Khora by samshineh

2022 architecture studio 3A / urban oasis group 2 / bruce roberton

KHôRA

to resist homogeneous and prescriptive architecture. to create forms that insist sporadic movements. a space to revitalise individuals of their creativity, individuality and expression of thought, unbounded by hierarchies and power. no more alienation, disorientation and absence from society, culture and the world. to claim new territories, forging individual paths and trajectories. define purpose, function and activity in accordance to free will.

portfolio

samuel shin

FREEDOM. CRE

LATENCY. POTE 2022 STUDIO 3A

EATIVITY. COMMUNITY. ENTIAL. IDENTITY.

contents 1

the site + site context + site analysis

06 08

the brief + project parameters + site exploration + the predicament + manifesto

10 11 12 14

the concept + overview + tracing inspiration

16 20

scheme + follies + site plan + programs + architectural drawings + structural scheme + perspectives

22 26 28 30 38 48

1. the site

site context

33 . 8634° S, 151 . 1925° E pirrama park pyrmont, sydney city

The project is contextualised by the nature of urban landscapes and societies, situated in pirrama park, pyrmont. Investigation into the rich of the site reveals the inseparable connection between community and site. Beginning with gadigal people, the indigenous community relied on the site for sustenance and livelihood - hunting and celebrating their distinct way of life. The colonisation of sydney and the consequent industrialisation saw the rise and fall of many quarries, factories and mills. Today the community seeks the site as means to exercise, recreate and relax.

N +

scale 1 : 2500

150m

= 10mm

mean rainfall

J J

F F

M M

mean temperature

A A

M M

J J

A A

S S

O O

N N

D D

= 5° C

site analysis

The climatic conditions of pirrama park is typical to the rest of sydney, characterised by warm summers and mild winters. These are ideal conditions for enjoying the outdoors all throughout the year. The climatic patterns and trends were critical in management and organisation of the site and building programs of the project. Passive design methods are a fundamental approach for the design, to maximise temperature and solar control. The annual average rainfall dictated the provision of ample shading and implementation of gutter systems.

2. th

brief

project parameters

urban oasis experience of water

With the considerable change that has occurred at pirrama park, the project calls for an exploration of new building typologies and mixed uses of programs. Such exploration should factor in the recent trends of increasing population densities, growing diversity and existing building typologies/programs. The topic of urban oasis necessitates that the project is to resolve and provide a place of relaxation and healing in the midst of an urban landscape.

the process of traversing through the existing urban and landscaped forms of pirrama park marks a path inundated with pauses. pauses defined by standing, sitting and crouching to observe the landscape, urban forms and views. the traversal through the park was coerced by views, crowding of people and architectural elements such as benches and paved pathways that directed movement. the pattern of movement was defined by moving to wherever caught the eye, cutting across grass, deviating from the defined pathways and ricocheting between trees. the path delineates the overlap between urban and natural forms existent in Pirrama Park. it also sparks the wondrous potential of utilising the site to provoke new and individual paths of exploration throughout the site. an unprescriptive site; a liberated traversal.

An investigation into the site’s history highlights a modern predicament. the predicament in which the project seeks to resolve, is deterritorialisation. Deterritorialisation, a theory put forth by Felix Guattari, attributes the issues of alienation, suppression and homogeneity to the capitalist structures of modern society. Simply, deterritorialisation is the individual without territory, without identity or belonging and thus is constantly roaming the aggravated and convoluted networks societies offers. The usurpation of the Gadigal People is the clearest signifier of deterritorialisation, losing their communal identity and livelihood which was deeply rooted to the site. Similarly, the once vibrant industrial workforce of Pyrmont slowly dissolved with the trend of outsourcing and urbanisation of the site to accommodate growing populations. Presently, deterritorialisation exists in all aspects of life, particularly in the digital landscape with endless and overwhelming amounts of suggestions and prescriptions. The collage depicts the various issues exhibited within the urban landscape inspired by the graphic style of Guy Debord. Guy Debord and other 20th century thinkers such as Constant Nieuwenhuys, Gilles Deleuze, Guattari expressed their dissatisfaction of the urban landscape and the shared understanding that individuals were constantly suppressed within such societies. Issues depicted within the collage include the rise of consumerism and mass production, overcrowding of both animals and individuals and concerns of colonialism that paved the way for the modern era to begin. Most importantly, the individual without identity or with multiple identities, lost within globalisation, constrained to linear and hierarchal organisation.

