Archiving thresholds modest specifications by shessian

Archiving_Thresholds_of Inner_Norrebro Modest_Interventions_of_Thresholds

Archiving Thresholds of Inner Norrebro Copenhagen {An Inquiry Into Design & Detailing of Inner Norrebroâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Social Housing & Traditional 18th Century Building} Scarlett Hessian

To Norrebro

“Can we look at things normally considered insignificant, only garbed with anonymous or trivial functions, or are we too humble to have any special form of contemplative interest.’ Steen Hammershoy Andersen

An Introduction To The Contemporary Concept Of The Detail,1

Archiving Thresholds

Of Inner Norrebro {An Inquiry Into Design & Materiality of Inner Norrebro’s Social Housing & Traditional 18th Century Building}

CONTENT.

Archiving_Thresholds_of Inner_Norrebro Modest_Interventions_of_Thresholds

Content

118

Programme

Mapping Senses

124 132 136

Narratives

142

Contexts : Perceiving Thresholds

Casting Physical Context

146 156 168

Materiality

Archiving 18th Century

90 108 114

The Window The Door The Stair

Archiving Existing FSB The Window The Door The Stair Proposal The Window The Door The Stair

PROGRAMME.

Programme_Thresholds Exploration_Into_Thresholds_of_Norrebro Abstract

Programme_Thresholds Exploration_Into_Thresholds_of_Norrebro Introduction

‘Even a banal event can be emotive’

1 - Rachel Whiteread

2 - Peter Zumthor

3 - Carlo Scarpa

4 - Do Ho Suh

5 - Rachel Whiteread

6 - Carlo Scarpa

7 - Gordon Matta Clarke

8 - Arturo Franco

9 - Carol Bove

Andre Breton Mical, 2005, 222

This project began as a study and investigation into ‘Threshold’ spaces of Inner Norrebro. Defining my position of ‘Thresholds’ began by exploring the physical context of the given site. Archiving the area physically through drawing and casting but also later. Socially by initiating a dialogue with locals. This began a narrative with the local users to explore the multifaceted nature of thresholds, specifically thresholds in relation to transition and their ability to generate architectural experience and how it is that we can measure our perceptions of these spaces or alter human experience in these ‘non-spaces’ Some thresholds can be invisible, however, the way one locks, obstructs, opens, invites, extends or limits determines the accessibility of the spatial experience and therefore defines a threshold not as a space; but as an in-between space. A threshold is an action and experience. A gate, door, lock or curtain people use in their homes, creates a boundary or threshold between space at a human scale.

Exploring the tactility of these spaces, and what humans interact with. I have catalogued and archived architectural elements, materials, patterns, physical objects in order to understand the environment in which these human experiences take place. Trying to capture and highlight the beautiful details and phenomenological approach of ‘non-spaces’ local to Norrebro. Always referring back to the understanding of banality and the mundaneness within these ‘non-spaces’; whilst trying to measure the potentials of experiences in these ‘nonspaces’. Each doorway, door handle or stair tread passed is a threshold into a future space. We should start by understanding what it is that exists already as architects before we can start from scratch “It is interesting to reflect on the history of architecture and how most great architects truly found their voice after years of careful work.” (Stephen Bates)

My motivation to investigate thresholds was influenced from initial research of the area of mapping senses of sound, touch, smell and sight. This lead to looking very closely into the materiality and how people use the small everyday things of their lives in Norrebro. This zooming in of the space lead me to look closely at the use, scaring and impressions that are left in a space and on materials; developing an archive of thresholds in which haptic and phenomenological experiences take place lead me to chose to record the following thresholds:

Windows Doors Stairwells

Exploring these spaces of tactility and thresholds with different mediums of casting, drawing an photography. I have looked at the work of the following designers as an exploration of materiality, tactility, Phenomenology, non-space and space activation at a modest, human scale:

