESSES THAT HAPPEN WITHIN IT. THE CULUMBARIUM EXPANDS AND CONTRACTS ADJUSTING ITESELF TO WORK TOGETHER WITH ITS INHABITANTS.
The idea of LA’s new hospice is quite simple. People would inhabit living units that are situated along the perimeter of the building (i.e. ten units per side). Once all units are occupied, instead of building outwards (typical sprawl) we would go upwards, following the idea of a skyscraper. This system is designed to provide a comfortable environment for 300 people, so once we would reach this amount,
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we would stop building any more units. Understandably people would die there due to ageing, like it or not, at the end of the day, hospices are places where people die. Once a person dies their living unit becomes their mausoleum, which allows for a new unit to be erected and inhabited above. This creates a sustainable ecosystem. The inner core of the building is the ‘living’ part
of the structure. Just like a living organism it adapts and adjusts depending on what is needed and what became redundant. As the building grows further and further up the core permanently stays the same, it is like a Lego kit that can be infinitely reconfigured. The city of Troy is an excellent example where very new city that existed has always been built on the ruins of the old city.
ENDLESS LA SPRAWLS Let’s look at Los Angeles, it is the ultimate sprawling city. A vast carpet of concrete with its threads of light from the clogged highways. LA is decentred, potentially limitless, and stands for everything terrible about what happens when cities are developed without planning: swathes of low-density housing, completely severed by roads, the whole terrain plagued by filthy smog. With massive urban growth still to come, is it materially or ecologically possible to sustain 20th-century petrol-soaked American sprawl across the world? If you think about it, a cemetery is a perfect example of sprawling urbanism. The ‘neighbourhood’ is filled by single-story individual apartments. As people die the area of the cemetery continues to expand, and since most of them are on the outskirts of our cities, this expa sion could be endless.
LUCIFER:
TV
SERIES
Lux is a nightclub in Los Angeles owned by Lucifer Morningstar, the former ruler of Hell. Lucifer runs the establishment with the help of his trusted friend and demon, Mazikeen. Entering Lux, there is a platform overlooking the main area with a stairwell leading down. Lucifer lives in the penthouse of the building. An elevator appears to be the only way to Lucifer’s home. This raises an intriguing question of ‘what happens at the rest of the floors’. In one of the episodes, we got a hint that Lucifer keeps those awaiting departure to hell there, turning this place into a limbo.It is also worth mentioning that the LUX building is an example of Art-Deco Architecture, which is considered by many to be ‘hedonistic architecture’.
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CITIES OF THE ‘DEAD’ Looking back at the LUX building, most ‘tower’ architecture follows the same principle. Take any famous skyscraper like the London Shard or the New York Empire State building, all of these buildings have an open public lobby at the bottom, and identically open public place at the top (i.e. a viewing platform or a cafe), connected by a thin tube of an elevator shaft. What happens at the rest of the floors? Why can’t we assume that it is full of dead people (at the very least dead on the inside)?
