SepehrDehkordi2

A 3rd generaĆ&#x;on of architecture: L sepehr hosseini (dehkordi)

afka, Oulu school of architecture

ABSTRACT

University of Oulu Faculty of Technology

Department

Laboratory

Department of Architecture

Laboratory of Contemporary Architecture

Author

Thesis Supervisor

Hosseini S. Sepehr

Mahlamäki R. Prof.

Title of Thesis

A 3rd generaƟon of architecture: LaŅa, Oulu school of architecture Major Subject

Type of Thesis

contemporary architecture masters thesis

Submission Date

Number of Pages

May 2013

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Abstract

The very ini al idea of the theme for diploma thesis happened to be the ques on of whether one as a non-Finnish-educated architecture student could ‘read’ the Finnish spirit of the exis ng buildings ̶ old edifices, regional buildings, and even the contemporary architecture ̶ into the newly designed one. However, according to school’s bureaucracy, for master’s level theses it could be more appropriate to avoid too much theore cal and focus on more design-related solu ons.

Hence, author decided to challenge the task through a ques oned exis ng context which to own a certain level of history, change and con ngency.

Oulu school of architecture is the only academic unit of Oulu University that didn’t become a part of Linnanmaa campus and it stayed on its own grounds in the heart of city center wherein the city blocks host a variety of old stone buildings, few le wooden buildings and newly-built ones.

La a ̶ Oulu school of architecture ̶ consists of, the University oldest building ̶ Vanha koulurakennus, 1884 ̶ five old wooden buildings and Apaja ̶ designed by Auer & Sandås architects based on an open compe on held on 2000 ̶ happened to be a very commendable context (serving characteris cs of its own) for a master’s level diploma thesis.

Accordingly, one may behold the architectural background of this specific context and wonder, how could it be possible to design a third genera on of buildings within this city block considering the act and react of the ‘old’ and the ‘new’, and the interact of the ‘newer’?

In the beginning, the big idea was to design a new library building for school ̶ which was confron ng some difficul es at the me ̶ but during the months of project evalua on, new decisions were made to have the new architecture, as a small mul func onal building serving basically whatever is going to be needed since August 2013 ̶ Suomen Yliopistokiinteistöt Oy is termina ng the lease on school’s old stone building ̶ in which school will be facing a huge shortages of spaces; mainly studios, working places, and students’ ac vity rooms.

Along with the concerns on func onality of the context and the new architecture, a big effort has been made to inves gate the ‘image’ influences of the new architecture; not to men on the very valuable exis ng architectural dialogue. This procedure included choosing the most suitable place for carving out the new building which to harm less spa ally and defeat the most aesthe cally.

Coinciding slightly-deconstructed architectural shapes with usages of tradi onal building elements, in this design project, has given this opportunity to the newest genera on of architecture of this site, to architecturally communicate with the same language but a different dialect; a new voice of its own ming with a civil respect to the others.

More importantly, an experimental ‘trial and error’ has been processed to inves gate the effects of the different materials being used in the new structure. The main goal was, to avoid adding more complica on into the exis ng life of this city block. Transparent colorless highly-detailed materials seemed to be the best solu on to accomplish the project with.

contents Foreword ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Context .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3 A newer architecture ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Procedure ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Poli cs, ownerships, and contradic ons ....................................................................................................................................................... 6 Changes, iden fying, hypotheses and feedbacks .......................................................................................................................................... 7 Op ons, alterna ves, and versa le func onality.......................................................................................................................................... 9 Complica ons, considera ons and cri cals................................................................................................................................................. 10 Image ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Students ac vi es ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 18 Closure......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 20

Foreword The very ini al stages of this diploma project started with the ques on whether one can bridge the gap between the design and theory sides of contemporary architecture through an experimental trial and error procedure.

For that reason one might be obligated to be or become a ached to a specific context which is the very actual factor of doing an architecture.

Author or designer of this project found it problema c to parallel his educa onal background and the current one within a context trapped into its own way of defini ons of an architectural procedure. And by this context author means Finland.

Hence, the a empt happened to be the very contempla ng of the Finnishness that breathes through both educa onal and prac cal way of architectural design. However, it is very far behind ge ng to know the whole iden ty which doesn’t get housed in a limited master level diploma thesis. Therefore, designer or author ̶ as a non-Finnish architecture student ̶ had to rely on his limited percep onal way of inves ga ng the context.