Programme_Thresholds Exploration_Into_Thresholds_of_Norrebro Mission

Analysing Thresholds/ Non Spaces

“Between here and there.” Jane Rendell Art and Architecture: a Place Between

My goal is to reach a level of emotional human engagement from buildings in those places where little or none exists today. These places I have defined as ‘Thresholds’ specifically looking into windows, doors, ironmongery, stair hand rails and stairwells. By studying a historical, classical building as a case study into the methods of traditional building I aim to understand the decisions made as the period of modernism came into the realm of architecture. This is given as a case study example in FSB housing in Norrebro. These are a very clumsy attempt at modernism; cheap designs from the 1970’s when the inner city was demolished and regenerated with a large mass of red brick. There is a “A tension between architects who believe in technological rational solutions, and those who believe in convention and some form of cultural continuity (this) is still prevalent in contemporary architectural discourse” (Stephen Bates) I believe I sit on the side of cultural continuity as a future strategy towards the designing of architecture. There are of

course economic considerations to address, and contemporary building practice demands; a lighter construction technique, which is thoroughly at odds with the tectonic structure one associates with conventional classicism. By understanding traditional methods of creating emotive and memorable spaces by looking at the past and what exists today. from measuring architectural experience from traditional 18th century architecture through local narratives and physical recording of ornamentation and detail in building; there is a clearly different experience for those who live and use the FSB housing. Throughout this project I have tried to remain neutral in order to understand the functional aspects of the FSB housing, and the understanding of the economical and social situation during the build compared to the climate of the 18th century. However I wish to challenge the methods of construction and design of the FSB focusing specifically in altering the before mentioned thresholds.

I have created this document in a fashion in which to challenge the existing British Standards Specification manual. This document is a standardisation of what information must be given to a contractor or builder, in order for them to proceed with building or creating the architectural element of information given.

1 - Frank Lloyd Wright

2 - Peter Zumthor

4 - Peter Zumthor

5 - Dan Karavan

3 - Peter Zumthor 6 - Carlo Scarpa

7 - Dan Graham

8 - Peter Zumthor

9 - Peter Zumthor

I have archived windows, doors, ironmongery, stair handrails and balustrades of the existing of two building types, and a proposed. Alongside these drawn elements there is a text of a traditional method of specification writing; However I have accompanied it with a more descriptive narrative about the context in which the detail sits. Experimenting with the idea of how design can be portrayed to the craftsmen involved in the work.

Programme_Thresholds Exploration_Into_Thresholds_of_Norrebro Vision

Analysing Thresholds/ Non Spaces:

“To live is to leave traces” Walter Benjamin Colomina, 1992, 74

During initial research, the studying of the materiality and human and physical responses to these and how they are used to define thresholds became my main focus of interest. This level of depth in which I chose to look remained constant when moving into the recording of architectural detail. I chose to focus on a very human scale after studying the area of Norrebro in very high level of detail during the research phase of the project. Using the senses to be what measures our perceptions of space; sound, smell, noise, touch and taste. This tactile way of measuring space held my interest the more local and personal the research became. Exploring how locals use the space, and studying how they have created new thresholds within the existing thresholds of residential blocks, both FSB and privately owned. How can we as designers redefine people’s perceptions of thresholds, to either limit or expand the invitation to use public or private space? This then lead me to think in very small scales with banal, everyday life narratives.

What does one touch to unlock their front door? What is the handle made from? Does the rain soaked timber door remind him of a place he’s been before? These banal, rather ignored moments that occur in everyday life, are taking place in what we would describe as a threshold. A doorway, an entrance, a passage, a stairwell or a corridor. They are very transient spaces, in which we would not describe to be a ‘place’ but an in-between space. It is these areas of Norrebro, with site specific investigations I have archived and catalogued such details in order to better understand these, so to speak, ‘forgotten spaces’. During site investigations into locals personal experiences of Norrebro, I met a man named Werner who has lived on the 5th floor of an 18th Century apartment on Blagards Plads for over forty years. He explained his kitchen has not been renovated since 1910; this triggered the thought of how many hands have touched this kitchen; how many people had been invited over for dinner a and made the journey from the large gate at the entrance, through the

stairwell and up into this apartment. Walter Benjamin once said, “To live is to leave traces” (Colomina, 1992, 74). Each doorway, door handle, stair tread they have passed is a threshold into a future space, however it is the activity and “Movements of bodies in space” (Tshcumi, Cresswell, 2012, 51). that create the memory and experience of an architectural space.

