Rhythms and arrhythmia “Arrhythmia reigns, except for rare moments and circumstances� Lefebvre, H. (2004) Rhythmanalysis
Susanna boreham
Rhythms of daily life: it often goes unnoticed that our daily lives are governed by both natural rhythms such as sleeping and eating, and ones which we perhaps impose on ourselves, going to work / social events, washing, exercising, meal patterns etc... etc..
Rhythms of the city: because the city is a collection of rhythmic people, the city itself has rhythms. Flows of people due to transport systems, work hours, social events in the city, children leaving school, people attending weekly events such as church services etc. etc.
Rhythms of the dance centre: my building will also have a rhythm of its own, due to its place within the rhythmic city and its use by rhythmic people. People visiting the café will come and go at a different rate to those who are attending dance classes. Dance classes will be strictly timetabled. Performances will happen only once in a while, as a one off, or perhaps for a few days. Circulation within the building may be heightened at the beginning or end of scheduled dance classes, but will be used constantly by the public. But flows of the public will also go by a rhythm, perhaps governed loosely by conventional meal times or evening time performances, staff’s rhythms will be different again…
No matter how many rhythms we try to live by, inevitably there will never be complete repetition or cycles – things will be different each time, interruptions and changes will occur. Perhaps it is possible to distinguish routine from within chaos, rhythms within arrhythmia? Dancers strive to achieve rhythms, not only rhythms within choreographed pieces of dance but also the rhythm and regime of practice. This is what I wanted to set apart in my dance centre: making the dance studios’ character very much different to that of the space where the dancers can relax. I am aware that the two types of spaces should no doubt be connected and integrated, but still remain separate, just as the rhythmic parts of our lives are part of a general arrhythmia. There is a stark contrast between the open circulation, clanging footsteps on steel walkways, and the sanctuary-like studios, boxes of controlled light and sound; yet still the building is a whole, one part does not work without the other.
page 31- studio design
page 10 - dance centre design
page 3 - site study
page 1 - readings
Rhythms and arrhythmia
rhythmanalysis study
reading seminar
this reading inspired the way i studied the site and designed my dance centre the following quotes were important in my thinking
swiss pavilion / peter zumthor
The Swiss Pavilion, also called ‘the sound box’, was a temporary building for the 2000 World Expo in Hannover, Germany, designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor. The building plays heavily on the senses, and is intended more of an experience than a functional building: he named the building “sound box” and calls it a “Gesamtkunstwerk” which refers to the building as a whole piece of art. “The Sound box is based on the notion of a cultured host who… offers a place for repose and contemplation.” (Zumthor, 2000). This was an idea that inspired me within my project, the desire to make my building not just a functional dance centre but also to give the different spaces different characters by playing on senses such as sound and site. Zumthor does this in the Swiss Pavilion in a number of different ways: musicians come to the building to perform in groups, constantly moving around the timber labyrinth whilst playing. The smell and the texture of the untreated timber is naturally prominent, and Zumthor addresses taste by serving food and drink within the pavilion. As one moves though the building glimpses of other visitors become visible through the slatted walls: this experience being only heightened by projections of words onto the permeable walls. This idea of listening to and feeling the building was something I wanted to think about in my own design: sound recordings and rhythm studies of the street and site was one way in which I addressed this, and further on in my project the idea of expressing two separate programs of the building, one mostly social and ungoverned [café/social space/circulation and meeting space] and one heavily timetabled and strict [dance studios], was heightened by the idea of making the two spaces different sensually. In the studio space sound is insulated and light is controlled, and by contrast the circulation space sound is intended to resonate as people walk on the steel pathways, and the space is much more open, light less controlled. “The cyclical is social organisation manifesting itself. The linear is the daily grind, the routine, therefore the perpetual, made up of chance and encounters.”
“Arrhythmia reigns, except for rare moments and circumstances”
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n manchester urban plan . 1.10 000 Site: Manchester victoria
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n site plan, scale 1.2000
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distinguishing the rhythmic from the arrythmic
possible rhythms among arrhythmia
Listening to the street : sound recording taken around site
Dissecting the city according to tram and train routes
victoria station graphic displaying ‘garage band’ editing of sound clip. sound clip available to listen from olle blomquist [shared usb]
piccadilly gardens
route walked through site whilst taking recording
0.06 - 0.28 mins : train leaving station rhythms are distinguishable within the arrythmic piccadilly station
people walking. sounds are closer together and pattern is irregular
0.40 - 1.62 mins : People talking in shop and footsteps on street No obvious rhythms visible
manchester urban plan, scale 1.10 000 pulled apart leaving train routes and important public centres 5
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contrasts: The RhythMIC
contrasts : The Arrythmic
tram and train movement across site
Pedestrian movement across site
getting from victoria station to piccadilly station via trams
Getting from victoria station to piccadilly station on foot
closer study of area around site, pins indicate concentrations of arrythmic movement [cars and pedestrians ]
‘drawing with satellites’ gps workshop with chris speed and esther pollock inspired me to use gps tracking as a mode of site survey above drawing ‘hare and hounds’ was the drawing 7 students and i produced in the workshop, taken across edinburgh
pin board with engraved map of manchester, [white square indicates dance centre site] white thread indicating tram route, black train route.