The results of this diploma thesis are not some hypothe cal outlines without any applica on towards contemporary architecture. As it will be seen later, the outlines will be used through a changing design process which might not be that conven onal.

Meanwhile, author discussed his thoughts and concepts with the mentors whom they were very welcome with the theme but they came along with the idea which the scale of the theore cal part doesn’t fit with a master level diploma thesis as it is discussed already. It was decided to keep focus on design and meanwhile get some assist from theory.

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photos taken from Laboratory of History archives, Oulu school of architecture

Context The objec ve of this diploma project happened to be La a ̶ Oulu school of architecture ̶ itself, for a variety of reasons. The big idea emerged while author was trying to find a specific context to work on; a context which serves a certain level of history, con ngency and prospect.

Oulu school of architecture is the only academic unit of Oulu University that didn’t become a part of Linnanmaa campus and it stayed on its own grounds in the heart of city center wherein the city blocks host a variety of old stone buildings, few le wooden buildings and newly-built ones.

La a ̶ Oulu school of architecture ̶ consists of, the University oldest building ̶ Vanha koulurakennus, 1884 ̶ five old wooden buildings and Apaja ̶ designed by Auer & Sandås architects based on an open compe on held on 2000 ̶ happened to be a very commendable context (serving characteris cs of its own) for a master’s level diploma thesis.

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A newer architecture The big challenge was how to add a new architecture within this context which to communicate with the same language but a different dialect, a voice of its own ming. Here comes the act and react of the old and the new ̶ by old author means Kivitalo and the other old wooden buildings and by new he means Apaja ̶ and then it comes the interacts of the newer ̶ the new building as the task of this diploma project.

In the beginning, it was concerned that what would the func ons of this new building considering the very changeable and existen al life of this city block as a school of architecture and its rela onship and challenges with the main campus ̶ Linnanmaa ̶ and the authori es and the upcoming policies and plans which will be discussed later.

At the me the school’s library was facing different issues which were concerning the people in La a. In contrast to Finnish libraries which serve characteres cs of transparency, comprehension, highly-use, openness and usage of new technology, Kirjasto building was lacking a vibrant, alive and user-friendly atmosphere. Therefore, it was decided to dedicate the new building to a library and re-arrange the spaces and re-use the current library’s building as one of laboratories; for instance, the history and restora on laboratory. Nevertheless, a commi ee got together and decided to do something to improve the condi ons of the exis ng library. They hold a comple on called Media Lounge and they aimed to re-decorate and re-vitalize that old wooden building regarding the very low-budget they could spend on. Comple on got held, winners were announced, and the changes were implemented mainly during winter- mes. Not to men on, nowadays Media Lounge operates as the way it was planned from beginning.

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Procedure Accordingly, a er this actual incident of improving one of the buildings belonged to the first genera on of this context’s architectural surface, there was no point le to generate another library building. Therefore, it was decided to firstly work on the image side of the project and then next comp up with the best appropriate func on which could be paralleled with the very actual and real issues of the school.

The image of a new building included choosing the best place (for a new architecture) within this dense context regarding the very historical values of the exis ng buildings and the way of shaping the building architecturally which could be ge ng more a ached within the context both func onally and aesthe c(ly).

A trial and error experimental procedure was commenced to come up with dierent altera ves of loca ng the new building concerning the ques on that should it be extended from one of the exis ng buildings or replaced with any of them and etc.

It is worthy to men on that even if this procedure took a long me to become accomplished, but it was coincident with the fact that author or designer spent a huge me working on the project on the site as both a user and the inves gator of the project. It worked like a scien fic experiment held in an actual (urban) laboratory and the results were totally aected by the very daily life of the school and its users.

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PoliƟcs, ownerships, and contradicƟons For the sake of processing the project through, any documents related to this city block ̶ like exis ng buildings’ floor plans, sec ons, facades, and the other helpful materials ̶ was needed.

At the me, the renova on of Kivitalo’s façade and roof was being ended. PERI, the company in charged for the construc on work and the equipment had finished their job and they were carrying away all their belongings. Along with PERI, Teppo Arkkiteh toimisto was the architectural office responsible for the design-phase of Kivitalo’s renova on. For the me being, the architectural office owned all the men oned documents of the school and the ownerships of the documents would be given back to school’s community at the end of October 2012.