Mapping Senses

1:1000_@A1_Contextual_Map

Study of Materiality and sensory elements of Inner Norrebro

Mapping_Sounds September_15 _October_15

Sounds

1. Child crying 2. Football hitting a wall 3. Children shouting 4. Children screaming 5. Leaves falling on the hard ground 6. The wind rustling the leaves in the trees 7. Crisp bag rustling 8. Cap on bottle being opened 9. Takeaway paper being wrapped up 10. Ceramic cup being put down on a wooden table 11. Cutlery scraping on plate 12. Foot-steps crunching on gravel 13. Running footsteps on the pavement and across sandy gravel 14. Pen writing on paper 15. Pages turning against the wind 16. Door shutting 17. High pitch female voices from around t he corner 18. Low toned male voices from the bench 19. Middle eastern music playing from top window 20. The sound of pots and pans clinging together coming through the window 21. Dog barking echoing down the street 22. Skateboard wheels going over granite stones 23. Glass smashing 24. Can opening 25. The hum of many voices in a shallow street 26. Lock hitting metal rack and bike 27. Electric door opening 28. Car speeding up 29. Car parking 30. Swing chain squeaking whilst going forth and back 31. Low thud of footsteps on grass 32. Bus engine slowing down at bus stop

Mapping_Scents September_15_October_15

Scents

32. Bus engine slowing down at bus stop 33. The rain falling on the hard pavement 34. Plastic back being thrown in bin 35. Door hinges creaking as it opens and slamming closed 36. Metal mud guards slapping the rubber bike wheel 37. Piano playing from inside a bar 38. Pop Music playing from a 4th floor window 39. Bike wheel splashing through a puddle 40. Birds chirping in the trees 41. Un-stacking metal chairs on pavement 42. Wind blowing leaves through the trees 43. Wind rustling through tarpaulin 44. Wood burring in a barrel 45. Moving wooden pieces on board game 46. Scooter speeding up 47. Low man voices from bench 48. Traffic passing by 49. Check-in-sound of a bus 50. Metal chair being pulled over the pavement 52. Phone ringing 53. Siren of the fire brigade passing by 54. Bee buzzing in the air 55. Rain falling on stone ground 56. Distant hum of voices 57. Distant engine of a lawnmower 58. Skateboard wheels rolling over granite stones 59. Electric door closing 60. Bicycle pump air chamber release

1. Fresh rain on the ground 2. Wet grass 3. Fried falafel kebab and fries 4. Coffee 5. Cigarette smoke 6. Beer 7. Eastern spices and onions cooking 8. Wet dog hair 9. Body odour 10. Sweet aromatic teas 11. Car fumes 12. Wet wood 13. (Flowers) 14. Strong perfume 15. Old material moth ball smell (record shop) 16. Fresh cut timber (frame shop) 17. Dog shit 18. Dog food 19. Stale cigarette smoke 20. Oranges 21. Swan shit 22. Plastic tarpaulin 23. Fresh paint 24. Burnt electrical wires 25. Piss 26. Bleach 27. Tomato Sauce 28. Garlic 29. Fire smoke 30. Scooter exhaustion 31. Sweaty person 32. Weed 33. Food 34. Fresh bread 35. Musty cellar 36. Washing powder 37. Soaked timber 38. Stale beer 39. Plastic sheeting 40. Lavender 41. Lilac 42. Rosemary 43. Oil

NARRATIVES.

Narrative_Local_Resident October_15_2015

‘Does Quietness Have A Sound?’ Summary

When we asked a local resident of Blågårds Plads what he sees when he looks out of his window; he replied, “I see these Linden trees… I feel this is really a garden… I’m not living in the centre of Copenhagen, I’m living in a garden”. He likes to enjoy Café Blågårds Apotek, which sits on the corner of the square for all of the singer songwriter and jazz nights, this he can observe quietly from the 5th floor of his apartment. We asked if there were any sounds characteristic of the area in which he replied after a long pause with, “Does Quietness have a sound?” This was a surprising response as we had perceived the area to be bustling with sounds from morning to night. However he seeks calmness and stress relief from walking around the lakes and parks regularly as he “likes quietness”. This lead us to ask if he utilizes the public courtyards that sit behind his apartment, as they seemed to us to be a quiet green retreat from the city, “I don’t like it because there’s windows all around you. I feel like I’m in an aquarium, or the zoo”. Asking him further about Blågårds Plads and Norrebro, he says it has changed a lot over 40 years; “there was more identity… ‘we are Norrebro, fight for our rights” was the feeling in the 1970’s but now people aren’t working class here, they are independent and self-sufficient, so “why should they integrate? There’s no need for it”. However, seeing groups of friends and locals gathering to drink Beers and smoke together on