COLUMBARIUM
HABITAT
“Columbarium Habitabile” proposes a huge concrete facility — not unlike the monumental buildings being built in the Soviet Union — in the middle of a city where buildings slated for destruction can be preserved on a shelf, on condition that their inhabitants continue living there. A huge wrecking ball hangs over the houses, threatening to flatten any building that is vacated. Brodsky explained that this piece, along with “Columbarium Architecturae” (Museum of Disappearing Buildings), was made in response to the pace of change and the rapid destruction of old and beautiful buildings in the historical center of Moscow in the 1980s, all in the name of modernity. Brodsky and Utkin’s architectural fairy tales on paper are chaotic, elaborate, and reflect on the postmodern condition and the failure of socialism. Their etchings of cities of glass, and the alienating and oppressive metropolises take from classical mythology, science fiction, and Giovanni Battista Piranesi, an 18th-century Italian artist famous for his etchings of Rome. Brodsky cited Piranesi as one of the duo’s most important influences, particularly his “Carceri d’invenzione” (Imaginary Prisons) series. Brodsky and Utkin’s work can be seen as a form of criticism of Soviet architecture in the 1970s and 1980s, when it was completely controlled by the state, and prefabricated buildings, known for their austere utilitarianism, were being erected across the country. The crucial aspect of this work is in the idea that architecture is determined and defined by ‘living people’. Alexander Brodsky and Ilya Utkin (1978 - 1985. USSR)
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CONTIN
UOUSLY
GROWIN
G
er eir timb le die th m into p o e p n Whe nsfor nits tra in a living u mausoleums, ‘live’ te to re c e con continu death, ’ le p o e way ‘p of this eed ecause there. B e’ space is fr ic th v o r n e a ‘s one s that h mean e in into a ic h w , p v u mo that on can er pers r unit above e e b m from th new ti recycled y, we aln e e b s a ha is w d. In th ople decease most living pe n e ow v a d h o s g y e a w and as w reases. , p to e at th e dec rcentag their pe
LIVE / DEAD RATIO
1
2
3
1 | LOW DEATH RATE 2 | NORMAL DEATH RATE 3 | HIGH DEATH RATE
THE
‘LIVING’
CORE
Living communal space is at the core of the building. This space is directly proportional to the ratio of living / dead units on each floor. The general shape is naturally conforming to an invrteed pyramid due to the constant death of people at the bottom and arrival of new people at the top. However, this general shape is subject to fluctuations. There might be a period where the death rate is very high, so the pyramid is much shallower. There might also be a period where the death rate is slower, which would result in a much taller pyramid. The communal space is made of a modular timber kit which is assembled and disassembled by robots. Once a person has died, his/her portion of the communal space is moved upstairs to satisfy the needs of the new tenant. The core can contract and expand like a living organism
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TOP F
LOOR
MIDDL
E FLO
B OT T O
OR
M FLO
OR
LIVE
UNIT
(TIMBER)
The living unit is made of timber beams. It can be described as something between a hotel bedroom and a prison cell. It is very minimal because it is intended for night use only. It must be comfortable and big enough to house all personal belonging, but not much more. Since people would spend most of their free time in communal areas, it was considered to make these units as small as possible.
DEAD UNIT (CONCRETE) When a person dies, the existing timber unit is used as formwork into which concrete is poured. Once the concrete shell has cured the formwork is dismantled and moved upstairs to construct a new unit. The existing unit becomes a mausoleum for its tenant. People can still come around and visit their loved ones and old friends, so in some sense, their friends are always with them.
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04
YEAR: 2017 | LOCATION: UK | BUILDING: PAVILION | TYPE: ACADEMIC IDEA
ASYLUM
RE-PROJECTION OF ONE’S ABYSS INCREASINGLY MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS BECOME A MASSIVE ISSUE IN THE WESTERN WORLD — A SMALL PAVILION TO BE USED BY PEOPLE WITH MENTAL DISORDER, I.E. DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, BIPOLAR, SCHIZOPHRENIA. IT WOULD BE TRAVELLING ACROSS MAJOR UK CITIES FOR A YEAR RAISING SOCIAL AWARENESS FOR THESE ILLNESSES. ANYONE WITH A MENTAL DISORDER COULD SIGN UP FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO SPEND 24 HOURS INSIDE. THE PAVILION IS THE REPRESENTATION OF THE HORRORS THAT HAVE TURNED A HEALTHY PERSON INTO A VICTIM OF THESE DISORDERS. THE PAVILION IS THE RE-PROJECTION OF THE ABYSS THAT THE VICTIM IS LOOKING INTO, SHOWING IT TO THOSE THEY ENCOUNTER. TO BYPASSERS, THE PAVILION IS VICTIM’S FACE.
Essentially it is a one-room apartment for one person. This was meant to be one of the most ‘functional’ of buildings, almost like Joshua Jebb’s Pentonville prison cell design. The function is limited and can be clearly defined - everything is conditioned by the principle of separate confinement. Redemption of the mind and soul is to be achieved through isolation: the chance to reflect on one’s life. Everything for a bare mode of living everything apart from food preparation, that is - is provided within the pavilion using parametric transformable walls and floor: a bed, a table, a stool, a basin. This space is designed for isolation and confinement one is not meant to venture
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forth from it, except furtively. This pavilion, so to speak, like a base camp to which one returns to satisfy basic physical requirements, eating and sleeping, etc. before venturing forth once again to take part in the real battle of life. The only activity this place is designed to allow and encourage is a spiritual exercise. I do understand that this contrivance can be viewed as an aberration, a product a product of a slightly sinister, manipulative mind, not too different from that of the officer’s in Kafka’s story ‘In the penal colony’. I am not a hypocrite and I would be the first person to use this pavilion. To be perfectly honest I would like to live in one for a substantial period of time.