Meanwhile, author contacted them to see if they would cooperate and borrow some materials to him for the process of this diploma project.

Against their will, the office acknowledged that the documents had been acquired by Suomen Yliopistokiinteistöt Oy ̶ the owner of the buildings. Therefore, author had to refer to them and get a permission to receive the DWG drawings. He visited Seppo Wiik ̶ the manager of the men oned company ̶ but because of control policies, he received some limited documents which were open to public.

Relevantly, the costs of Kivitalo’s façade and roof renova on exceeded to the much that Suomen Yliopistokiinteistöt Oy came up with termina ng the lease on school’s old stone building ̶ Kivitalo ̶ in August 2013.

This incident would cause a huge shortage of spaces in school; which not to men on currently, Kivitalo houses two important laboratories of contemporary architecture and history and restora on, and more importantly student studios and working places which are the most cri cal these days.

It was right about the me that the designer was determined to address the new building through the very real and current issues of the school. In one hand, loss of Kivitalo in almost less than a year, because of the unexpected costs of the renova on, and the other hand, hypothe cally, adding a new building to serve the rooms that the school will be lacking a er losing Kivitalo, would be a very big contradic on of financial ma ers. Nevertheless, hypothe cally, it was decided eventually, the new building will be a small mul -func onal building ̶ like Apaja ̶ with less complexity and ac vity.

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photos taken from Laboratory of History archives, Oulu school of architecture

Changes, idenƟfying, hypotheses and feedbacks Along with, the most cri cal incident of the me happened to be the University of Oulu’s authori es’ policies towards the school of architecture which is the only academic unit off the main campus. They have come along with the idea of transforming the school into the main campus and re-func oning this city block for other usages. This decision caused a huge reac on among the school’s folk ̶ students and teachers ̶ and finally was ascertained that in a not very far away future the school will become a part of Linnanma campus.

According to this, the concern emerged, hypothe cally, how can the establishment of this new architecture be affec ng through these decision-makings by consis ng on highligh ng the very unique iden ty of the context/this city block? A decade ago while they held that interna onal architectural compe on to add a new mul func onal building ̶ Apaja ̶ the same concerns were confron ng the school but the implementa on of the building stabilized the very iden cal existence of this small campus. A er all, is a decade enough to fulfill all those concerns?

Meanwhile, for the sake of ge ng feedbacks and comments from actual users of this specific context ̶ this experimental laboratory ̶ author/designer developed a weblog to update the project and share it with the others me to me as a very existen al user-affected project, or as a workshop which not to men on it happened to be very influen al and popular. There were students whom spoke out their opinions on the process and the alterna ves. This also was very profitable for the very ini al goal of approaching a more cultural way of doing an architecture.

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me & my diploma! The weblog Author/Designer developed for a more communica ve process

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OpƟons, alternaƟves, and versaƟle funcƟonality Back to the alterna ves of loca ng the new building and the image importance; carving out a new building totally touched with the exis ng ones should be done very cau ously. There are numerous op ons of land use for a new building within this block which have to be studied.

This project is poten ally very emo onal. Therefore, studying different possibili es of space-treatment is required. There were several factors that had to be taken care of; this part of the city houses some of the few le old wooden buildings of the town which are historically valuable and represen ng. Some of these wooden buildings do belong to La a; in the other hand, dividing the inner-yard of the school in a way that wouldn’t cause difficul es in air-circula ng and cold-air-unblocking process; considering there exists a (historical) route of trees in the yard which ends up in the middle of Apaja cafeteria with a sculpture done by Ari Koch as a symbol of a tree.

The process of inves ga ng different loca ons for the new building ̶ mainly extended to the exis ng buildings ̶ ended by choosing the alterna ve in the very middle of the yard in front of Kivitalo. The footprint of the building wouldn’t be wide but it seemed appropriate to adapt it in several floors which the height doesn’t arise above the main building ̶ Kivitalo.

Furthermore, We s ll have some floor-area within this block that can be used according to the city master plan, some hundreds of square meter, Rainer Mahlamäki pointed out. As it was discussed before, it might not be necessary to come up with a very precise func on at this stage; the new building can face to the changes of the current situa on and to change itself in a versa le way. But even for this case, it might be be er to get to know the exis ng rooms of the school and their rela ons together.

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ComplicaƟons, consideraƟons and criƟcals The idea of having an underground parking turned out while they were organizing a compe on for a new mul func onal building ̶ Apaja ̶ almost a decade ago. At the me, the idea of having a new building was big-enough itself, therefore, construc ng an underground parking was far too much from happening.

Nowadays, the whole school is ge ng shrunk and as we’re adding a newer building to this complex (hypothe cally), we would need to op mize the space. But in the case that we came along with the idea of bringing parking lots to underground, it has to be considered that we ought to have a strong idea for school’s courtyard while it’s ge ng totally out of cars. It might be reasonable to turn it into a more publicfriendly space regarding to the fact that there will be new users for Kivitalo in early future.

Regardless to the above point, the city of Oulu is construc ng new underground parking garages which one starts right next to the market square. That would affect the whole downtown, therefore the need for a secondary individual underground parking (for La a) won’t be felt.

The most crucial issue that the school is facing these days is student working places and studios which are placed in Kivitalo’s second and third floor. Author/designer studied different points of view on how rearrange different rooms of the school in a versa le way that not to contradict each other ̶ he was asked that the task for the master diploma thesis wouldn’t include such analyses.

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Image At this point, one may get back on the image side of the project and start reshaping the chosen (sketched) alterna ve. The a empt will be made to follow the process of reshaping the ini al building by illustra ng plain figures and shades. At the end the realiza on of the building will be displayed through both human and bird’s eye point of view.

The new building’s outlines and shapes would be fairly affected by the dominant architectural language of the site through a dynamic rewri en ou it and the materials designer is temp ng to choose.

Except the stone building ̶ kivitalo ̶ the main dominant material within this city block is wood. Every each of those old wooden buildings has its own colored wooden finishes. The a empt is made to choose a set of materials for the new building which to avoid adding more chaos to the exis ng situa on.

The first main detailed alterna ve happened to be a tall one-standing building which stands on a total transparent lobby-floor. The rest of the building ̶ except windows ̶ being covered by roofing prepa nated Nordic Green copper sheets. The big idea was to iden fy the new building (within context) mostly through its architectural composi on and not the finishes materials.

The very first design response was to follow the precise outlines of the exis ng buildings leading into the new architecture. But in later stages, designer felt more freedom to leave the new architecture performing more disobedient yet civilian to the context. The main façade includes a transparent sharp-angled triangle which to represent the very tradi onal shape of roofing the buildings in its own terms. And it also is a repeater of Apaja’s front glass wall ̶ as an a achment policy towards the both first and second genera on of architecture.

Even if the chosen materials were sa sfying and fi ng-enough for this urban context, but this urge was being felt to try also the alterna ve with wooden finishes. Except the transparent materials, all the other surfaces being replaced by ver cal mbers which also help the idea of iden fying the building as an one-standing highreaching building.

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0 10 lafka + new building scale 1:400

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Students acƟviƟes Besides all the analysis about how the new building func ons, designer finally determined to devote the new architecture to mostly student ac vi es. First floor is covered by glazed walls and would be used as an exhibi on area which brings a strong effect into school’s yard. Second floor is an atelier for artworks and sculpture which mainly would be used by younger students. These days, the demand for more computers with all the related so wares has been seen, therefore the third floor could be a small computer lab ̶ it’s been proved that smaller computer labs in La a are the most groupworking friendly environment since there are variety of assignments that should be done in groups. And eventually, the last or fourth floor works as student studios ̶ free of computers.

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First Floor scale 1:100

Eleva on scale 1:400 0 1

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Closure At the end, one may acknowledge that author or designer could be cri cized for a variety of ma ers. But in defense one may comment that the process author/designer proceeded was an experimental course of ac ons which to define a be er picture of contemporary architecture as a self-educa ng behavior at the end of his master’s educa on. One aspect that has to be fairly considered, author/designer has been academically grown through two extremely dierent schools of architecture which may cause inconvenients through evolving thoughts and carrying on projects. He strongly believes even some ma ers wouldn’t seem that relevant to an architectural project, but for ge ng a ached to the context, there were worth to contemplate.

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