the benches of Blågårds Plads he agreed that “they are peaceful, I am not intimidated by them, not intimidated at All”. We left the interview with the positive and humbling feeling that this area really is a community, despite calling it a “parallel society” the locals live side by side, and sometimes have much deeper Than we can observe as outsiders.

Narrative_Local_Resident October_15_2015

Narrative_Local_Resident Tuesday_September_22_2015

‘Does Quietness Have A Sound?’

Narrative_Local_Resident Tuesday_September_22_2015

‘Does Quietness Have A Sound?’

‘Does Quietness Have A Sound?’ Interview Transcript

Initial meeting: Monday 8:00 pm shooting 24 hour video; he approached us to ask what we were doing. We explained the purpose of our position to be a 24 hour exploration of Blågårds Plads and asked if he would be happy to arrange an interview; in which he explained he is a journalist and would be happy too.

Can you describe your home to us? My apartment? You ask me about my apartment, how it is. An old apartment, with 4 different kind of floors because I’ve not yet renovated. Most people renovate these days, I haven’t. Are they all timber? Yes my kitchen is from 1910 and not renovated. (Laughs) Is it nice to look at? Yes it is okay for me, I’m single now. (Laughs) How long have you been there? Since 1981, since before you were born. It is a community in this building. We live as a community. There’s a specific English word for it. You share in the house. So you also have responsibility? Most of these buildings are like this way. I have a share in this community.

Then there is a board to decide what is to be renovated and how to. So is every member of these flats a member of this board? How does it work? How do you come to conclusion? Yes we have some struggles but price is quite low but we had a board and decided it should be cheap apartments. Should not spend a lot of money. The value of the apartment is quite high. Are your neighbours all in creative industries? No, no. These are teachers, next one is… she’s also a teacher. She’s academic work. The next one is some young people I’m not so familiar with what they’re doing. I think these ones are pensioners… is this interesting? Yes. The next question was going to be do you know your neighbours? Yeah, yeah we know each other Do you bump into each other and hang out outside of the house? No we do not hang out. Probably sometimes meet here at the café. So is this bar a big part of the community? For some people. I come here regularly. Tomorrow we have singer song evening. What do you see when you look

out your window? I see these linden trees. I think it’s wonderful to see these linden trees. I just read an article in the newspaper that to look at green colours is good for stress. To heal stress. If you have some green things to look at. I feel this is really a garden. So when I look out, I’m not living in the centre of Copenhagen I look out at a garden. Are there any characteristic sounds of this area that are special to this place? I think its. Does quietness have a sound? I think its quietness. It’s like these squares you can meet in some cities there’s a little area with very little sounds. And I live on 5th floor. But I know my neighbours from below they complain about noises of the chairs from cafés. And the noise late in the evenings, sometimes it’s late and loud. And we have a lot of concerts here in the summer. It’s not always exactly my kind of music they are playing. But I’m a spectator from there. Sometimes it’s too much, a whole weekend, sometimes a whole week. This is a place when they have Labour Day they start it here. It’s a working class area so it’s a tradition. They start here and talk about the capitalists and how we should fight for our rights and we will never surrender What about any smells? Very distinct smells in the area? Just the restaurants. Café latte’s from these cafes. And of course we have this

Shawarma, spicy Shawarma. Where do you feel most comfortable outside in this area? The lakes. I like to stroll round the lakes. And I like Copenhagen because there are so many green (LAUGHS) areas. Today I’m a little bit elderly but I like to go to the parks and around the lakes and quietness. I’m not used to town so much. No. I do not feel intimidated here. Has it always felt this way? There’s this group here that sell hash and they occupy this door over here. And then I was thinking a little bit that if you get bad eye contact with them of misunderstanding ha t would happen? Nothing ever happen? No. They still come sometimes. But I do not feel intimidated by. Just think about it, you do not stare into their eyes. Why do you like living here? I would like to find another place Are there some public spaces here you don’t feel welcome? to live. Another place. Where there is more green areas here in Copenhagen. I want to stay in Copenhagen. I am a Copenhagen. I must stay here Would you ever go to Frederiksberg? Yes. There are so many parks there, you should go and see them.

