DOMAIN THRESHOLD

BARE ARCHITECTURE / THE INDISCERNIBLE EXPERIENCE

5010 Hospital Road, Sydney CBD, Australia 2000

Autumn, 2020

Undergraduate Graduation Project (Studio 3B)

Individual Work University of Sydney

Tutor: Justine Anderson

Indiscernible: Incapable of being discerned, scarcely discernible or perceptible1

Bare Architecture: A poststructural exploratioon of the interface between architecture and the body2

Prologue

By examining the meaning of theatre, where the roles of audiences and performers are tied closely through the acts of viewing and moving, a new theatre and exhibition space is proposed at the "domain threshold" between the city and the domain parkland in Sydney CBD, with an initial idea of opening up the space, exposing the architectural elements, blurring the boundaries and creating indiscernible experience.

Extracting, dissecting, and manipulating architectural and natural elements around the site, help inspire designing and arranging architectural elements for my design, with the integration of vision and body movement.

In the light of Utzon, I used a different lens in exploring and developing my design. From setting up the space's overall arrangement, composing the details, and creating all those "bare architecture" links the site boundary and generates the indiscernible experience.

1. "Indiscernible Definition And Meaning | Collins English Dictionary", Collinsdictionary.Com, 2020, https://www.collinsdictionary. com/dictionary/english/indiscernible.

2. CHRIS L SMITH, BARE ARCHITECTURE, 1st ed. (London: BLOOMSBURY, 2017).

The Site — Analysis 1: Continuity in Overall Context

Sydney Opera House

The overall context of Sydney has lots of continuation of elements (greeneries, folded coastlines, city blocks...) which let people indiscernibly walk to certain places. In contrast, the site is located at the city's threshold, and the domain creates excellent possibilities for continuing the indiscernible experience and experimenting the space with the "bare architectural elements." Stairs, walls, platforms, columns, louvers, even vegetation... all together leads people into different functional areas while generating thresholds within a threshold.

Sydney Conservatorium

Museum of Sydney State Library of NSW

Sydney Botaniic Garden

Sydney Living Museum

Art Gallery of NSW

Hyde Park Barracks

St. Mary's Cathedral College

From discovering the patterns and elements of a larger context to a closer analysis of the contour threshold of the city and the domain, I found a variety of natural and artificial elements that might indiscernibly cause people to move to a particular space. It provided many possibilities for my architecture to extend those indiscernible movements. There were also elements around the site that had great potential to be dissected, manipulated, and experimented with, which generated possibilities in architectural experience, which can be further referred for developing my design.

The Site - General Location & Traffic to surrounding spots

The Site — Analysis 2: Elements Extraction, Dissection and Manipulation

Through extracting, dissecting and manipulating both architectural and natural elements around the site, help provide inspiration for designing and arranging architectural elements for my design, with an integration of vision and body movement.

Development 1 — Building Form Generation from Context

1:500 Site Model (Conceptual Representation of materiality and exposure of platforms to represent the transition of privacy, semiprivate, and public transition within the cluster of buildings)

Design Development 2 — Architectural Element Intervention

* Experiment 1: open walls shifting to create indiscernible experience in semi-public space

* Experiment 2: Height change in walls lifting people’s view

* Experiment 3: Assembling columns for generating indiscernible experience

Inner Skin: Danpalon Glass (Semi-Translucent) Ensure privacy, enable light

Outer Skin: Machanical Aluminum Louvre Open and close to suit for different type of use for the theatre

* Experiment 4: Developing a threshold entrance (1:50 Detail Model)

* Experiment 5: Element extraction and possibilities in generatinng indiscernible movemennts

The Double-skin structure is a main technique used in designing the theatre building. The machine-running louvres (outer skin) can either open or close, combines with the semitranslucent Danpalon glass(inner-skin), gives a sense of dynamic for the theatre to adapt to different type of performance. Let the theatre stand out from the overall cluster of buildings with its unique characteristic.

Possibility 3: Extension of the resting area for cafe / bar

* Or just remain as its original function — a spacious viewing patio

* Or just remain as its original function — a spacious viewing patio

The large patio is a spacious multifunctional area that can accommodate various public events. The domain parkland is Possibility

The fully opened roof platform is an experiment for the architectural element arrangement. The grid was primarily set as a schema prior to arranging the space. The walls randomly shift within a fixed boundary, creating gaps for the indiscernible experience. Some gaps between walls are enough for a person to pass through. Some can only allow a glimpse through the gap. The gradually raising wall height "cut off" the people and exhibited sculpture into fragments, attracting people to walk through the whole space.

The 2 domains of the reception / indoor exhibition area are distinguished and blurred with 2 large platforms. Height levels can bring people to different fields, but they are not visually blocked.