Rae Solomon portfolio of student work by Rae Solomon

FROM THE LEGIBLE TO THE ABSTRACT

Rae Solomon

FROM THE LEGIBLE TO THE ABSTRACT (and halfway back)

portfolio of student work sci-arc 2006-2009

Printed and bound by hand in Los Angeles, California

Legible

•Preface

•Essay: Legibility of the Social in Form

•Functional Legibility

•Essay: Legibility as Architectural Expertise

Abstract

•Identification Abstraction

Legible

CONTENTS

•Abstraction of Legible Forms: Thesis

•Abstraction of Legible Forms: The Detroit Studio

•Abstraction of the Landscape

120

•Abstraction of Everyday Objects

•Pure Abstraction

Abstract

•Abstraction of the Machine

“

” - Greg Lynn

preface to the book

MERGING POLES This book describes the trajectory of my work as a student at SCI-Arc from an abiding interest in legibility and experimentation in pure abstraction. In my more mature work, these two conceptual poles confront each other directly and intentionally. In the first chapters, projects striving for legibility clarify spatial and architectural ideas by rendering them decipherable and accessible via close reading. Projects courting abstraction defy intellectual scrutability by heightening purely aesthetic qualities at the expense of literal meaning.

preface to the book

In the second part of the book legibility and abstraction confront and reinterpret each other, complicating their binary relationship. Legibility in these projects maintains the iconography of familiar figures. Abstraction obscures the crisp integrity of strong form, nudging it away from intelligibility. Legibility and abstraction are redefined as degrees of figuration. The objective is to find neutral ground, the delicate point at which the dissolution of strong form is equivalent to the coalescence of the nebula into a moment of suggestive articulation.

legibility of the social in form

LEGIBILITY OF THE SOCIAL IN FORM reading socioeconomic structure in architectural form

At the outset of every architectural project the designer must establish a formal or aesthetic language. This language, which may be expressed through material, finishes, structural systems, or geometries, is what gives a building its coherent and distinctive “look.” The prevailing fashions and tastes of the larger society may determine the aesthetic language of the project, or the architect may try to innovate and create his or her discrete signature look, but this style, these rules, must be carried through every element of the project in order for the look to read. Precisely because the aesthetic language of a building is so central to its understanding, I find it fascinating to examine the points at which this language breaks down or outright fails, and to inquire into what this aesthetic lapse can tell us about the architect, his or her aesthetic system and even the attitudes of the larger culture. I will examine two ways in which this lapse has occurred in the works of the early Italian Renaissance architect Brunelleschi as well as in some more contemporary architectural projects and theorize about philosophical and social consequences of those moments of “topological distraction.” The curious truncated pilaster occurs in multiple Brunelleschi buildings. We can observe this phenomenon in the church of San Lorenzo. Specifically, the truncated pilaster appears in the inside corner of the transept chapels closest to the nave. The pilaster appears to have been swallowed by the junction of two walls at a corner. Only the corner of the pilaster is visible, but it retains all of its detailing. It is, in fact, the corner trimming of

legibility of the social in form

Platonic ideals are necessarily corrupted by their physical realization.

the acanthus and volutes at the capital that accounts for the awkwardness of the truncated pilaster. If the vertical fluting continued all the way up to the entablature, Brunelleschi could have passed off the truncated pilaster as an independent, complete corner articulation. But the inclusion of the capital details unequivocally specifies the element as a pilaster, and a fragmentary one at that. Brunelleschi developed his design language through a system of principles. A System of proportions and ideal geometries derived rationally and mathematically dominated Brunelleschi’s designs. Every dimension of a Brunelleschi building had a precise proportional relationship to every other dimension in the building. This careful system of measurements was meant to create a harmonious formal beauty recognizable to the unconscious eye. Brunelleschi also strove to clarify his form and structure through elements of articulation. For example, he attempted to reveal the structural loads and strengths of the building by articulating the points of load transfer with pilasters and columns. These two principles of design – harmonious proportioning and clarification of form are the two of the key elements that define Brunelleschi’s architectural language. However, the interaction of these two principles in built space creates problems not evident when considered only in theory. Brunelleschi articulates the load bearing corners of his building with pilasters, but once built the corner pilasters read as a pattern so that corners that are not load bearing and therefore do not take pilasters, look naked without them. This nakedness

is unsatisfying to the eye and sabotages the careful visual harmony established by the building’s proportions. In the case of the San Lorenzo transept chapel, an examination of the floor plan confirms that the wall into which our truncated pilaster disappears is thin and carved into a niche on the opposite side, which probably indicates that the wall is not load bearing, and that a structural element is not necessary. However, in order to maintain the harmony established by his system of proportions, Brunelleschi had to repeat the pattern of corner pilasters, even when it contradicted his system of clarifying form and structure. The truncated pilaster can therefore by read as the collision in material space of two systems of formal ideals – the clarity of form and the harmony of proportions. Theories and ideals seem to work when we think them through, and it is not until they are grounded in physical reality that the inherent flaws are revealed. We can take the abbreviated pilaster as a comment on the impossibility of realizing such geometric ideals in the material world. Brunelleschi’s two systems of platonic geometric ideals cannot coexist perfectly. The truncated pilasters are evidence of the ultimate failure of these systems of ideals and an admission that platonic ideals are necessarily corrupted by their physical realization. Whether Brunelleschi intended to make such an antiplatonic philosophical statement is doubtful, but it is possible to read this in the ultimate failure of his reified ideal geometries.

legibility of the social in form

The second type of failure of architectural language I’d like to discuss occurs in almost every building. It refers to the point at which the language or style created by the architect is dropped entirely and intentionally, usually in spaces hidden from public view. These types of aesthetic lapses occur in the areas that are deemed not to matter, such as maintenance worker and janitorial rooms, freight elevators, storage rooms and sometimes bathrooms, and they reveal a lot about which people and which human activities are considered too insignificant to incorporate into the special aesthetic essence of a building. Because of their hidden nature, these spaces are difficult to find and photograph. For the works of Brunelleschi, I was fortunate enough to come across photographs of the space between the two dome shells of the Florence Cathedral. As we might expect, this space does not contain any of the formal qualities or finishes that create the look of the rest of the cathedral or that create Brunelleschi’s style in his other completed projects. Rather than finished stone, tile and articulating ribbing that comprise most of the dome this space is all exposed brick, timber and rough, unfinished plaster. In other words, this space, which can be accessed by narrow stairs so that “the dome can be circumnavigated, inspected and repaired,” (Trachtenberg, et. al. p.279) is entirely excluded from the architectural aesthetic language that makes the Florence Cathedral a beautiful, awe-inspiring and sublime space. The architect assumed that no one would see this space other than maintenance and repairmen.