COMPLEX HUMAN MIND A human mind is a very complicated matter: the three levels of mind (as per Sigmund Freud) – the conscious mind or ego, the subconscious, and the unconscious mind. Imagine it like a Russian doll; first you have the conscious, then a smaller doll that represents the subconscious, and then the last smallest doll representing the unconscious. According to some scientific studies, mental disorders happen in the unconscious part of the brain. So the pavilion is set to strip one’s unconsciousness of everything else, and represent what happens ‘on the inside.’
WATCHMEN: RORSCHACH In Watchmen, a character called Rorschach wears a mask that shows continuously changing symmetrical patterns of black “ink” on white cloth, resembling those of a Rorschach test. In fact, in some scenes, he is very anxious about his mask, calls it his “face” and cannot stand a second without it because Walter Kovacs’s real identity “died” long ago.
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ONE ROOM APARTMENT Cornelius Meyer (16291701) was a Dutch hydraulics engineer that came to Rome in 1680 to assist in the design of the banks of the Tiber river. His book Nuovi Ritrovamenti (1689) includes a design for a one-room apartment (Del Fabricar Comodo). No complimentary text is provided, apart from a note on how fully satisfied the Vitruvian criteria of stabilità, fermezza and commoda may be within a restricted space. Four etchings and relative annotations about the project are present in the book. As observed by Joseph Connors in his article “The one-room apartment of Cornelis Meijer“: “Meijer published this amusing jeu d’esprit in four etchings with long numbered captions in his Nuovi ritrovamenti of 1689. They show the four walls of what we could call a studio apartment inhabited by a virtuoso with an unusually compact lifestyle. Meijer begins by criticising the multiplication of specialised spaces in contemporary palaces, which have as a consequence the scattering of a gentleman’s possessions over a great number of rooms. He complains that one can never have all the accoutrements of a civilised life to hand when one wants them. In his model room, however, everything that a bachelor virtuoso could desire, lay within arm’s reach.” The pavilion borrows from this idea, as it is the ‘perfect one-room apartment for 24hrs’. The person inside has everything he/she might need during their stay.
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1 6
2 5
4
The person on the inside (1) has no direct contact with the outside world. Instead of seeing the real world he/she sees their brain’s interpretation of the outside (6). Their feelings being read and interpreted by the computer (2). The
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output is being translated into a black and white Rorschach image that gets displayed on the exterior of the pavilion (3). Bypassers (4) can see the map, and they can react to it. Different sensors are collecting their physical movement
and feed that data into a computer (5). It is then processed and displayed on the internal facade (6). This creates a closed system where the outside can only read internal UNCONSIOUS, and the inside can only read external CONSCIOUS.
TOP SEQUENCE
Data gathered by different body sensors (i.e. heart rate, breathing, body temperature, brain waves) runs through a computer which analyses it and generates correct Rorschach expression
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BOTTOM SEQUENCE
Data gathered by external 3d scanners and cameras runs through a computer which analyses it and generates a parametric flowing pattern showing rough position of those outside
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YEAR: 2017 | LOCATION: UK | BUILDING: MEMORIAL | TYPE: ACADEMIC
LIMBO
TEMPORARY ‘GHOST’ MEMORIAL WAR IS ONE OF THE MOST DESPICABLE OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES BECAUSE IT USES HUMAN LIVES AS ITS FUEL. EVERY LIFE IS SACRED; SO, IT IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO HEAR ABOUT THE LOSS OF LIVES ESPECIALLY IF ONE KNOWS THEM PERSONALLY. DEATH DURING THE WAR IS SPONTANEOUS AND DISTURBING, AFFECTING RANDOM PEOPLE. THE NEW MEMORIAL WOULD BE ERECTED AROUND HIGH PEDESTRIAN FLOW, BECOMING AN INCONVENIENCE THAT CANNOT BE AVOIDED. THEY WOULD BE ASSEMBLED BY THE PUBLIC USING STORIES OF LOCAL VICTIMS, SO NOT ONLY WOULD THEY RAISE THE AWARENESS, BUT THEY WOULD ALSO HAVE THERAPEUTIC QUALITIES FOR THE RELATIVES.