Are there any reasons why you don’t like living here? No! Anything on daily basis that bothers you? I think it’s wonderful for one reason. You can bike anywhere in 5 minutes. To central station, to the universities. My workplace, everything. 5 minutes. It’s not like London Wondering what you think about the courtyards? I don’t use it. I don’t like it because there’s windows all around you. I feel like I’m in an aquarium, or the zoo. So I don’t use it. Even when I sit on my balcony I do not feel so comfortable because there’s windows everywhere. Do you perceive it differently to Blågårds Plads.? Yes, but you can be sure there looking at us. Thinking, two girls? There’s a lot of gossip here. It’s astonished sometimes when I talk with people and they say where your girlfriends is? How do you know who she is? A little provincial here. It has changed a lot here from when I came here. There we small shops, butchers bakers, small shops for ordinary people for people’s needs of everyday life. Now its shops, galleries, vets. It’s completely different. Do you like the change? I think it was nice when it was these small shops.

Do you notice the hipsters here? The street is divided when you come up here you have the cafés with all these students and this area is more or less empty. You can see areas divided in these kinds of buildings. They teared down the slum in the 70’s and teared down here and rebuilt this courtyard. This square has been an iron foundry. That’s why we call it the black square because from that iron foundry the chimneys came up in this area. I’m little bit tired of the summer and the music on this square. I am an old man What happens in the winter? We have skating on the square. Not sure it happens any more. Not so much life on the sure in winter. Do you have the feeling the community is still as important as it was 30 years ago? No, it’s not the same, not the same time. anymore. People are different, there was more identity 40 years ago. We are Norrebro, fight for our rights. It has changed. I Feel it. Someone might say differently.

Narrative_Local_Resident Tuesday_September_22_2015

‘Does Quietness Have A Sound?’

Do you know why it’s not strong anymore? I think people have become richer here. It’s not working class area enough and they have a life of their own and they do not need other people. Their neighbours. They have their own apartments their own income. Why should they integrate? There’s no need for it. Maybe there are some there. There is a big community here with a group drinking beers from the morning until the night. There’s a little group. But in former days the whole area was filled with this. They used to have these huge dogs that barked. But they are peaceful. Not intimated by them and I do not feel intimated at all. Do you describe this area as open minded? I think it’s the most open minded area in Denmark. Very multi-cultural in this area. Yeah, yeah. How do you experience that when different cultures live together in small places? Does this benefit the community in some way for you? Benefit the community? Of course you get a lot for different new experience. New culture. But they do not mix together. They have their shops. Maybe you go and buy a Shawarma but you do not mix up. There’s the Danes and yeah. The other cultures. I guess it could be the same in London. We stick to what you’re comfortable in. No deeper relationships with these guys.

So more like living side by side? We call it parallel society. They have their society and our society. And are you comfortable with it that way? Would you want it to be any different or does it work for you? That’s a good question! I talk with them but, it is a different culture. You can’t. I don’t like to say any negative. There’s something about that. There something about values that differ. But if you ask one of the, about a great writer, I don’t even mention the name. They look blankly. You ask them about rock music and they look blankly, you mention the Roskilde festival and they have no idea. Completely blank. This way something you cannot share. Would they come here, no never? Because you’re drinking alcohol. So and it’s not in a negative bad meaning. It just different interests. It’s not because I’m negative it just something I cannot share.

Narrative_Local_Resident Tuesday_September_22_2015

‘Does Quietness Have A Sound?’

Narratives_Norrebro Blagarsgade_12_Stariwell November_8_2015

“You Have A Very Beautiful Staircase”

I buzzed flat number 1 at Blågårdsgade 35 and politely said, “Hello I’m an architecture student from the art academy, I was wondering if it was okay for me to take some photographs of your staircase.” Dr A replied “Of course, I’ll let you in.” I thanked her and let myself in. I began to unpack my strange green wax from its cosy box, praying it would still be warm enough to mould into the tiny crevasses of the stair balustrade. I still had some time, probably only 20 minutes, so I began to push the luke- warm wax into the painted iron stair post, hoping it would pick up the ornate detail of this post which has stood since 1810. Imagining how many hands have touched this post, to swing themselves up the first step, or landed on it whilst sliding down the sturdy mahogany hand rail. It still stood strong, and tall, undamaged and permanent. Something that cannot be said for the Netto store that stands opposite. Its thin grey metal cladding, with offset panels that’s only pattern is the repeated rhythm of the panels and offset windows, absorbing all light and reflecting nothing back. I sensed someone hovering at the door, I wonder whether to let them in, but realised it’s not my home. The mail man arrived, looking baffled to see me standing with black Fimo and green wax in either hand. I smiled and explained I am trying to record details of the building, he removes one head phone and smiles, probably still clueless as to what it is I am doing. I smiled and carried on.

I successfully cast some of the metal newel post and timber hand rail with Fimo and wax but the wax has all hardened by now. So I moved onto wax paste, a much better casting material, which is traceless. I warmed it in my hands to make it as soft as possible and began to push it into the iron curls of the stair balustrade. The detail in this staircase is as ornate as jewellery, tilting your head upright to look through to the top floor, it acts as a chandelier for the stairwell. Still feeling slightly like a trespasser, two more people entered the stairwell, pausing their conversation once they spotted me hanging out on a step. I smiled and said hello, they continued to walk past me smiling and said, “What are you going to make?” I explained that I am an architecture student once again, and that I am recording detail in thresholds for my project and that, “You have a very beautiful staircase”, the woman looked at her friend and said, “Yes, you really do, it’s really beautiful” They continued to ascend the stair case chatting, the sound silenced after a heavy, solid door slam. I continued to cast, when the woman -an returned 5 minutes later, she wished me luck and said, “It’s great to see people showing appreciation for this kind of architecture, it’s so lost now.” I explained that was also my shared point of view, and the point of the project is to demonstrate the loss between social housing buildings and 18th/19th Century housing.

She nodded, and agreed with most that I said, then interrupting me to point over the road to the Netto and apartments that sit above it. “This won’t last more than 30 years, this has been here for over 200 years, and look at it; It’s perfect still.” She continued by describing her house, around the corner, “It’s on the lakes, just one street from here, it’s not as rich as this building, as it was built when the city still had a forte. The building had to have the best fire escape route, in case the Swede’s attacked, you must come by and visit, it’s very interesting.” I gleefully accept her invitation and we exchange numbers. Anette continues with, “I have lived here all of my life, and it is so sad to see that they got rid of everything in the 70’s. I know a lot if it had to go as it was too small, and it didn’t work, but I think if they tried harder they could have kept a lot of the old details, just some of it, but they didn’t. They just tore it all down. It’s all about money these days, they don’t care about what it looks like.” I explain how I believe there needs to be a new approach to social housing, within their budgets and the design process. She agrees with me, and we organise to meet in a weeks’ time for coffee at her house so we can talk about it more.

CONTEXTUAL INVESTIGATION.

Influenced by George Perec’s ‘Species of Spaces’ in which he challenged ways of recording a city. Choosing to record the ordinary and the everyday. He chose twelve locations of Paris which he was familiar with and wrote about them twice a year for twelve years. He also allowed himself to write about memory, not just the physical space. This combination of physical details and descriptions informed by a personal experience revealed the city to be a place of human experience, not architecture alone. This is a technique I borrowed when investigating the site of Norrebro. This chapter demonstrates my personal experience of the neighbourhood through visual representation as well as written. Limiting the descriptions to a mere few words and allowing the scale of the simple line drawings to describe what I recalled from the place. The picture collages act as montages of memories, displaying a narrative through experience.

Todesgade_8_Norrebro FSB_Residential_Block Collage_Threshold_1