There is a similar space that I happened to stumble across in the Bradbury building in downtown Los Angeles. The Bradbury building, designed by Sumner Hunt and George Wyman in 1893, has a very distinctive architectural language, featuring lacy ironwork staircases, a central court open five stories to the frosted skylight roof, and exposed iron frame elevators. The interior court of this building is distinctly moving and atmospheric, cathedral-like in the awe it stirs in the observer. And yet the illusion of sublime space was shattered when I peered behind the intricately carved wooden door to the left of the south elevator, which was accidentally left unlocked by the security guard who had just walked through it to relieve her colleague. I expected to find more of the same gorgeous architectural detailing behind this door, but instead I found a drab hallway, linoleum floor, painted drywall and sickly fluorescent lighting. This was the staff hallway, leading to the locker room, maintenance office and staff bathrooms. The sudden change in setting was jarring; the Bradbury building abruptly stopped and became an institutional corridor. Of course this institutional corridor is for security and maintenance staff only. Almost every building has hidden spaces like the ones I have described in Brunelleschi’s dome for the Florence Cathedral and the Bradbury Building, spaces in which the architectural language of the rest of the building breaks down and disappears entirely. The deterioration of aesthetic systems in these spaces is intentional and financially expedient. Artful aesthetics are expensive and project budgets require that only the important pub-

When architecture reflects the exigencies of the material world through topological distractions, it is repopulated.

legibility of the social in form

lic faces of buildings receive the full treatment. Intricate ironwork and fine wood paneling would undoubtedly seem extravagant in a janitorial locker room, and I am by no means advocating such use of materials. But it is interesting to note which spaces within a building are deemed important enough to incorporate into the aesthetic system of the building at large, and which spaces are considered insignificant and therefore excluded. It is important to recognize that certain people are associated with these different categories of spaces, and what entrenched attitudes about the areas of a building reveal about attitudes towards people. Spaces that lie outside of the dominant aesthetic of most buildings are the areas designated for the people who clean, repair and protect our built environment. In other words, people who are typically low on the socioeconomic scale, often immigrants who may or may not have legal status and people who tend to be invisible in the larger society. Building designers create invisible spaces for invisible people. On the one hand, this can be understood as a form of socioeconomic oppression, architecture complicit with the powers in society which silence the voices of certain people and classes. When the people who empty the garbage or sweep the floors finish their jobs, they are hidden away in architectural oblivion, where the white-collar classes for whom they work don’t have to see or think about them. However, I would also like to suggest that the point where the architectural aesthetic ends is actually a locus of some form power. The people who supposedly don’t matter and who are assigned to spaces that supposedly

don’t matter are privy to the building in its rawest form. Beneath the aesthetic mask, the building is just a building, supported by steel or brick or wood. The people of the invisible spaces have an intimate and rare knowledge of the building withheld from the public, which sees only the parts of the building incorporated into the pleasing architectural language. Furthermore, while certain buildings, such as churches, museums and other formal spaces seem to require and instill restrained behavior in their visitors, invisible spaces are invariably spaces, where, far from the public’s gaze, one may act freely. The two types of topological distractions I have discussed, the failure of perfect ideal geometries, and the exclusion of “hidden spaces” from the aesthetic language of buildings, both occur when material reality interrupts an ideal system. In this sense, topological distractions, while aesthetically intrusive, do not necessarily have bad effects. The quest for perfection is blind to the physical world, the people that inhabit it and the struggles and difficulties associated with it. When architecture reflects the exigencies of the material world through topological distractions, it is repopulated. At the same time, it is important for architects to be aware of the different social attitudes and effects contained in the points where the architectural language of their buildings disintegrate.

Trachtenberg, Marvin & Hyman, Isabelle (2002) Architecture: From Prehistory to Postmodernity. New York, Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

legibility of the functional

FUNCTIONAL LEGIBILITY articulating circulation in a berkely, ca museum

legibility of the functional

extended visit

This project was designed with a partner, Clare Mok, for a second year design studio focused on art museum design. We performed a series of studies of exhibition circulation, with the intent to create a circulatory system that maximized choice of movement and pathway intersections. In our early circulation studies, we sought to interlock and overlap a series of circulation paths designed to reflect a variety of speeds of movement. Each path not only described and facilitated a specific velocity, but every speed path intersected with the others so that at key moments visitors could decide to defect from one path and plug into a lane describing a faster or slower velocity.

efficient spiral

rapid ejection

legibility of the functional

Noodles as Space

Circulation to space diagrams

noodles in space

Noodles in Space

Noodles as Space

noodles as space

noodles escaping space

Noodles Escaping Space

legibility of the functional

Circulatory form We also studied the relationship of circulation tracks to the larger volume of a building and identified 3 basic variations. The first model, which we dubbed “noodles in space” describes circulation paths moving through a larger volume. The second model, dubbed “noodles as space” describes the situation in which space is formed around circulation paths, in which the building envelope articulates the circulation system. The third model, nicknamed “noodles escaping space” is a more rare condition in which a circulation path temporarily breaks out of the spatial envelope, articulating the difference between space and circulation. We decided at the outset that we wanted to design a building that combined the second and third models of the circulation to space relationship. It was important to us for the building to articulate the systems of movement contained within, to make the circulation system of the building legible in the overall form. Working on the site of the existing Berkeley Museum of Art, we designed a new gallery building based on our studies. Our initial design centered on a switch-back circulation system.