Most of the war memorials are permanent structures, in a way they were meant to serve as reminders of what has happened to us in the past. However, humans can adapt to almost any situaltion, both physically and mentally. Looking at people who live among prolonged violent conflicts (ie. Ukraine or Syria) we can see that after a certain period people get used to war, they stop flinching during shelling or when they hear gunfire. This phenomenon is part of the human psychological defence mechanism; we cannot sustain stress for long periods, so our brains
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adjust to our surroundings. This aspect of human nature is what denigrates war memorials. Yes, it is true that they make an impact when people first see them, but we encounter them more and more regularly we begin adjusting to them, almost to a point where they are no more than background structures. Making memorials temporary would achieve the same initial impact, and at the same time, it would solve the problem of becoming mundane by disappearing. Death during a war is a spontaneous event, so the pavilion is set to represent this particular aspect.
PAST WAR MEMORIALS The Douaumont ossuary is a memorial containing the skeletal remains of soldiers who died on the battlefield during the Battle of Verdun. This was the largest and longest battle of the First World War on the Western Front, almost one million casualties. The beautiful architecture of the ossuary is used to justify the hundreds of thousands of lost lives that were taken for no apparent reason since the line of the front did not move. Architects tried to give meaning to this atrocity with a beautiful art-deco memorial. However, the world did not learn anything from WW1, because in less than twenty years we had WW2, which did change our attitude towards victims. Berlin Holocaust Memorial is very powerful, and it provokes a strong emotional response to those who experience it. However, how does one live with it on a daily basis? It is situated in the middle of the city surrounded by residential houses. If one experiences this memorial every day, then there are only two response options. One is to relive the emotional catastrophe and the second one is to say “meh, whatever”. I am afraid that most people choose the latter, which denigrates the whole idea of the memorial.
TRADEGY VR EXPERIENCE Throughout the ages, humanity became very thick skinned when it comes to a loss of lives because we have seen plenty of it in the
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last century. Therefore it is incredibly challenging to get an emotional response nowadays. In 2015 the world saw a very controversial video game. ‘08:46’ is a virtual reality “narrative-driven expe-
rience” about the September 11th terrorist attacks. The player gets to experience the attacks from the point of view of the victims. This is the best way to make us symphasise with the victims.
1. COLLECTING MEMORIES
We choose a town (or a specific borough). We ask people to share stories of their relatives who died in a war. We would gather as much information about the individual as possible, ideally, we would get physical belongings that we could display.
4. UNCONVENIENT EVENTS
The Blitz bombs killed random people. These explosions would interrupt everyone’s lives, regardless of who they are. The memorial is set to explore similar principles. One would not be able to physically ignore the memorial
2. COMPILING MEMORIES
We would then start to compile them in a physical object. Unlike other memorials, we try to use this construction process as a way of therapeutic treatment. We want people to understand that they are not alone and that there are others.
5. PORTAL INTO THE PAST
People would have to go through the memorial. Once they get it the memorial would act as a portal into the past where they can ‘meet’ those who died, learn everything about them, and in the end, they would experience the explosion
3. COMPLETE SHAPE
The complete shape is the collective memory of lost lives (due to war) of that area. The shape is reminiscent of a pixelated explosion. Metaphorically we would try to show a deadly explosion made of lives that it took.
6. THE END
Then they could leave, hopefully learning something about war and it’s victims, experiencing compassion and maybe changing the way they think about death in general. In the end, the memorial would be disassembled and taken down.