PREDICAMENT.

D a manifesto

to resist homogeneous and prescriptive architecture. to create forms that insist sporadic and different movements. a space to revitalise individuals of their creativity, individuality and expression of thought, unbounded by hierarchies and power. no more alienation, disorientation and absence from society, culture and the world. to claim new territories, forge individual paths and trajectories. to define purpose, function and activity in accordance to free will.

E T

I I

S O

N 17

the ncept co

khôra

resolving deterritorialisation in the modern landscape

The project has been given the title “Khôra” derived from ‘chora’ from Plato’s Timaeus and French philosopher Jacques Derrida’s use of the term. In Greek ‘chora’ consists of many definitions such as place, habitation or town, and such a definition is used by Plato to describe a ‘certain place’. Given such a vague and wide definition, Derrida translated his interpretation of the word into the design of Bernard Tschumi’s famous Parc de la Villette as it coincided with Tschumi’s desire to create a park that contended modernity. Therefore, the project is titled Khôra to accentuate the idea that the purpose of the project and its value is subject to the individual’s will. The individual will decide how to traverse Pirrama Park, which programs to participate in, which activities to animate and what it means to them. Such concept is directed in resolving the deterritorialisation of the individual, resisting homogeneous forms and allowing the creative and liberated movement of individuals. In this project, Khôra, can be defined as becoming where the individual decides what is to ‘become’ of the space.

“

it has to do with interval; it is what you open to give place to things, or when you open something for things to take place.

“

- Jacques Derrida, Chora L Works

A VISION OF FREE DOM, A V ISION OF C R E AT I VITY, A VI SION OF COMM UNITIES

IT’S A MATTER OF: Parc de la Villette 1987

Bernard Tschumi Architects Paris, France

inspiration

The project has critical underpinnings of Bernard Tschumi’s architectural expression of contending the by-products of modernity. Focusing on individual alienation and suppression of creativity, Tschumi sought to dismantle the linear and vertical hierarchy and organisation. Such hierarchies and systems were the seen as the underlying agent of suppressing creativity, identity and expression of the individuals within the urban

landscapes. These were magnified by the emergence of bureaucracies and institutions that were organised in hierarchies of power. Tschumi’s attitude and understandings of the urban landscape were typical of radical and revolutionary thinkers of the 20th century. These included, Felix Guattari, Constant Nieuwenhuys, Gilles Deleuze and Guy Debord. the latter three utilised art and architecture to express their discontentment of the 20th century landscape. Their art seeks to dismantle homogeneity, suppression and alienation by calling for the revival of public spaces, agoras, sporadic movements, rhizomatic communications and liberating organisation. Equivalently, this project, Khôra, identifies deterritorialisation as the issue ought to be resolved. Seeks to create dynamic and nonprescriptive spaces so that individuals, with free will, produce distinct experiences of their time at Pirrama Park. Thus, the design methodology and principles of Parc de la Villette has profoundly shaped the conception of this project.

methodology Digressing from the conceptual underpinnings of the project, the design methodology of Khôra will mirror the design methodology of Bernard Tschumi’s design of Parc de la Villette. Tschumi’s deployment of Follies throughout the park became central to the organisation, management and characterisation of the park. these Folies not only became reference points for visitors, but also ‘versatile monuments’. Vesna Jovanovic in her article “The Versatile Monument question: Parc de la Villette as managed reality” defines versatility as the capability of adapting to different activities and responding to changing and unforeseeable demands of a site. Such understanding can be translated to the site context of Pirrama Park, as an identity for the local community, and the various activities and purpose it has served in entirety of its existence. Consequently, the admirable concept and purpose of Tschumi’s Folies will be replicated in this very project. The folies within Pirrama as a disharmonious yet collective entity, will render the project as a versatile monument like that of Parc de la Villette.

the scheme

manifesting the manifesto

large timber structures

The programs constituting the project are distinctly aimed to promote both individual and social experience at pirrama park. Specifically, the project places a large emphasis on the experience of water. Users are presented with a diverse range of experiences of water which include the main pool, therapy pools, the harbour (through the esplanade) and the rain gardens within the landscaped areas of the site.

perspective: swale + raingarden

the follies

The project’s underpinnings in Bernard Tschumi’s parc de la villette, khora employs the concept of follies as means of creating an urban oasis. These follies are abstract programs or spaces directed towards resolving the issues of alienation, suppression of creativity and prescriptive movements. At each folly, the user is provisioned with ability to explore, experience and discover themselves, the site and others. The combination of individual, private spaces and open, communal spaces allows the site to fulfill dynamic roles. The follies within this project have become the foundations of shaping organisation and circulation throughout the site, each with purpose and intent. To tie these separate follies together is the esplanade and considered landscaping of interstitial spaces. The esplanade is a part of the experience of water, an experience that defines life in Sydney. The landscaping become playful and interesting avenues to discover new trajectories and paths when traversing the park.

wharf connection + diversifying access to site

+ daytime cafe & kitchen + night time fine dining

lawned spaces + retention of greenscape + unprescriptive areas for all activity

swales and rain gardens

main pool

agora +cultural space for congregation & social activity

therapy pools + meditation & healing experience of water + intimate & private spaces

hand waterpump + revitalisation of industrial past + maze-like hedge as experience of discovery

+ unique experience of water + revitalisation of pirrama baths + leisure & relaxation

library + self-invention & discovery + fleeting reality escape

+ recreation of pre-colonial waterways + stormwater management & drainage

cafe & restaurant

lookout + seating + dynamic seating & lying spaces + elevated outlook towards iconic harbour bridge

1 : 1000 site plan

scale 1 : 1000

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09

50m

wharf lawned spaces swale and rain garden main pool restaurant & library therapy pools hand water pump agora elevated lookout + seating

Given the low profile of pirrama park and the shear sandstone cliff face that exists along the southern edge of park, the scheme showcases a low profile design. Beginning with the deployment of follies and having separated programs in order to achieve porosity of space, the scale of the three main programs have been carefully restricted to maintain the aesthetic qualities of the site. The vast grassed areas became a perfect canvas to utilise urban planning. Consequently, the park holds many key points of interest, including a canopied plaza, swimming pool, agora, raingarden and the continuous esplanade from Jones Bay (east) to Elizabeth McArthur Pontoon.

main pool + 25x25 swimming pool + gendered changerooms & bathrooms + first aid room + disabled toilets + service lift to underground plant room + foyer & reception + staff kitchen & lounge + staff bathrooms

cafe & restaurant + lobby & reception + bar & dining hall + storage cabinet + kitchen + unisex bathrooms

4 4 6 5

therapy pools

+ reception + storage & staffroom + gendered changerooms & bathrooms + gendered sauna + hot pool + cold pool + plant room

library

plaza

2 2

01 x

+ -

cobblestone rammed earth hard dirt

+ 1 : 500 architectural plan

25m

the three programs

The three main programs of the project are the circular pool, the cafe and restaurant combined with upstairs library as well as the combined hot and cold pools. The rationalisation of the form and geometry poetically express the manifesto aims. The pool’s irregular shape represents the literal contention against the linearity and division imposed by lap pools. The unique seating edge of the pool can become individualised hubs but the circular geometry also promotes social bonding and cultural activity. The cafe by day and restaurant by night promotes the experience of eating with a view. Arrangement is focused on individual dining, yet modularised to accommodate group seating. This is a key program in increasing the livelihood of the site at night.

The therapy pools are concentrated on the experience of relaxation and meditation. The circular geometry creates a sense of intimacy and privacy within the small enclosed pool spaces. The unattended library where books cannot be borrowed, users are invited to donate books and add to the permanent collection. The lower ceiling height promotes the experience immersing in fictional realities and the self-inventing through reading. Finally, the plaza is the program that harmonises these seeming disjointed programs together. A threshold and interstitial space for individuals with different purposes at the site to interact, meet; a cultural space, covered and sheltered from the elements.

west elevation

1 : 200 architectural elevation

north elevation

long section

1 : 200 architectural section

cross section

structural scheme

The project adopts various structures as means of conveying the aims and aesthetics of the project. The circular, rounded and curved motif of the directly contests linear and orthogonal organisation. Poetically, it reflects the concept, where the idea of ‘becoming’ is expressed through irregular circles that symbolise perfection and wholeness. The irregular circles with circumvention interrupted, and curves that are cut by transversals presents a disruptive visual. Such a tension within the visual denotes that there is an active mechanism occurring within the site or geometry. Arches for the main pool were selected as they were useful structural members that can be expressed internally and externally. It is also effective in providing adequate structural integrity with less material consumption. A

rotating sequence of portal frames, a hybrid between arches and beams, is utilised for the secondary programs. Such structural system carries similar visual profiles to the arched dome of the main pool. Simultaneously, the beam system reduces the cost of prefabrication of custom member dimensions that would be required for the arched dome. To further reduce cost of prefabrication and construction costs, reinforced concrete walls are used to provide further structural integrity. Ultimately, the structural systems were the most appropriate for smaller scale footprints of the programs within the project and is reflective of the conceptual intent.

insulation

irregular

expressive

floating

passive

delayed heat loss through insulation and double paneling

symbolic geometry defying linearity and orthogonal organisation

structure expressed internally and externally

perceived ‘lightness’ and flat profile in line with site context

eaves and openings to promote natural ventilation and solar control

structural principles

01 primary structure geodesic aluminium roof panel

main pool structure

800x300 baubuche GL75 beam

pvc ceiling panels in white

pvc wall panels in white 1000x300 baubuche GL75 post colour bond exterior panel double glazed glass

02 secondary structure

200x100 baubuche S purlins

500x200 baubuche S top beam

800x300 baubuche GL75 beam double glazed glass

structural analysis

insulation double glazed glass 1000x300 baubuche GL75 post

steel post bracket, bolted to footing

reinforced concrete pile footing

C T vertical load

horizontal load

+ point load applied to roof cladding + load resisted by primary arched beams + load transfered down to post (load partially spread laterally to purlins + post transfers load to ground (forces slightly distributed laterally to cross-bracing and top beam via compression action

T C

+ wind load applied to roof cladding + load resisted by purlins, distributing load to primary arched beams + top beams (and purlins) enact diaphragm action for roof + rigid wall frame transfers load to ground thought cross-bracing

01 primary structure

geodesic aluminium roof panel restaurant + library structure

500x300 baubuche GL75 beam

pvc ceiling panels in white baubuche GL75 post & reinforced concrete wall 500x300 baubuche GL75 post galvanised steel cable bracing double glazed glass

02 secondary structure

200x100 baubuche S purlins

reinforced, pre-cast concrete wall galvanised steel cable bracing

800x300 baubuche GL75 beam 500x300 baubuche GL75 top beam

CLT floor steel bracket bolted to floor & post structural analysis

double glazed glass

500x300 bottom beam steel post bracket, bolted to footing reinforced concrete pile footing

vertical load

horizontal load

+ point load applied to roof cladding + load resisted by primary beams and reinforced concrete wall + majority of load transferred directly to ground by reinforced wall + load also transferred down beam to post + load carried down to ground by post (spread laterally to top beam)

T C

+ wind force applied to glass + vertical span of glass distributes to top and bottom beam + top and bottom beam transfers load to nearby beams and post + perpendicular roof purlins causes diaphragm action for roof + load transfered to ground via both post and reinforced concrete wall

pools

perspective: esplanade

perspective: canopied plaza

KHôRA