First Floor Plan

1’=1/16”

Second Floor Plan

Initial floor plans

1’=1/16”

legibility of the functional

Articulating spaces The design evolved, based on the insight that in an exhibition space, visitors tend to â&#x20AC;&#x153;track the wallâ&#x20AC;? while viewing art. The revised building used formal dead-ends to promote smooth, uninterrupted paths of movement along the continuous loop of the wall. These dead-end pathways are articulated through the form of the building as intersecting volumes. The volumetric intersections were also used strategically to create specific views and connections between different spaces in the museum, as well as to frame dramatic views to the exterior.

legibility of the functional

Main floor plan

legibility of the functional

AUDITORIUM

PERMANENT EXHIBITIONS

LOBBY

BOOKSTORE

PERMANENT EXHIBITIONS

TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS

Durant Avenue

legibility of the functional

Ground floor plan

WORKSHOP

OBJECT PREP

CAFE

MUSEUM OFFICES

legibility of the functional

OUTDOOR SCULPTURE GARDEN

PERMANENT EXHIBITIONS

TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS

OPEN TO BELOW

TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS

Section

Third floor plan

legibility of the functional

legibility as architectural expertise

LEGIBILITY AS ARCHITECTURAL EXPERTISE communicating cultural meaning in built form

I will examine three different and sometimes opposing concepts about the ethical and theoretical ambitions of the architectural avant-garde. Jeffrey Kipnis shows how Herzog and DeMeuron expand the limits of architecture from within the discipline’s conventions with the cosmetic intervention. Tom Wiscombe argues that radical advancement in architecture will depend on reconfiguring the architect’s relationships with consultants, builders and thinkers in other fields. And Wes Jones argues for deliberate communication through tectonics as the primary concern for architects. These three writers’ discussions of the advancement and obligations of the field contrast sharply on certain points, but more importantly, may complement and enhance each other in unexpected ways that require further examination. Jeffrey Kipnis’ article “The Cunning of Cosmetics” is structured as a discussion, or more precisely a redemption of the work of Herzog and DeMeuron. Kipnis’ first impression of Herzog and DeMeuron’s “fixation on the cosmetic, on fastidious details, eye-catching materials and stunning facades” (Kipnis p.429) was negative. Their work appeared frivolous and superficial. However, in reexamining the work, Kipnis comes to the realization that it is precisely the quality that initially caused him to dismiss the pair as critical architects that makes their work so radical and compelling. It is their willingness to brush “aside the Big Questions” (Ibid, p.430) about form, to pare the form and the program of their projects down to their simplest possibilities that allows them to experiment with the cosmetic. According

legibility as architectural expertise

What separates architects is their ability to make a building legible, to support a close reading of the built environment.

to Kipnis, “cosmetics are indiscreet, with no relation to the body other than to take it for granted… They relate always and only to the skin.” (Ibid, p.431) The cosmetic is all about surface. The main concern of the cosmetic is to create an alluring, seductive image, regardless of the underlying form or materiality. The cosmetic, as surface, subjugates form and dematerializes its physical properties, which is why cosmetic interventions are associated with simple, geometry and materials which do not distract from the surface effects. Herzog and DeMeuron’s Signal Box in Basel, Switzerland exemplifies this condition. Its basic, uninquisitive cube geometry provides the perfect blank canvas for the alluring, materiality-denying effects of the warped copper strip skin that wraps the box. Kipnis explains that “unlike the avant-garde, HdM derives its critical edge from an assumption of architecture’s basic adequacy and an ease with the controversial proposition that architecture has no other more profound project than to fabricate a new sensibility from it own palette.” (Ibid, p.433) Herzog and DeMeuron derive incredible architectural effects by applying unconventional cosmetic techniques to the most orthodox architectural forms. This is no small accomplishment: rather than critiquing conventional architectural practice by rebelling against it and working in contrast to it, Herzog and DeMeuron’s cosmetic approach attempts to undermine the architectural institution from the inside, using its own most familiar language and forms. In his article on “Emergent models of Architectural Practice,” Tom Wiscombe argues for revolutionizing the

design process by rethinking architects’ working relationships with their consultants and collaborators. Adapting the design process to incorporate and integrate multiple types of information from myriad sources will increase the intelligence, elegance and sophistication of the resulting product in ways that would be impossible for an isolated designer. Wiscombe eschews the antiquated notion of the lone heroic genius who is the source of revolutionary thought and innovation. He even rejects the common idea that architecture is advanced through theoretical discourse. To effect radical change in the field of architecture, Wiscombe argues, we must structure the design practice as “an emergent network [that] can create new and complex coherences out of [the] divergent interests” of collaborators from outside the architectural discipline. (Ibid, p.60) According to Wiscombe, designers and their collaborators must have the ability to work together, share intelligences and develop ideas as a whole, with the freedom to diffuse into separate parts when appropriate to create a “dynamic feedback” of information, allowing the ideas and requirements of the various specialties to be “front designed” into the product. This highly collaborative design process not only allows for the integration and enhancement of the various specialties, but creates the conditions of emergent organization, which Wiscombe explains is a network that “exhibits behaviors or has properties which are not predictable by observing any of the behaviors or properties of its constituent parts.” (Wiscombe, p.60)

legibility as architectural expertise

Emergent organizations are highly desirable because they “create innovation and newness out of proportion to their inputs.” (Ibid, p.61) Individual parts of the emergent network “benefit … by giving up some of their short-term interests” in favor of the advancement of the group. (Ibid, p.63) This hybridization of specialties fed back through the design process will generate new formal and performative possibilities. Herzog and DeMeuron’s work seems to oppose Wiscombe’s approach on two salient points. The first issue, is the opposition of the individual mind versus the collaborative effort. Designing and building has always been an inescapably collaborative effort. I would also agree with Wiscombe that an early and continuous collaboration is an important factor of productive innovation. However the completely non-hierarchical exchange of ideas of the emergent organizations he describes is too idealistic to function realistically, Furthermore, in a network based on rapid exchange of specific expertises to optimize performance, it is unclear precisely what role the architect would have. In Wiscombe’s vision of radical collaboration, performance is king. To participate effectively, architects would need to be retrained as scientists, engineers and builders. I think a more productive approach would be to maintain the role of architect as director, shaper and visionary at the helm of the collaborative process. Emergent organizations are non-hierarchical and opposed to management. However, it is appropriate and necessary for architects to take a leadership role in the design process to ensure efficient progress and coherence.