Since the memorial is something temporary and unique for every location we would need a strong, cheap modular construction system that can be assembled and disassembled with ease -
MODULAR
DISPLAYS
Since the whole memorial is made of a 1100mm modular grid we would create 1m x 1m x 1m acrylic boxes that people could use to put their relative’s items in. This way we would ensure that those items are visible and protected at the same time. Each cube would have a sheet with a photograph (if possible), a brief written description and a QR code for VR experience.
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scaffolding greatly fits the criteria. In 2016 MVRD did The Stairs project, a huge temporary scaffolding staircase leading up to the roof of an office block in Rotterdam city centre. The tem-
porary installation allowed visitors to climb 180 steps up to the roof of the Groot Handelsgebouw – one of the first buildings constructed in the city after the end of the second world war.
VR LIMBO EXPERIENCE Once you put on the VR glasses, you will enter the LIMBO, where the ‘dead’ are awaiting you. Just like you can experience the events of the 9/11 terrorist attack from the first person you would be able to experience the events of the day a particular person was killed in
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the accident you are about to witness. You would either become the person in question or you would be able to interact with the person. In the first option, you would sit in a chair as that particular individual and your relatives would talk to you, so you would be able to experience everything they did. In the second option,
you would be the relative, and they would talk to you so that you can bond with them. At the end you all die. Technically it is not difficult to do it at all. We would gather as much information about an individual as we can. Then we would 3d model their rough physical appearance, which would be mapped to
a prerecorded physical action completed by an actor. We would then write a script and ask either a relative or an actor to read the script. Then everything would be compiled together and put into a 3d VR space. At key periods the player (visitor) would be able to choose topics and ask questions, just like in an interactive game.
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YEAR: 2016 - 2018 | LOCATION: LONDON. UK | BUILDING: ARTS CENTRE | TYPE: ACADEMIC
NEW ARTS CENTRE (REVISITED)
A SERIES OF PHILOSOPHICAL ACADEMIC EXERCISES OLD OAK COMMON IS AN INDUSTRIAL AREA IN NOTH-EAST LONDON WHICH IS ABOUT TO BE REDEVELOPED; A NEW ARTS CENTRE HAS BEEN PROPOSED AS PART OF THE GENERAL SCHEME TO ENCOURAGE A CULTURAL REVIVAL OF THE AREA. THE SITE IS LOCATED AT THE EDGE OF THE REDEVELOPMENT ZONE AND CURRENTLY OCCUPIED BY A VICTORIAN-ERA INDUSTRIAL WAREHOUSE. THE INITIAL SCHEME (NEXT PAGE) WAS DONE AS PART OF MY THIRD-YEAR SECOND-SEMESTER DESIGN STUDIO PROJECT. THAT PARTICULAR SCHEME WAS NOT AMBITIOUS WHEN IT CAME TO ARCHITECTURAL THEORY. I HAVE SINCE COME BACK AND COMPLETED A SERIES OF PHILOSOPHICAL EXERCISE (RIGHT). THESE INCLUDE DENSIFICATION, WITHIN - WITHOUT, CITY BOUNDARY, INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CONDITIONS
The site for the new Arts Centre is situated next to the Grand Union Canal to the South, old industrial units to the North and West (across the road) and a cemetery to the East. The Victorian warehouse building has a very strong character to it, so it would be nice to keep the original structure and work within the parameters set by this warehouse. During the first semester,
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I have developed a design methodology that worked with the idea of blurring the border between inside and outside. Due to the fact that this project was part of the same year we had to use previous design methodology and devope it further using a bigger building. During my initial attempt, I still went with a very shallow idea of a visual distinction. Since then I have learned much
more, I’ve revisited the first-semester project (the studio) where I did a new philosophical study of the subject (the birdcage). This time I decided to go even further and focus on spacial and perceptual ideas. The main idea was based on Joseph Rywert book, The Idea Of A Town: The Anthropology Of Urban Form In Rome, Italy And The Ancient World
INITIAL DESIGN SCHEME Since this project was the continuation from semester one (the writer’s studio) we had to co further develop the initial design principles, in this case, the idea of blurring the boundaries between inside and outside. For this project, I used works of the American artist Gordon Mata Clark. I decided to invert spaces by inserting required spaces into the existing fabric. Instead of being internal, the warehouse achieved external qualities. Offsetting the initial angle allowed for the creation of unique spaces that otherwise would be unachievable.