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Gps drawing using garmin etrex gps device, vector format captured using adobe illustrator
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separating rhythms of program of dance centre
contrasts: the rhythmic and the arrhythmic drawings taken on journey around site, both in tram [rhythmic] and car [arrythmic] pen held lightly on paper, lines made as transport changes speed/direction
drawing 1: tram journey, lines made from varying speed only
drawing 2: car journey, lines made from varying speed and direction
studio space cafe and social space circulation
contrasting rhythms: spaces separate but overlapping floor plans of 3 different proposals and form model testing one idea
inspiration taken from drawings by nikki pugh
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overlaying the two contrasting rhythms, concept model and sketches 10
intersecting rhythms and their translation into a building
Intersecting rhythms and their translation into a building
concept models and sketches showing form of building originating from two parts of the building with very different characters: the rhythmic and the arrythmic
Intersecting rhythms concept sketches and layered concept models: studios at top with regular form and arrythmic space below with less orthogonal form 11
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separating the rhythmic from the arrythmic
contrast in rhythms in precedents
parts of the dancers routine involve a strive for routine and rhythms, which i want to separate from the less repetitive programs such as the cafe and social space
Bernard Tschumi // Le Fresnoy Art Centre A large roof covers the existing buildings, generating an interesting residual space between the existing buildings’ roofs and the new. “This is a space of residues, leftovers, gaps and margins” it is “a place of the unexpected where unprogrammed events might occur” “The in-between is neither inside nor outside” Tschumi, b. 1994 event cities rhythmic - dance studios
arrythmic - circulation
rhythmic - service wing: reception / office / storage / changing facilities / toilets
arrythmic - cafe and informal perfomance space
concept sketches, creating a residual space below studios 13
fire escapes in manchester 14
articulating the rhythmic and arrythmic spaces making sure they are different in both program and character
rhythmic studio space enclosed and secure
Arrhythmic circulation space unenclosed to encourage chance meetings and events, and to provide viewing of performance area and cafe
Rhythmic service wing enclosed for privacy and program
elevation scale 1.100
Arrhythmic cafe and performance space is completely open-plan to create extension of street / inside-outside space first draft model showing metal walkway and studios above
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extending the arrythmic to the street: brick landscaping with paths
integrating the rhythmic and the arrythmic / dancer space and pedestrian space / practise space and leisure space
n ground floor: cafe/performance space/ changing /toilets / office/ reception scale 1.200
n first floor: circulation space and viewing platform for performance space scale 1.200
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circulation level plan with landscaping 1.200
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roof plan with landscaping 1.200
second floor: primary studio and secondary studio scale 1.200 18
street front elevation 1.200
tram side elevation 1.200
section 1.200 19
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contrasting spaces articulating the rhythmic and the arrythmic
section 1.50 showing steel holding up timber framed studios 21
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finalised floor plans
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1 - reception 2 - office 3 - toilets male/female 4 - changing male / female 5 - main entrance: steel portal 6 - cafe 7 - informal performance space and social space 8 - sunken paths 9 - brick landscaping from reclaimed brick from site
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ground floor plan, 1.200
1 - viewing platform 1 2 - main stairway up from ground floor 3 - main walkway 4 - stair up to studios
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first floor, 1.200
1 - principle studio 2 - walkway access 3 - secondary studio
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second floor 1.200
1 - semi transparent roof light 2 - wood panel cladding 3 - glass roof between studios 4 - existing wall of derelict building 5 - existing building on site
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roof plan, 1.200
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interior view: informal performance space
interior view : circulation / viewing platforms
approach from street 25
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main studio body, grey timber cladding on interior
irregularly spaced timber studs
EXTERNAL STUDIO CLADDING
primary and secondary studios Acoustically insulated to produce sanctuary like studio space
425 mm deep structural timber beams also provide baffling from direct sunlight
circulation and viewing space metal walkway intended to have high acoustic resonation
timber cladding
ground floor open space and service wing
semi translucent roof lights
GROUND FLOOR GLASS PANELS
existing brick wall of derelict building
steel walkway :circulation and viewing
structural baffles in irregular rhythm
service wing: timber frame and timber cladding
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articulating the rhythmic
articulating the arrythmic
studio facade design
Glass panel system
photograph showing model peices ready for construction and working drawing showing facade panel design taken from site survey of tram rhythm studies
glass panels underneath studios contain inside-outside space of ground floor elevation at 1.200 and perspective drawing highlighting relationship between glass and studios/ground
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studio design : creating a space for the strive for the rhythmic
Studio design : creating a space for the strive for the rhythmic
roof design
wall skin design
visual concept behind roof scale 1:50 // precedent study: nordic pavilion by sverre fehn // choice between horizontal or vertical baffles, balance between visual concept and practicality needed, models below show explorations
original model shows windows punctuations regularly around facade. photographs show sunlight at different times of the day. Dancers require indirect light in the studios and so for this reason i have chosen to remove these windows for fear of too much light/heat with roof lights also
semi translucent glass roof-light
model showing horizontal baffles chosen for best structural perfomance and maximum light diffusing
timber cladding
insulation
425 mm deep timber baffles
instead of multiple windows double skin design allows very minimum light in, in between wall cladding, but no direct light, and breaks up facade on exterior. sketches and diagrams showing light penetrating very slightly
wall detail at 1.20 showing steel frame supporting timber framed studios interior plasterboard finish
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