The second point of opposition between the two approaches is the precise object of innovation. As the world’s material resources are stretched thin by the global spread of hyper-consumption, the importance of performance cannot be overstated. However, I am not convinced of the true significance of merely formal innovation. The dazzling, new forms and futuristic look of some architectural projects should not distract us from the ultimate objective of actually ensuring a future on this planet by living and building sustainably. Simple, conventional form, such as Herzog and DeMeuron’s spare geometry, is often the most efficient in terms of energy and materials. If we are concerned with design performance, it would be counter-productive and unintelligent to reject efficient designs on the grounds of their aesthetic simplicity or conventionality. It seems that one important element is still missing from the equation: advancement in the ways that architects create cultural meaning. In a lecture from November 26, 2007, Wes Jones discussed his concept of architectural expertise as judgment and communication. While he recognizes the collaborative nature of architectural projects, Jones calls for the architect to focus not on performance, which is the engineer’s turf, but on communicating meaning through tectonics. What separates architects is their ability to make a building legible, to support a close reading of the built environment. Jones emphasizes that this is the only ability that is exclusive to architects, and that it is an ethical obligation, in fact, for architects to use and expand on this ability. This ethical obligation can be fulfilled

Communication is the only intelligence exclusive to architecture.

legibility as architectural expertise

through tectonic communication and a deliberate design process. (Jones) If communication and critical meaning are significant to architectural innovation, then we must return again to the work of Herzog and DeMeuron. With Jones’ insights, we can now understand Herzog and DeMeuron’s reliance on conventional forms and materiality in the face of an architectural climate that celebrates formal complexity as a tectonic choice that seeks to communicate something. If their architectural projects read as geometrically conventional, it is not in spite of new technologies and materials that allow us to push the limits of form; rather, it is a commentary upon those technologies. It appears that Herzog and DeMeuron are not only interested in creating seductive cosmetic effects, but also in engaging, through tectonics, in a dialog with the formal fetish of the “radical mainstream.” Perhaps, the Signal Box seems to say, if I can do something new and compelling with the same old palette, and perform efficiently to boot, perhaps your experimentations with formal and material complexity is all vanity. Their work is able to communicate such ideas precisely because of their conventional tectonic decisions. Architectural design is inarguably a collective process. In this age in which the limitations of our resources are becoming ever more evident, performance focused on efficiency is one of the most significant goals of architectural advancement. Wiscombe links formal innovation with performative advancement and rejects altogether the significance of architectural progress in the theoretical realm. While he is correct to focus on

performance, this emphasis should not be coupled with formal inventiveness, and should not replace theoretical practice. Kipnis demonstrates how the work of Herzog and DeMeuron produces performative innovation through applying the cosmetic to the most formally conventional structures. As Jones shows, in the large collaboration of expertise that is contemporary architectural practice, communication is the only intelligence exclusive to architecture. Tectonic communication is the most effective and compelling medium for architects to comment upon and relate to the larger field. This formal and tectonic dialog among architects is ultimately what drives advancement in the meaning of architecture.

Kipnis, Jeffrey, “The Cunning of Cosmetics: A Personal Reflection on the Architecture of Herzog and DeMeuron.” The Light Construction Reader. Ed. Gannon, Todd. New York: Monacelli Press, 2002. Pp. 429-434. Jones, Wes. “Lecture: Introduction to Tectonics.” SCI-Arc. November 26, 2007. Wiscombe, Thomas, “Emergent Models of Architectural Practice.” Perspecta 38: Architecture After All. April, 2006. Pp. 59-68.

abstraction of the machine

ABSTRACTION OF THE MACHINE sublimating utility to composition

This series of drawings is the result of an experimentation using architectural drawing techniques to describe non-architectural subjects, in this case, a scroll saw. Technical elevations and sectional drawings of the scroll saw lead to an abstraction of the scroll saw geometry. The drawings are then aggregated into a single composition, in which the utilitarian quality of the technical drawings fade into graphic abstraction.

Scroll saw plan and sections

abstraction of the machine

Scroll saw elevations

abstraction of the machine

Scroll saw geometric abstraction

abstraction of the machine

Scroll saw composition

abstraction of the machine

abstraction of identity

IDENTIFICATION ABSTRACTION signature imagery adapted for use as a logo

abstraction of identity

Menacing imagery The work tables that we had built for our studio space were constantly being stolen by other students who didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t recognize that they were already claimed. We wanted to mark the tables in a way that not only identified them as private property, but also added an element of (humorous) menace to scare away potential thieves who werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t deterred by ethical considerations. The studio teacher sometimes came to school wearing a Chinese welding hat, sewn from denim, as an example of industrial design that he found inspiring. I took this image of a man in a Chinese welding hat, and abstracted it into an icon, a logo for the studio, enhancing the cartoonish intimidation by adding sunglasses. I used this logo to make an identifying tag, adding comically threatening text forbidding the theft of the tables.

abstraction of identity

woe unto he who removes this table unlawfully for he will suffer misfortune and plague for all of his days. And his issue, unto the tenth generation will share in his misery and trials. For to him we say may you grown like an onion with your head in the ground and your feet in the air. may you have a piece of chaff in your eye and a splinter in your ear and may you not know which to remove first. May your liver come out piece by piece through your nose. May you live like a lamp:hang by day, burn by night and be snuffed out in the morning. woe unto he who removes this table unlawfully for he will suffer misfortune and plague for all of his days. And his issue, unto the tenth generation will share in his misery and trials. For to him we say may you grown like an onion with your head in the ground and your feet in the air. may you have a piece of chaff in your eye and a splinter in your ear and may you not know which to remove first. May your liver come out piece by piece through your nose. May you live like a lamp:hang by day, burn by night and be snuffed out in the morning.

abstraction of identity

abstraction of the landscape

ABSTRACTION OF THE LANDSCAPE a spa retreat in ojai, ca

The complete design project on display at the all-school exhibition at SCI-Arc, spring 2007

A gently sloping hillside property in Ojai, -California was the site of this project. The existing topography of the site was manipulated and transformed through a systematic process. A system of pathways was superimposed on top of the transformed topography. A structural building system, which was then modified by programmatic requirements, provided additional layers of information. Finally, a small portion of the programmed site was sampled for further resolution. I identified a number of destination areas throughout the site, based on the dramatic dips and rises of the land. Then, to determine allowable path trajectories, I projected a series of appropriately angled lines across the site. Abstracting from selected permissible path lines through a series of sketches, I developed a looping, curvy, diverging system of pathways that would direct a visitor through the site to each of the designated destination areas.

abstraction of the landscape

The existing site

abstraction of the landscape

First transformation: topology

abstraction of the landscape

A20

A19 A18 90

A17 90

A16 A15 80

A14 A13 A12 A11

A10 A9 70

A7 70

A5 60

A4 60

A3 60

60 60

B10

0’

10’

20’

30’

40’

50’

abstraction of the landscape

First transformation

80 70

A10

80 70

A11

80 70

A12

80 70

A13

80 70

A14

80 70

A15

abstraction of the landscape

Second transformation: pathways

abstraction of the landscape

100

90 90

90 80

90 100

90 80

80 60

70 70

0’

10’

20’

30’

40’

50’

abstraction of the landscape

Second transformation

abstraction of the landscape

Structure I chose to work with the double curvature of a hyperbolic paraboloid as my structural system. After experimenting with creative means of grouping the individual forms, I worked with the groupings to transform them into structures housing a residential spa program.

abstraction of the landscape

arch mechanism suspension mechanism

abstraction of the landscape

90 90

90 80

100

90 80

A5 90

80 70 80

A3 80

80 60

A2 70

A1 70

70 70

60 0’

10’

20’

30’

40’

50’

abstraction of the landscape

Third transformation: structure

abstraction of the landscape

Third transformation

abstraction of the landscape

Development The program included twelve living units, a managerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s area, thermal baths, communal spaces and parking. I based the program distribution around the paths and destination points, dividing private residential areas from public uses to provide for the needs of both long-term resident-visitors as well and casual daytrippers. I reworked the unit grouping configurations to accommodate program and increase occupiable spaces. I chose an area of the site that included the managerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s building and the parking area for further development. I worked with the structural units, finding the structurally determined variations in wall thickness, and finding ways to integrate the individual units so that unit groupings became continuous of enclosure. I also worked on developing the quality of enclosure within the living units through a series of sections and plans. The size and shape of each unit varied according on the floor area.

abstraction of the landscape

cantilevered portion must be light, allowing for 3” thick fiber-reinforced concrete shell

Development

3” concentration of loads at intense curvature requires 6” thick fiber-reinforced concrete

concentration of loads at base requires 6” thick fiber-reinforced concrete

upper surface-active shell 6”

lower surface-active shell

petal units stabilize and balance each other at the central juncture of each grouping

slab on grade

abstraction of the landscape

100 90

90 80

80 70 80

70 60 70

0’

10’

20’

30’

40’

50’

abstraction of the landscape

WARM THERMAL BATH el + 80’

MANAGER’S UNIT el + 66’

RESIDENTIAL UNIT el + 8’4

PARKING LOT el + 62’

abstraction of the landscape

Development

abstraction of the landscape

Topological lines have an aesthetic quality that transcends technical utility.

The design for this project stemmed from an exercise in systematic transformations. The root transformation, the transformation of the siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s topology, was also an exercise in abstracting technical information into a graphic element. Topological lines represent something specific and concrete: the elevation of the ground at a particular location. Printed on the page, however, topological lines have a delicate, attractive quality to them that transcends their technical utility. For the purposes of this project, topological lines were abstracted into graphic elements independent of their symbolic meaning. This abstraction, while not technically correct, was necessary in order to make the initial transformation that was the basis of the design project.

abstraction of the landscape

abstraction of pure form

PURE ABSTRACTION formal play with tessellated shapes

Tessellation in two dimensions This project was done in collaboration with a partner, Sarah Blankenbaker. Using a combination of digital tools, including Illustrator and Maya, we developed two different patterns of tessellated shapes, then combined the two in a morphing tessellated pattern inspired by the work of M. C. Escher.

abstraction of pure form

abstraction of everyday objects

ABSTRACTION OF EVERYDAY OBJECTS transforming the mundane with techniques of assembly

Soufflé cups The intent of these projects was to create an aggregate of materials that were combined in such a way that the humble materials were transformed, elevated into something new. These projects, using 1/2” souffle cups, tea bag sleeves and matches, were studies in pushing the legibility of materials to the edge of abstraction.

abstraction of everyday objects

Tea bag sleeves I developed a folding pattern for the tea bag sleeves that maximized their volume and created opportunities for strategic connections between the units. The sleeves are assembled into a 12” x 12” x 6” box. The intent was for this assemblage to read simultaneously as a collection of tea bag sleeves and an abstract construction that exceeds the elements that comprise it.

abstraction of everyday objects

Matchbooks The matchbook assembly forms a 6â&#x20AC;? x 12â&#x20AC;? surface condition with a left to right gradient of density. Like the other assemblies in this series the matchbook swatch was constructed with mundane, recognizable elements assembled with a precise technique in order to exceed the sum of its parts.

abstraction of everyday objects

Soccer cones This project was done in collaboration with Erik Mathiesen and Katayoun Karimifard. The starting point for this project was a precisely measured and modeled drawing of the intense cracking pattern on a cup glazed in the crazing style. We decided to use this irregular crazing pattern as the organizational grid underlying a wall of 9â&#x20AC;? orange vinyl soccer cones. Working digitally at first, we placed hundreds of cones at the mathematically calculated center point of each crazing tile, trimming the surface of each cone against the surfaces of adjacent cones, or against the straight edge of the wall, depending on the position of the cone.

The crazing pattern

Cones centered on crazing tiles

Trimmed cones

abstraction of everyday objects

Trimmed cones

abstraction of everyday objects

163

162

113 111

168

155

156

175 127

112

170

128

169

195

114

171

177

170

187

210

194

176

159

200

209

211 212

189

Cone-cutting templates

157

208 211 210

172

200

209

199

171

207 173

After trimming, we used the cut cones tips to create cutting templates for manually trimming the physical soccer cones. We fit the precisely cut cone pieces together, and soldered the seams together to form a continuous, if spiky, surface. The completed cone wall reflects the crazing pattern as abstracted through the geometry of the cones.

abstraction of everyday objects

Similar to the other projects in this series, the intent of the cone wall was to start with a familiar everyday object and abstract its recognizable form through techniques of precise assembly. This project sought to combine the specific geometric and formal qualities of the cracked crazing system as well as the cones themselves in order to produce an object that transcends its inputs in geometric complexity and formal interest.

abstraction of legible forms

ABSTRACTION OF LEGIBLE FORMS abstraction to the edge of recognition: two urban schemes for detroit

The final two projects presented here represent the concluding swing to the halfway position on the pendulum of formal inquiry from legibility to abstraction. The explicit intention of this work is to partially abstract highly legible figures to produce a new category of form that simultaneously obscures and retains recognizable formal elements of the input figures. Partial abstraction of legible figures is explored through two projects: a design studio project completed with a team, and an individual thesis project that more deeply examines the input figures and the techniques of abstraction. Both projects occupy the same site north of downtown Detroit, Michigan. The first project was done in collaboration with David Erven and Bethsabee Sabbah in an urban design studio. While the city of Detroit is inarguably in a state of severe decline, the hypothesis of this studio was that the city amounted to more than the dwindling of its population, the deterioration of its streets and neighborhoods, its economic ruin. We approached this studio from the perspective that what Detroit lacked in physical stature and in material content, it more than made up for in atmospherics. This concept of the rich atmospheric presence of the city we referred to as â&#x20AC;&#x153;empty density,â&#x20AC;? and the studio project was to capture that quality, and reflect it through program, form and tectonics, in an urban-scaled new building project in Midtown, an area just north of the Downtown central business district.

abstraction of legible forms

Abstract Detroit

abstraction of legible forms

ard

mpl

Bar Pa

Pa rk

Str

eet

Bou leva

ffor

s Cas

Cli

leva

ley

Sib

eet

Str

eet

Str

Bou

ffor

Cas

Cli

leva

ley

Sib

Spr

Party Store

Str

Bou

d ffor

s Cas

Cli

ley

nu Ave

eet

e nu Ave

eet

Str

nu Ave

Spr

Sib

eet

Str

eet

Str

Spr

dw Woo

ard dw Woo

mpl

Ave

Veterans Center

mpl

Ave

Str

Fre

Str

Hen

t ee

ee Str

Str

Fre

Hen

ew Fre

t er

Aven

ish

F W.

ue Aven

ish

F W.

Abandoned building

Residential building

Ave

ard Te

Pa rk

eet

Str

t tree

Spr

nu Ave

eet

Str

Sib

Veterans center

Party store

eet

Str

eet

ew Fre

Fre

Hen

Bar

ee Str

Str

Veterans garden

rd leva

ley

Str

Hen

Residential building

Bou

Cas

leva

d ffor Cli

Bou

d ffor

Cas

Cli

ley

Sib

eet

Str

nu Ave

Spr

Taxi service

ard

dw Woo e

mpl

Abandoned building

dw Woo

Ave

ish

F W.

Aven

ish

F W.

ish

F W.

ard

dw Woo

Ave

mpl

Pa rk

Taxi-Cab Company

eet

Str

nu Ave

Spr

eet

Str

leva Bou

ffor

s Cas

Cli

ley

Sib

eet

Str

Fre

Str

Hen

Aven

h Fis

Maps of the sparse and haphazard pattern of existing building uses on and around the Midtown Detroit site.

odw Wo

e Av

ard

ple

m Te

rk Pa

ree

e enu Av

roa

ree

Bo v ule ard

rd iffo Cl

ley

Sib

ree

eew

t n Ave

ish

F W.

abstraction of legible forms

Site mapping

In Detroit, there is no economic incentive to build ... Detroit is a city with such an overabundance of needs that it has no need in particular. Detroit is therefore the rare, ideal site for radical architectural experimentation.

City-owned City-Ownedland Land EDC-owned EDC-Ownedland Land Private land Private Land Private land Private Land - Gordy Berry Gordy

The site in Midtown Detroit was an 8 block area bounded by Woodward Avenue on the east, Cass Avenue on the west, Temple Street on the north, and the I-75 Freeway on the south. This site was challenging for a number of reasons. The pattern of lot ownership on these 8 blocks is haphazard and uneven. The city and city-entities posses swathes of land broken up by privately owned lots held by people unwilling to sell their properties. The southern-most block is partially owned by the legendary Motown record producer Berry Gordy, which led us to believe that part of the site would be an ideal location for a new Motown Museum. Although most of the 8 blocks remain empty most of the year, there are a few scattered buildings on some of the lots, many abandoned. Additionally, property values in the city are so depressed that even the simplest renovation work cannot be done without government subsidies and so-called gap financing, since the cost of doing even small jobs inevitably exceeds the value of the completed project. This makes Detroit a fascinating site for architecture. In Detroit, there is no economic incentive to build, thus architectural design remains independent from questions of status and resale value. Detroit is a city with such an overabundance of needs that it has no need in particular. Detroit is therefore the rare and ideal site for radical architectural experimentation.

Map of the speckled pattern of property ownership on the Midtown Detroit site.

ard odw Wo

e Av

ple

m Te

Pa t

ree

en Av

roa

ree

ule

rd va

iffo rd

ss Ca

ley

Sib

ree

eew

r en

n Ave

ish

F W.

abstraction of legible forms

Images of Detroit Detroit is in a fascinating state of material and economic decline. The population has been shrinking rapidly for the past several decades, and as people abandon homes and businesses that have little to no resale value, intact buildings stand out among the boarded up, halfcollapsed and burnt piles of rubble that dominate many neighborhoods. The city has no money to demolish or haul away the decomposing buildings, so they rot where they stand, or become targets for small-time arsonists. The cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s old baseball field Tiger Stadium, sits only half demolished, weakly protected behind a chain-link fence. Construction sites for projects begun with brash optimism, remain fallow, as economic realities hit shortly after the foundations are poured.

abstraction of legible forms

Images of the Midtown site In spite of the impressive physical deterioration of the larger city, there are still pockets of economic and cultural resilience. Most of this is centered in the Midtown neighborhood of Detroit, where empty buildings and rubble abut thriving bakeries, cafĂŠs and restaurants. These small-business developments have so far passed over the 8 block site of our concern. Most of the site is used very irregularly as run-off parking for big sports events at Comerica Park and Ford Field a few blocks away south of I-75.

abstraction of legible forms

Figuration with minimal material We became interested in the figuration of volumes using nothing more than a curve in space. Spatial figuration is the suggestion of a volumetric space achieved without the completion of the boundaries of that space. The diagrams to the left describe the spectrum from fully figured spaces with a maximum physical presence to spaces figured with minimal physical material. Our interest was focused on the end of the spectrum in which the material presence of a figured space is whittled down to lines in space. The final diagram describes the figuration of space using what we called â&#x20AC;&#x153;exuberant curvatureâ&#x20AC;? in space. Exuberant curves elude rational geometric description. These curves have radii with constantly changing orientation and magnitude. The volumes which they figure are complex and only fleetingly comprehended. As the complexity of the exuberant curvature increases (take, for example, the model on the right) the more compellingly intricate the implied volume. The mind cannot immediately complete the form of the figured spaces. Rather, these figured spaces demand the time of the viewer to compute their sophistication.

Figuration diagrams

Five-duck model

100

abstraction of legible forms

Straddling the familiar and the strange

A vague sense of “duckiness” permeates the curve.

Diagram of the spectrum from legibility to abstraction

The second formal problem that we wanted to address in this project was the intentional blurring of the legible and the abstract. Starting with the highly recognizable form of a rubber duck, we experimented with methods of abstracting the duck that would allow us to explore the range of forms between the completely familiar and images that are abstracted beyond the realm of recognition. The diagrams on the right describe a series of transformations of a curve moving from legibility (in which the duck from which it is derived is highly apparent) to abstraction (in which no recognizable form is visible in the curvature). As the curve slips out of the realm of legibility (after the third transformation) the duck form is no longer apparent, however a vague sense of “duckiness” permeates the curve. This duckless duckiness is achieved as the curve fleetingly conforms to the geometry of the back or underbelly of the duck or retains an abstracted reflection of the proportions of the head to the body.

abstraction of legible forms

101

102

abstraction of legible forms

The familiar figure We wanted to collapse the two formal problems at hand into one project. Because exuberant curvature is most successful when it is geometrically complex and varied, we developed a system of extracting curves from geometrically complex solids that provided satisfyingly sophisticated and diverse results. In order to fulfill the second goal of our project, we opted to use highly familiar forms as the source solid. After experimenting with a few thematically appropriate forms (ie. a 1968 Ford Mustang), we settled on the curvaceous form of a rubber duck as the figure that best provided us with the effects of obscured legibility and complex exuberant curvature that we were seeking to create. By choosing to work with toy ducks we also decided to conceptually align our project with Greg Lynn’s recycled toy table projects, which were an inspiration to us and served as a major precedent for the project.

Starting with a digital model of a rubber duck, we intersected two or more ducks and extracted the curve that traced the seam between the juxtaposed figures. This curve, which describes the spatial relationship of two intersected objects, became the essential material for our design project. Lynn used a similar method, taking the seam between intersected toys to define a unique cut path for each toy that would transform the object into a “brick,” a building block of the table. For this project, we invert Lynn’s brick, giving materiality to the seam line. We discard the body of the toy, taking Lynn’s cut path as our building block. The diagrams above illustrate this operation for extracting exuberant curvature from geometrically complex solids.

Derivation of exuberant curvature from the intersection of ducks

Greg Lynn’s recycled toy table

abstraction of legible forms

Responding to the city

superblock

forest

Project concepts

the aesthetics of erosion

The aesthetics of erosion

Finally, we defined the larger diagram of the urban site. We wanted to revisit the much-maligned concept of the superblock. But rather than occupying the site with an object or series of objects in a figure/ground relationship to the site, we wanted to created a field condition using the duck-derived curvature. We wanted to create a completely permeable superblock. Rather than superimposing an alternative pattern of streets on the existing urban grid, we wanted our superblock to function like a forest, which presents myriad possibilities for traversing space, depending only on the adventurerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to pick his way through the tangle of materiality. To clarify the intent of the diagram, we divided the site in half, occupying one half of the site with an actual urban forest of trees, and building the constructed version of the forest on the half of the site facing Woodward Avenue. We also took the opportunity to respond to the physical deterioration of Detroit by adopting and reveling in the aesthetics of erosion in the design of the building enclosure.

103

104

abstraction of legible forms

The building program consisted of 1 to 4 bedroom residential apartment units on the upper 2 floors, and commercial space, including a supermarket, a movie theater and an indoor driving range on the lower levels. At the southern end of the site, at the prominent corner where Woodward Avenue crosses over the freeway we located a new Motown Museum. Public plazas and the urban forest occupied the remainder of the site.

abstraction of legible forms

Martin Luther King Jr.

Temple

Cass Woodward

W. Fischer

I-75

Site plan

105

106

abstraction of legible forms

Third floor plan

107

108

abstraction of legible forms

Ground floor plan

abstraction of legible forms

Second floor plan

109

110

abstraction of legible forms

Section

abstraction of legible forms

111

112

abstraction of legible forms

113

114

abstraction of legible forms

115

116

abstraction of legible forms

117

118

abstraction of legible forms

Figure, curve, volume: thesis project The Detroit Studio project opened a fascinating line of formal inquiry, but the final scheme was still the product of preliminary testing. The solutions we devised to some of the goals established at the outset of the project were still unsatisfying. We had not yet managed to prove the projectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s driving hypothesis conclusively. For my thesis project, therefore, I decided to return to the lab to delve deeper into this unique formal problem, aiming for more satisfying results. The first issue that needed to be addressed was the specific formal input - the recognizable figure that was to undergo abstraction. The previous studio project considered this question only briefly, and employed a generic digital duck model with no real physical counterpart. If I wanted to argue that the forms of the familiar material world represented a rich mine of fascinating and unique geometry waiting for extraction, it was important to be true to the specific geometry of actual objects in the material world.

Rubber ducky proportions analysis

abstraction of legible forms

The familiar material world represents a rich mine of unique geometry waiting for extraction.

Toy figures proportions analysis

119

120

abstraction of legible forms

Figure geometry and curve quality The project began with a search for appropriate toy figures with which to experiment. To be included in the study, a toy had to have a strong, recognizable form; it could not be strongly associated with a brand or company (to avoid a muddled cultural reading) and its shape had to be bulbous as opposed to elongated in order to produce adequate curvature. First I amassed a collection of potential toys which I weeded down through guesswork to 5 discrete versions of the rubber duck, a squirting crab and fish, a smoking monkey and a good-luck cat. I modeled each toy using a 3-D digitizer to trace the geometry. Now I had an accurate virtual toy collection available for analysis and manipulation. The digital models allowed me to analyze carefully the geometry and proportions of the toys. Using the

Catalog of exuberant curvature

intersection technique, I derived a representative sample of exuberant curvature from each figure. Then, I compared the results of the geometry and proportion study to the curvature samples in order to establish a systematic correlation between general geometric parameters and quality of curvature. This analysis led to the elimination of the smoking monkey, the good-luck cat and a duck; their forms were too boxy and their proportions largely undifferentiated, resulting in awkward, uninteresting curves. Symmetry emerged as a highly desirable geometric quality, resulting in the elimination of another, asymmetrical duck. The remaining 5 toys all passed the tests for geometric fitness and high quality of resultant curvature. They could be used effectively in subsequent tests to determine the direction of the project.

121

122

abstraction of legible forms

Sample of rubber ducky portraits

A fruitful digression This collection of â&#x20AC;&#x153;scribbledâ&#x20AC;? portraits were originally developed from a by-product of the digitizing and modeling process. All of the original figures that were modeled and evaluated for geometry and curve quality were included in the set. Although the portraits began as an almost accidental digression from the main thrust of the project, they became an integral element, embodying the conceptual intent and establishing an aesthetic standard for the work early on.

abstraction of legible forms

123

124

abstraction of legible forms

Toy figure portraits

abstraction of legible forms

125

126

abstraction of legible forms

The scribbled quality of the lines makes them appear uncontrolled and careless. Recognizable figures emerge from the seemingly undisciplined lines, however, revealing the nebula to be an ordered network of lines in spite of initial appearances. The drawings are obviously 2-dimensional. However, there is a suggestion of volume created by curve shapes and areas of density and dispersion in the line work. There is also an ambiguous affect to these drawings. On the one hand, the line work is serious and artistic. But the subject matter - toys - is light, giving the drawings an almost humorous character. These qualities of the portrait drawings, legible order emerging from chaos, the suggestion of volume with mere lines, and ambiguous affect tidily embody the larger project goals for form, aesthetics and mood. The portraits also served as artistic and alluring documentation of the initial figure-research phase of the project. They can stand alone as an independent set of portraits, but they also serve as support material for the thesis project.

Toy fish portrait

128

abstraction of legible forms

Integrating exuberant curvature with surface The next issue that required investigation was the method of integrating the exuberant curves with surface to create enclosure. In the studio project, the curves locked into and modified the edge of an adjacent solid, but remained discrete from the enclosure itself. A more satisfying solution would integrate the two components, use the curves to create the enclosure. There were many possibilities for how this could be done.

Boolean Method Enclosure Models

The first method of curve/enclosure integration I tested was the boolean method. The figures (in this case ducks) that intersect each other are not discarded outright after producing the curves, but are modified through boolean operations of union, difference and intersection. With this technique, the enclosing surface is formed from the carved-out remnants of the original figures, the duck â&#x20AC;&#x153;skinâ&#x20AC;? leftover from the boolean operations.

abstraction of legible forms

Next, I tested a method of creating enclosure by squaring off the edges of the mess of curves. The extents of the nebula were disciplined by projecting the outer curves onto the flat surfaces of a box, creating planar curves that define the edges of a regular geometric form. This opens the possibility of enclosing the space between planar curves using solid or glazed in-fill panels. In this study model, the curves are disciplined at the center as well as on the outside edges. The overall

form of the object and the interior volume have been disciplined into regular, cubic geometry. Meanwhile the exuberant curvature of the nebula is expressed in the space between the planar surfaces of the two volumes. These two methods of creating enclosure were promising, but both were impure hybrids, requiring the combination of curves with an external component. I wanted to see how close I could get to creating enclosed space with exuberant curvature alone.

Curve discipline enclosure model

129

130

abstraction of legible forms

Motion index enclosure model: ducks

abstraction of legible forms

Motion index enclosure model: crabs

Finally, I tested a method for creating enclosure through the accumulation of curves through paths of motion. Two or more figures travel through each other as their intersections are recorded. As their relative locations change over time, so does the shape and position of the intersection line at their seam. Assuming that intersection lines are taken at regular time intervals, the density of the resulting accumulation of curves is controlled by the velocity of the traveling figures. Slow movement will result in a tight, solid enclosure, as in the model to the left, derived from ducks. Increasing the speed will yield more openness in the surface, for instance in the crab model to the right.

131

132

abstraction of legible forms

Motion index enclosure model: fish

The form and quality of the surface created by accumulated curves is an index of the motion of the originating toys. For example, the fish model on these pages contains regions of tight, solid enclosure as well as more open areas. These interior and exterior spaces are created by modulation of the direction and velocity of the fish toys’ movement. A hierarchy of curvature was also established by selecting a set of major structural curves. This system of major, “still” curves, and thinner, “animated” curves could be integrated into a larger field condition to create a truly permeable cloud of material to occupy the site.

abstraction of legible forms

133

134

abstraction of legible forms

Motion index as field condition research model

135

136

abstraction of legible forms

Modulating the cloud In my early enclosure studies I had developed techniques for imposing order on the exuberant nebula and I wanted to create a site diagram that demonstrated both controlled and undisciplined conditions. The design grew into a field condition that transitions from a highly regularized version of the cloud, strictly contained on all sides within planar boundaries, to an unrestricted cloud of excessiveness. The model on the previous spread is a research model, a conceptual representation of the most unrestrained and tangled region of the site. This part of the site takes advantage of the economic valuelessness of land in Detroit. It is conceived of as a public park/permanent public art installation, and a demonstration of the pure research and design concept of this thesis. The model shown on this spread represents a block consisting of 6 residential units on the modified, disciplined half of the site. These units are tightly wound for a more complete enclosure. Floor plates are generated through the same process as the planar edges. This end of the site represents a less â&#x20AC;&#x153;pureâ&#x20AC;? manifestation of the thesis concept, but it advances results of the formal research several steps closer to habitability. These first modifications to the formal concept indicate a direction for further development of this research towards occupiable architecture.

Disciplined edge condition unit

137

138

abstraction of legible forms

Formal research and architectural design This thesis was intended as a formal research project, examining and evaluating techniques for creating form that simultaneously satisfy the dual goals of minimal volumetric figuration and the partial abstraction of legible figures. This goal was achieved most essentially and documented in the research models and the plan and section drawings on the following spreads. As research, the project is best represented through these conceptual artifacts which retain an artistic abstraction. The drawings on the following pages describe the novel quality of space created through the techniques described. However, even on the â&#x20AC;&#x153;tamerâ&#x20AC;? half of the site, the spaces are chaotic and excessive. It is difficult to imagine how to occupy them. If my claim for this project is architectural research, I would be remiss if I did not begin to address the essential architectural question of how one inhabits the spaces. To engage this problem, I selected an area on the Southwest corner, the most disciplined, regular portion of the site, for further development. Through an exercise

in drawing, I gave the units scale, increased the density of enclosure where necessary, and established floor plans for spacious one-bedroom residential units. The verticality of some of the curve elements were emphasized to create feasible spaces. Each level contains semi-open floor plans for two to three residential apartment units. The following two page spreads show the final overall plan and section for the project. The progression of the site from disciplined to unmodified nebula is apparent in these drawings. These drawings contain some the same qualities as the early figure portraits. However, in these drawings, the underlying figure (the fish) is not fully articulated, but rather, having undergone the process of partial abstraction, is expressed through the vague sense of fishiness in the quality of the curves. The drawings are abstract, the plan reminiscent of a Jackson Pollock painting. But a discernible underlying order pulls the drawings - and the project - back from the brink of abstraction, establishing its essential contribution to the contemporary architectural discourse.

abstraction of legible forms

A field condition that transitions from highly regularized to an unrestricted cloud of excessiveness.

Close-up partial floor plan

139

Rae Solomon do.rae.mi@gmail.com