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EXPLODED AXONOMETRIC
07
YEAR: 2015 | LOCATION: LONDON. UK | BUILDING: FACADE SYSTEM | TYPE: ACADEMIC
INTERACTIVE FACADE PARAMETRIC DESIGN
AS PART OF A TECHNICAL STUDIES MODULE, WE HAD TO DESIGN A DYNAMIC SHARING SYSTEM TO BE INSTALLED ON A FACADE OF A CAFE IN BARCELONA, SPAIN. IT HAD TO PROTECT THE INTERIOR FROM FEARCE SPANISH SUN, HOWEVER MAKING A SIMPLE CANOPY SEEMED TOO BANAL. I PROPOSED TO TAKE A SPIN ON TRADITIONAL SPANISH WINDOW SHUTTERS INSTEAD. I WAS IMPRESSED BY A STREET WHOLLY COVERED WITH COLOURFUL UMBRELLAS DURING MY LAST VISIT TO SPAIN. THEREFORE I DECIDED TO MAKE A FULLY INTERACTIVE FACADE MADE OF SMALL UMBRELLAS.
During the day the facade would be opened, generally, protecting cafe visitors. However, due to the modular nature of the design, we have a significant degree of control. So if there is an obstacle in front of the window blocking the sun (i.e. a tree, a person, a truck) the units that are situated in the shadow cast by the obstacle would be closed, thus providing additional views. If a person were to walk in front of the facade, the units would respond to it, automatically closing and opening depending on what is in front of them, thus creating an interactive
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wall. The moment would be detected by externals scanners and individual UV detectors at each unit. During the day the wall would record all movement, and during the evening it would replay them back, transforming itself into a display. We would have pre-recorded ‘shadow plays’ so whenever a person would stop in front of the facade, the whole system would interact with them, encouraging them to enter the cafe and have a cup of coffee. Should buildings be static boxes, or should they interact with us?
1
UPPORT CABLE
10
COVER
2 3
MOTOR 1
4
SUPPORT CABLE CIRCUIT BOARD
5 8
7 6
9
6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -
Support cable Connection Operational cable Composite hinde Umbrella (shader) Controller case Circuit board / sensor Power connector Motor Power cable
Concerning the technical questions, each unit would have a motor which would open and close the unit independently from the rest of the facade, sensors that would collect sun and UV light and a tiny Arduino board as a brain that controls everything. Everything is designed using Rhinoceros Grasshopper. The umbrella would be made from fibreglass sheet, using a die-cast we would be able to harden specific areas. Everything is created through Rhino, from the initial shape design, to shape dynamics and the opening process calculations.
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GRASSHOPPER SCRIPT
ISO
SIDE
PLAN
YEAR: 2016
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LOCATION: N/A
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BUILDING: N/A
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08
TYPE: ACADEMIC THESIS
WORLDCRAFT
TESTING ARCHITECTURAL IDEAS THROUGH PLAY DANISH ARCHITECT BJARKE INGELS, THE FOUNDER OF BIG, ASSERTED IN HIS FILM WORLDCRAFT, WHICH WAS SCREENED DURING THE ANNUAL FUTURE OF STORYTELLING SUMMIT IN NEW YORK IN 2014. “MORE THAN 100 MILLION PEOPLE POPULATE MINECRAFT, WHERE THEY CAN BUILD THEIR OWN WORLDS AND INHABIT THEM THROUGH PLAY,” HE SAYS IN THE FILM. “THESE FICTIONAL WORLDS EMPOWER PEOPLE WITH THE TOOLS TO TRANSFORM THEIR OWN ENVIRONMENTS. THIS IS WHAT ARCHITECTURE OUGHT TO BE,” HE SAYS. “ARCHITECTURE MUST BECOME WORLDCRAFT, THE CRAFT OF MAKING OUR WORLD, WHERE OUR KNOWLEDGE AND TECHNOLOGY DOESN’T LIMIT US BUT RATHER ENABLES US TO TURN SURREAL DREAMS INTO INHABITABLE SPACE. TO TURN FICTION INTO FACT.”
Minecraft is the world-building platform has also garnered the attention of architects and designers. Could a video game change the way architecture is taught and practised? For those who are not familiar with the architectural game, Minecraft allows users to build houses, cities, underground bunkers, and whole virtual worlds using 3D textured cubes that represent different materials. The crude, cubist platform creates a pixelated landscape that looks like a rustic version of a LEGO set. In addition to their free-form fantasy worlds, Minecraft users have replicated nearly every famous building in existence, including the Taj Mahal, the White House, and the Burj Khalifa. Minecraft is a computer-aided design tool. There is an ease with which people can begin building in this platform (counting kindergartners among its
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users). It helps that Minecraft designers operate from “human perspective,” building as they move through and inhabit space. The emphasis on and capability for real-time collaboration are also critical elements. Online sharing is a hallmark of the millennial generation and reminiscent of current architectural tools such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), which allows designers, clients, and end users to exchange performance information to a much more extraordinary degree than ever before. In essence, Minecraft can encourage a more democratic, populist approach to making architecture. Recent projects include a series of workshops in Hanoi where a group of teenage girls used Minecraft to come up with ideas to improve safety in their local neighbourhood. In Kosovo, an old derelict market space was
turned into a public square. Not only it is an excellent tool for building imaginary worlds, but once they are built you can test them through play which is something that has never been done before. In the past architects would design something, then they would design more proposals whilst the first building is being constructed, they would then have to wait for a few more years to see how the building is used, realising that their intentions do not correlate with reality. Today, on the other hand, we can design something, build it in Minecraft and get an almost real-time feedback from players. While the architects of today grew up playing with LEGO, I have no doubt the next generation will have played Minecraft. People have to stop thinking of it as a game. It is a CAD tool, and as such, it is the most widely used one in the world.
YEAR: 2018
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LOCATION: UK
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BUILDING: MOBILE VILLAGE
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09
TYPE: ACADEMIC IDEA
DIESELVILLE
THE ULTIMATE MOBILE HOME IDEA MUNICIPAL DARWINISM IS THE TECHNOLOGICAL ECOSYSTEM BY WHICH MOST OF THE WORLD OF ‘MORTAL ENGINES’ ADHERES TO AND LIVE. TRACTION CITIES CONSUME ONE ANOTHER BY GATHERING OTHER, SMALLER CITIES IN LARGE HYDRAULIC “JAWS”. THE LARGER METROPOLISES CONSUME SMALLER CITIES ON A FOOD CHAIN. THESE SMALLER CITIES, OFTEN CONSUME TOWNS, WHICH CONSUME VILLAGES, HAMLETS, AND STATIONARY SETTLEMENTS CAPTURED CITIES ARE DRAGGED INSIDE THE BODY OF THE PREDATOR CITY, WHERE THEY ARE THEN MELTED FOR FUEL OR SALVAGED FOR PARTS. THEIR CITIZENS EITHER RESETTLE IN THE CITY THEY WERE JUST EATEN BY, OR - IN LESS ETHICAL CITIES - ARE ENSLAVED, OFTEN TO WORK IN THE PREDATOR CITY’S ENGINES. OLD TECH AND SMALL GOODS OF VALUE ARE LOOTED AS WELL.
I have just finished Phillip Reeve’s novel Mortal Engines. The idea of a moving city is not an entirely new concept to architecture. Archigram experimented with the idea of modular technology and how a structure would move through an environment in 1961 ‘Walking City’. Although they focused
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on the technology of the machine and the advancement of the world, they dismissed social and environmental issues. They thought that change was integral to how a city works and if there were no ability to change then the city would destroy itself. I have tried to combine those two ideas, and
as a result, I came up with Dieselville, an ultimate mobile home. Instead of using a caravan to travel across the country, and camping in a specific location, why not turn the camping base into the ultimate caravan. It is like taking a bus along a specific route, but you take your home with you.
COPYRIGHT 2018 | JAMES YEVGENIY OSBORNE | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING PHOTOCOPY, RECORDING OR ANY INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WITHOUT PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER.