(In)visible Platform Terry Junghyun Hong
Pratt Institute Interior Design MFA 2021
(IN)VISIBLE PLATFORM: MUTUALISTIC VOLUMES AND SPATIAL SYNERGIES FOR THE HOUSING INSECURE by Terry Junghyun Hong
©2021 Terry Junghun Hong
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Interior Design School of Design Pratt Institute February 2021
(IN)VISIBLE PLATFORM: MUTUALISTIC VOLUMES AND SPATIAL SYNERGIES FOR THE HOUSING INSECURE by Terry Junghyun Hong
There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see. Leonardo da Vinci
(In)visible Platform: Mutualistic Volumes and Spatial Synergies for The Housing Insecure The Veiled Living Laboratory for Housing Insecure College Students Co-existing with a Theatre Community
Ch. 01 Ch. 02 Ch. 03 Ch. 04
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Abstract
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02. Research Sources
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03. Precedent Analysis
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04. Case Studies
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05. Site Analysis
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06. Programming
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07. Final Thesis Design
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Appendix
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Ch. 06
01. Research Statement
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Acknowledgments
Acknowledgements Abstract
Acknowledgements
My complete gratitude to Professor Nina Freedman, without whose guidance, this thesis would not be possible. Immense thanks, also, to my dear family, friends, and interior department of Pratt Institute, whose constant support helps me realize my ambitions. Lastly, a special thanks to Steve Gaultney from TFNA, Daria Pizzetta from H3 for their generous cooperation during the site investigation, Alejandro Vera for his comments and revisions, and Sejin Park 5 for editorial design.
Appendix
This thesis is, in part, inspired by the Academy Award-winning film Parasite. My sincere admiration for Mr. Bong Joon-ho, whose artistry gives voice to social inequalities.
(In)visible Platform: Mutualistic Volumes and Spatial Synergies for The Housing Insecure The Veiled Living Laboratory for Housing Insecure College Students Co-existing with a Theatre Community Ch. 01
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Abstract Ch. 02 Ch. 03
The host-parasite relationship
The win-win relationship
Ch. 06 Ch. 07
Second, in this design study, the host volume is the ‘Theatre for a New Audience,’ a modern theatre for performances based on classical Shakespeare play scripts. A theatre’s social utility as an arts center can be expanded, but also deepen the social impact in its community through diverse civil educational programs. In contrast, homeless/housing insecure college students
Ch. 05
First, the thesis concerns living condition disparities based on social stratification. This thesis uses Host and Parasitic volumes to highlight living conditions disparities. Parasitic volumes are typically not visible or self-sufficient, in contrast to a self-sustaining host volume. This thesis borrows from host/parasite symbiotic relationships in nature by leveraging parasite volumes and their tendency to create supplemental space within a desirable host volume.
Ch. 04
This thesis explores a synergetic interior system and remarks on unspoken social inequalities by introducing veiled parasitic habitable volumes into a theatre. Furthermore, this thesis examines if an egalitarian spatial system can maximize occupancy and vitalize under-utilized space as a co-existing community stage.
Acknowledgements Abstract
occupy parasitic volumes, that represent their current social statuses. Third, this thesis modifies parasitic volumes into mutualistic volumes for a synergetic interior system to answer the following questions: 1. What modifications should a theater’s interior undergo to accommodate a shared environment between homeless/ housing insecure college students, theatre audiences, and theatre workers? 2. What considerations are weighed when striving to preserve privacy while merging two different spatial programs; living and cultural space? 3. How might increased building utilization simultaneously achieve positive social impacts? 4. How can visibility/invisibility of residents provide stable housing and enhance performative living as through an activist medium?
Appendix
Figure 1 (Drawing) Untitle 01.
Figure 2 (Drawing) Untitle 02.
7
Chapter 01. Research Statement New Systematic Prototype: The Host Volume and Mutualistic Volumes
Ch. 01
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Ch. 02 Ch. 03
A stark experience with homelessness in America motivates this thesis. On my way home one summer day in Brooklyn, NY, I noticed an unusual though unremarkable, bundle of dirty blankets gathering flies. The next day, candles and flowers replaced the exact spot the dirty blankets occupied, but the shopping cart and shoes of the person also remained. I learned from neighbors that the individual homeless living on that block died of exposure to the sun. I could not help feeling that I had repeatedly overlooked this person or that they were perhaps invisible to my perceptions. I could not help but wonder whether their susceptibility to death could have been discovered sooner if I confronted that situation with more knowledge of homelessness. ‘Visibility’ in this thesis concerns society’s ability to see and listen to the muted voices, further change, activate co-existing spaces. Housing Insecurity of College Students
Ch. 06 Ch. 07
1 Chad Klitzman, “College Student Homelessness: A Hidden Epidemic”, Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, 2018. 2 Ibid.
Ch. 05
Homelessness indicates a person without a secure place to live. Student homelessness includes unstable living experiences as signs of homelessness based on the response of the questionnaire investigating their living conditions and housing experiences.3
Ch. 04
Homeless/housing insecure college students may be identified as an invisible in society because of their exclusion from legitimate federal support despite their housing needs. Chad Klitzman addresses in his article, “College Student Homelessness: A Hidden Epidemic,” that the central plight of homeless college students is the failure to scale up their issue politically to acquire governmental support due to the powerless size of the population, which constitutes a small portion among the entire homeless population.1 This invisibility causes the general misperception that college students will never be homeless. Klitzman argued that although people generally think the terms ‘college education’ and ‘homelessness’ are a contradiction, many college students experience homelessness.2
Acknowledgements Abstract Research Statement
Figure 3 (Graph) College homelessness survey, The hope center, 2019
Klitzman explained that there are almost 60.000 self-identified homeless students under age 21, among applicants for federal financial aid. (Almost 100,000 is estimated when including students older than 21.)4 Also, the 2019 survey done by Hope center, with nearly 86,000 students, titled “College and University Basic Needs Insecurity,” told us that 56% of respondents experienced housing insecure in the previous year.5 In that report, assessing the homelessness tool developed by California State University researchers said that homelessness influence 18% of survey respondents at two-year institutions and 14% at four-year institutions.6 Five percent of respondents at two-year institutions self-identify as homeless; 13% experience homelessness but do not self-identify as homeless.7
Appendix
Being visible as a helpless subject invites a dangerous prejudice such that, ironically, this invisibility allows homeless/housing insecure college students to avoid stigmatization of homelessness. They can freely express their identities and interests, enjoy campus life, and escape group home life. They can relieve stress when they are treated as one of many other students on the campus. However, considering that invisibility could drive them into difficult situations, it is risky to neglect homeless college students as an invisible group. This population encounters challenges pertaining to sufficient assistance in critical moments, despite available financial aid. The duality of visibility/invisibility raises questions about how social parameters define a person’s existence. 3 Sara Goldrick-Rab, Christine Baker-Smith, Vanessa Coca, Elizabeth Looker, and Tiffani Williams, “College, and University Basic Needs Insecurity: A National #RealCollege Survey Report”, The hope center, 2019. 4 Chad Klitzman, “College Student Homelessness: A Hidden Epidemic” Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, 2018. 5 Sara Goldrick-Rab, Christine Baker-Smith, Vanessa Coca, Elizabeth Looker, and Tiffani Williams, “College, and University Basic Needs Insecurity: A National #RealCollege Survey Report”, The hope center, 2019. 6 Ibid. 7 Ibid.
9
The research led me to reflect on minimum living conditions and that those who experience homelessness also experience trauma. Based on a report of the New York Times titled In College and Homeless. Anthony White, a 29-year-old Marine Corps Veteran, had to sleep in his car parked in warehouse lots, shower at a gym, and brush his teeth in Lowe’s bathroom when he was a student at MiraCosta College. He illustrates the experience as a “trauma.” 8
Ch. 02 Ch. 03 Ch. 04 Ch. 05 Ch. 06
In her study called “Intrapersonal and Social-contextual Factors Related to Psychological Well-being Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness,” Katricia Stewart insists that the overall well-being of homeless youth should include psychological health.10 This paper suggests that the young adult homeless population needs support regarding their self-esteem, mental health, sense of community, and empowerment.11 This thesis conceives a supportive interior system that permits housing insecure college students to inhabit and occupy existing community spaces to demonstrate the feasibility of living within a community in equal status. The interior system could prove the self-worth and value of their living in the theatre. In the interview of Anthony White with the New York Times, he said that once Lowe’s staff expelled him when he brushed his teeth in their bathroom.12 What if there is a space unit in that bathroom that purifies the toilet's gray water and provides living space for Mr. White? In this propositional setting, Mr. White is not a gate crasher anymore, but the essential party of a whole, seamless spatial system. The thesis explores a systematic interior solution to re-connect vulnerable groups in disempowered circumstances with society and elevating substandard living environments.
Ch. 01
This research frames homelessness as a disconnection from a communi10 ty-scaled system. The slight but severe economic changes for vulnerable families reveal an inefficient and insecure social safety net, which sometimes results in housing insecure.9 Usually, welfare services focus on supporting primary social needs such as food, shelter, and health care. However, the thesis aims to create more than a basic-needs equipped environment.
Ch. 07
Acknowledgements Abstract Research Statement
11
Appendix
Figure 4 (Concept diagram) Living occupancy and volume insertion
8 Kyle Spencer, “In College and Homeless”, The New York Times, Feb.20. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/ education/learning/college-homeless-students.html 9 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.,“Permanent Supportive Housing: Evaluating the Evidence for Improving Health Outcomes Among People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness”, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2018. 10 Katricia Stewart, “Intrapersonal and social-contextual factors related to psychological well-being among youth experiencing homelessness”, Journal of Community Psychology V.47 Issue 4 (p.772-789), 2019. 11 Ibid. 12 Kyle Spencer, “In College and Homeless”, The New York Times, Feb.20. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/ education/learning/college-homeless-students.html
The host and parasitic volumes
Ch. 03 Ch. 04
The host and parasitic volumes are less about describing a social phenomenon, and more about a new internal volumetric connection: an interior experiment of implanting heterogenous rooms into stable/existing interior space. Despite its negative reputations, ‘parasite’ implicates innovative potential. French Philosopher Michel Serres said, “The Parasite invents something new. Since he does not eat like everyone else, he builds a new logic.”13 Serres insisted that the parasite develops a new configuration of diverse systems into an intrinsic network as opposed to attacking the existing host.14 For Serres, the parasite explores integrity and balance inside of an entropic system via connectivity.15
Ch. 02
The host volume is the visible accommodation because it is stable, self-sufficient, and has spatial potential to accommodate extra facilities. For the host, parasitic volumes are an unwelcomed function of nature. For survival, parasitic volumes are motivated by necessity and survival.
Ch. 01
The thesis examines parasitic relationships through two volumes occupying a single-space and an association of living space/conditions disparities. ‘White’s’ bathroom boundary is defined as a parasitic volume. The parasitic capacities cannot exist without first determining the host volume. Parasitic capacities are, by their nature, unwelcomed and dependent features to a host. Thus, to survive, parasitic capacities work to evade a host while simultaneously availing themselves of necessary resources 12 (e.g., light, thermal energy, void, surface, water, electricity, or essential interior components).
Ch. 05 Ch. 06 Ch. 07
Figure 5 (Conceptual Drawing) Parasitic volumes sneaking into the New Theatre
Acknowledgements Abstract Research Statement
The Mutualistic volumes and Furniturization Mutualistic volumes are an evolution of parasitic volumes. Mutualistic volumes attempt to preserve a host volume’s integrity and accommodate a parasitic volume that serves the host volume, all while acknowledging the presence of both volumes. To be equipped for living, parasitic volumes break down into smaller units, and they become habitable furniture. The thesis identifies it as Furniturization. Furniturization: a. Space acts as furniture to maximize the efficiency in micro-living space. b. Serve the host as the spatial component. c. Involve users’ decisions and movements to complete the space.
Figure 6 (Diagram) Concept of Furniturization
Appendix
Based on (figure 6), in [space a], the relationship between [a] and [b] is one body. Every surface and room of [space a] is function-oriented to achieve one clear intention: Living. For instance, regarding [space a], you can imagine a spaceship. When you ride on [space a], everything will react to support your living, as if you travel outside of the Earth, only relying on all equipment in the spaceship. Therefore, in (figure 6), [b] should function as a chair, a bed, a table, or something else enriching the life of the user of [space a]. 13 Greg Lynn, Fold, Bodies & Blobs Collected Essays, Books-By-Architects, 1998. 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid.
13
In this study, the host ([space c]) is a theatre. Atmospheric effects are essential to integrate the audience into theatrical scenes. There are two main components to create this effect: Light and Haze.
Ch. 03 Ch. 04 Ch. 05
ii. “Designers often consider ‘air architecture.’ Haze is a method to create something out of nothing. Haze allows the lighting to make a stage the vehicle of storytelling. It helps fill in the gaps caused by small budgets. Haze can assist the performers in garnering more applause. Lighting designers understand that where the haze is lacking, as I did recently on opening night at the Kennedy Center, the theater's energy is noticeably minimal. Big musical theatre buttons, fundamental changes, and builds are accented and punctuated by lighting (along with musical dynamics and orchestrations). If you see those visual accents at the same time you hear them, it is that magical combination that makes the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.” 17
Ch. 02
i. Light is an indispensable tool for a stage because it functions for visibility, establishing scenes, modeling, mood, focus, composition, style, staging the story, and rhythm 16
Ch. 01
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The relationship between [b] and [c] is like a puzzle. A piece [b] completes [c] to be a perfect picture, but [b] and [c] cannot be said as one body. [space c] needs [b]. You can imagine outlets embedded in walls in your house. They are essential to supply electricity for every appliance and people cannot imagine the space without electricity. [b] is like an outlet for [space c]. For example, if [space c] is a library, [b] could be bookshelves or lighting systems for the reading environment. [b] is responding to [space c] to make it achieve the original function.
Ch. 06 Ch. 07
16 Richard E. Dunham, “Stage Lighting: Fundamentals and Applications”, Old Tappan: Routledge, ProQuest Ebook Central, 2015. 17 Cory Pattak. “Cutting Through the Haze: A Response to a Foggy Argument.”, American theatre, June. 26. 2018, https://www.americantheatre.org/2018/06/25/cutting-through-the-haze-a-response-to-a-foggy-argument/
Acknowledgements Abstract Research Statement
15
Figure 7 (Diagram) Mutualistic volume a1
Appendix
Figure 7 (Diagram) Mutualistic volume a2
Ch. 01
In Tables, Chairs, and other Machines for thinking, Mark Kingwell noted that furniture shapes space to be valid. The placement of furniture creates a distinct moment from emptiness by suggesting several possible uses of space.18 Furniturization is about benefiting two different spatial scenarios (performing /living) with one internal system. For instance, horizontal living pods serve the stage with electrical lights transformed from daylight, which is essential for living conditions instead of taking over the void of the stage ceiling. Meanwhile, the vertical living pods create the background stage set with haze sourcing from water circulation in the host, which is a necessary 16 living system instead of occupying the void of the wall of the stage. The Veil of Ignorance and Visibility
Ch. 03 Ch. 04 Ch. 05 Ch. 06 Ch. 07
“It assumed, then, that the parties do not know certain kinds of particular facts, First of all, no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status; nor does he know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence and strength, and the like. (Nor, again, does anyone know his conception of the good, the particulars of his rational plan of life, or even the special features of his psychology such as his aversion to risk or liability to optimism or pessimism. More than this, I assume that the parties do not know
Ch. 02
American moral and political philosopher John Rawls’s thought experiment, The Veil of Ignorance, is a theoretical framework for an internal system of equality, morality, and humanity. In Rawls’s perspective, removing ‘social fortune’ is the key to achieving justice. This neutralization allows people to achieve moral, social consensus. In 1980, the München philharmonic orchestra held a blind audition for new members. Trombonist Abbie Conant, who had failed auditions several times, was also one of the applicants. Conant’s performance impressed the jurors. All other applicants were dismissed, and the blind was removed. The jurors were surprised by Conant, a female trombonist. In 1980, a trombone was a typical instrument played in a military brass band. The Director of München philharmonic orchestra was very conservative and believed that a trombonist should be a male player. Would it be possible for Conant to be part of the orchestra if it was not the blind audition? For Rawls, all properties and characteristics that comprise a person are received through ‘natural lottery.’ These traits include gender, nationality, inherited talent, familial relationships, financial legacy. While these traits benefit an individual, Rawls argues that these traits also serve as barriers to an ideal, moral society. In theory, John Rawls assumes a setting without all inheritable or controllable social information.
Acknowledgements Abstract Research Statement Appendix
the particular circumstances of their own society. That is, they do not know its economic or political situation or the level of civilization and culture. it has been able to achieve. The persons in the original position have no information as to which generation they belong. These broader restrictions on knowledge are appropriate in part because questions of social justice arise between ages as well as within them, for example, the issue of the proper capital rate saving and the conservation of natural resources and the environment of nature.” 19
The Veil of Ignorance is the theoretical backdrop of this thesis’ visual prompt: egalitarian co-existing spaces. In the interior design 17 perspective, creating a veil between rooms creates unanswered visual information. Imagine two rooms with the same setting except for one condition: veils surround one room, and the other is without veils. If a person lacks information about the interior settings of two rooms was asked to describe them precisely, they will rely on their imagination to describe the room beyond the veil compared to the room that they can directly perceive. Visual clarity is unambiguous and limits a room to its possibilities. For this thesis, visual ambiguity borrows from the Veil of Ignorance to guide the design toward the visibility of housing insecure college students in the new theatre, where all building users can be treated respectfully without stigma. The veil is also a device for concealment and exposure. A bird nest is an excellent reference to understand this concept. A bird’s nest in a tree is usually difficult to discover, and it is even more challenging to see what birds are doing inside their nest from a ground-level perspective. However, when they spread their wings and fly above or around the nest, their habitat is revealed. The veil system for living pods has a similar strategy as birds build their nest in trees to protect themselves from risk factors. The audience receives some hints a person inhabits this living space, but they cannot recognize the resident as long as the residents decide to remain concealed.
18 Mark Kingwell, “Tables, Chairs and other Machines for thinking”, Practical Judgments: Essays in Culture, Politics and Interpretation, University of Toronto Press (Toronto, Buffalo and London), 2002. 19 John Rawls (1921-2002), A Theory of Justice, Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971.
This thesis presents both the Systematic Veils (Light & Haze) and Veil walls i. A systematic veil means an intangible layer created from the internal system to prevent direct encounters between the residents and the public. ii. A veil wall means a tangible partition layer with texture to prevent a direct encounter between the residents and the public.
Ch. 03
Veil walls are layers in public areas. They are a device for creating silhouettes and making everyone inside the building as ‘one of human-being.’ People can pass by or gather in the public area without any pressure to be ‘someone.’
Ch. 02
Systematic veils are layers between the theatre stage and living pods for the residents. Residents are living above the light and behind the haze. A lighting system for the building simultaneously creates an ambient light layer for a stage and obscures the residents. Additionally, the water circulation system passing through bathrooms and showers in the building is connected to a haze generator which forms the veil. These non-physically tangible veils ensure privacy. Residents can choose to assimilate into a scene of the performance, and the audience can interact with unknown presences behind the veils.
Ch. 01
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Ch. 04 Ch. 05 Ch. 06 Ch. 07
Acknowledgements Abstract Research Statement
The synergy between a theatre and educational institutes College student homelessness is a troublesome mission to be solved to both city government and educational institutions. Numerous healthcare services, sheltering programs, and institutional financial support prove that homelessness is a problematic moral challenge to eliminate. Universities and educational institutes cannot ignore student housing insecurity because it necessarily impacts students' mental health issues. However, the main problem is a small population. Homeless /housing insecure college students lack the critical mass to create largely scaled discourse to compel 19 government action.
Appendix
Therefore, this thesis suggests collaboration with a theatre community. If a new interior system within a theater could support the homeless/ housing insecure college population, new institutional synergies are possible. As an example, this thesis proposes that educational institutions in New York City might feasibly invest in the New Theatre. The Living Laboratory could support living spaces for insecure housing students in NYC. The New Theatre might also financially benefit from this arrangement. Theater facilities could operate year-round by utilizing idle stages to host educational events or forums when productions are unscheduled. The New Theatre can expand its space for educational purposes and have financial benefits by earning supplemental income from governmental and educational entities. This New Theatre already relies on fixed grants from ‘Government’ and ‘Facilities Rental business’ (figure 9) to ensure surplus. Incorporating a Living Laboratory program with the local, educational, financial support for housing insecure college students would create a unique presentation for positive social change.
Ch. 01
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Ch. 02 Ch. 03 Ch. 04 Ch. 05
Figure 9 (Financial Summary) TFNA Annual report for the 2014-2015 season 20
Ch. 06 Ch. 07
20 Theatre of new audience; Polonsky Shakespeare Center, “Annual Report for the 2014-2015 Season”, 2015, https:// www.tfana.org
Acknowledgements Abstract
Chapter 02. Research Sources
Thesis Research Statement
Research Sources
Baker-Smith, Christine., Sara Goldrick-Rab, Vanessa Coca, Elizabeth Looker, and Tiffani Williams, “College, and University Basic Needs Insecurity: A National #RealCollege Survey Report”, The hope center, 2019. Dunham, Richard E. “Stage Lighting: Fundamentals and Applications”, Old Tappan: Routledge, ProQuest Ebook Central, 2015. Kingwell, Mark. “Tables, Chairs and other Machines for thinking”, Practical Judgments: Essays in Culture, Politics and Interpretation, University of Toronto Press (Toronto, Buffalo and London), 2002. Klitzman, Chad. “College Student Homelessness: A Hidden Epidemic”, Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems, 2018. Lynn, Greg. Fold, Bodies & Blobs Collected Essays, Books-By-Architects, 1998. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. “Permanent Supportive Housing: Evaluating the Evidence for Improving Health Outcomes Among People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness”, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2018. Pattak, Cory. “Cutting Through the Haze: A Response to a Foggy Argument.”, American theatre, June. 26. 2018, https://www.americantheatre.org/2018/06/25/ cutting-through-the-haze-a-response-to-a-foggy-argument/. Rawls, John (1921-2002), A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971.
Appendix
Spencer, Kyle. “In College and Homeless”, The New York Times, Feb.20. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/education/learning/ college-homeless-students.html.
21
Stewart, Katricia. “Intrapersonal and social-contextual factors related to psychological well-being among youth experiencing homelessness”, Journal of Community Psychology V.47 Issue 4 (p.772-789), 2019. “TFANA Home.” Theatre for a New Audience, March 24. 2020, https:// www.tfana.org/.
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Theatre for a new audience; Polonsky Shakespeare Center, “Annual Report for the 2014-2015 Season”, www.tfana.org, 2015.
Precedent Study
Ch. 04
Dickson, Andrew. “Ariane Mnouchkine and the Théâtre Du Soleil: a Life in Theatre,” The Guardian, August 10. 2012, https://www.theguardian. com/culture/2012/aug/10/ariane-mnouchkine-life-in-theatre
Ch. 03
Delaney, Brigid. “Tehching Hsieh, extreme performance artist: I give you clues to the crime”, The Guardian, Oct. 24. 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/oct/24/ tehching-hsieh-extreme-performance-artist-i-give-you-clues-to-the
Ch. 02
Cooper, Clare. The House as Symbol of the Self, University of California at Berkeley, 1974.
Sellars, Peter and Bonnie Marranca, “Performance and Ethics: Questions for the 21st Century”, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art Vol. 27, No. 1, 2005.
“House NA / Sou Fujimoto Architects”, Apr. 30. 2012, ArchDaily, Accessed May 12. 2020, http:// www.archdaily.com/230533/ house-na-sou-fujimoto-architects/
Ch. 07
Crook, Lizzie. “IAAC Graduates Propose Parasitic Pods as Alternative to Cage Homes in Hong Kong,” Dezeen, Sep. 27. 2019, https://www.dezeen.com/2019/08/19/ iaac-flux-haus-conceptual-architecture-china-housing/
Ch. 06
Case Study
Ch. 05
Wehle, Philippa. “THEATRE DU SOLEIL Dramatic Response to the Global Refugee Crisis”, The MIT Press, 2005.
Acknowledgements Abstract
Parrinder, Monika and Barry Curtis, Home Futures: Living in Yesterday’s Tomorrow? Home Futures, An Exhibition by the Design Museum, London in Partnership with IKEA Museum, Almhult – 2018.
Site Analysis
Appendix
Research Sources
Chronopoulos, Themis. “African Americans, Gentrification, and Neoliberal Urbanization: the Case of Fort Greene, Brooklyn”, Journal of 23 African American Studies Vol.20 No. ¾ (pp. 294-322), 2016. Erickson, Jon and Charles Whilhelm, HOUSING THE HOMELESS, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersy (p.241-252), 2012. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, New Folger's ed. New York: Washington Square Press/Pocket Books, 1992.
Chapter 03. Precedent Study Micro-Activism and Visibility
A. Be Houseless for the Homeless | Outdoor pieces by Tehching Hsieh
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Ch. 02 Ch. 03
Figure 10 Tehching Hsieh, Outdoor pieces (1981-1982)
Ch. 05 Ch. 06 Ch. 07
21 Brigid Delaney, “Tehching Hsieh, Extreme Performance Artist: I Give You Clues to the Crime” The Guardian, October. 24. 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/oct/24/tehching-hsieh-extreme-performance-artist-igive-you-clues-to-the 22 Ibid. 23 Ibid. 24 Clare Cooper, The House as Symbol of the Self, University of California at Berkeley, 1974.
Ch. 04
In 1981, artist Tehching Hsieh volunteered to live outdoors in New York City for one year.21 He refused any interior space, including transportation, natural enclosure (such as a cave), or even a tent.22 The only acceptable enclosure for him was a sleeping bag.23 Therefore, Hsieh refused all the interiority and pushed himself into the public sphere. This act of ‘micro-activism’ emphasizes subtle individual transformations above overt and rare societal movements. These acts affirm that individual acts are the seeds for legal, institutional, and political change. Results are collective movements originating from a single person. Clare Cooper’s book, The House as a Symbol of the Self, said that the house is a threshold between enclosed interior spaces and the outside world, such that the concept of a house is divided into two subjects: the interior and the façade.24
Acknowledgements Abstract Presedent Study
“The house therefore nicely reflects how man sees himself, with both an intimate interior, or self as viewed from within and revealed only to those intimates who are invited inside, and a public exterior (the persona or mask, in Jungian terms) of the self that we choose to display to others.” 25
In Cooper’s view, a house could be defined as the visible medium of representing the invisible concept of subjectivity (interiority) and persona (façade).26 Therefore, the absence of a house (interiority) refers to the larger social medium that informs individuality and a connection to the remaining 25 society. Hsieh’s laborious performance itself is remarkable, though the current policy approach to homelessness is an altogether unremarkable happening not meant to be solved but overlooked. Here, Hsieh’s ‘micro-activism’ is a criticism of societal selective-blindness. The point is that by extracting himself from interior spaces, the importance of public spaces is amplified, but not without drawing importance to the lack of adequate, individual, private spaces. The most astounding piece of Hsieh’s art is that he intentionally avoided private spaces. He offered a year of his life not only to understand homelessness but merely to the space homelessness occupies. Our blindness to this strain of lifestyle is made visible through this performative act.
Appendix
In an interview, Hsieh shared, “Artwork needs to be open. I want people to feel like this is a universal conversation. My work always touches on time and life.” 27 This experience was transformative to catalyze the audience to see their societal blind spots, and the people living within these insecure environments. This invisible engagement of the powerless minority (including the homeless) is the power that makes Outdoor Piece a micro-activism medium, supporting the visibility of the powerless in society.
25 Clare Cooper, The House as Symbol of the Self, University of California at Berkeley, 1974. 26 Ibid. 27 Brigid Delaney, “Tehching Hsieh, extreme performance artist: I give you clues to the crime”, The Guardian, published Oct 24, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/oct/24/tehching-hsieh-extreme-performance-artist-i-give-you-clues-to-the
B. The Arena for a Ceremony | Theatre du Soleil
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Philippa Wehle emphasizes theatre’s role as an activist medium in her paper titled “THEATRE DU SOLEIL Dramatic Response to the Global Refugee Crisis.” Wehle insists that the theatre should function as an “arena where such social and political issues can be heard.”30 She cited that project Le dernier caravanseraili done by Theatre du Soleil profoundly engaged the audience into refugee issues.31
Ch. 03
Ariane Mouchkine, founder of Theatre du Soleil, directed Le dernier caravanserail (Odyssies). The Cartoucherie, Vincennes, Paris, opened April 2, 2003 and continuing on a world tour to Berlin, New York City, as part of the Lincoln Center Festival 2005 (July 17-31), and Melbourne through October 2005.28 “Well, for me, one of the most important things about Greek theatre is theatre as part of the government, theatre as part of a democracy, theatre as one of the primary cornerstone institutions of democracy. Trying to give citizens both the information they need to vote in a way that has some depth of perception and at the same time has them hear voices they do not normally hear. What moves me so much about Greek theatre is this aspiration towards the care and maintenance part of democracy, which, of course, is where America is in serious trouble.29” - Peter Sellars
Ch. 02
Figure 11 Ariane Mouchkine, Le dernier caravanserail (2003-2005)
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28 Philippa Wehle, “THEATRE DU SOLEIL Dramatic Response to the Global Refugee Crisis”, The MIT Press, 2005. 29 Peter Sellars and Bonnie Marranca, “Performance and Ethics: Questions for the 21st Century”, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art Vol. 27, No. 1, 2005. 30 Philippa Wehle, “THEATRE DU SOLEIL Dramatic Response to the Global Refugee Crisis”, The MIT Press, 2005. 31 Ibid.
Acknowledgements Abstract
Within the micro-activism perspective, Le dernier caravanserail phenomenally engages the audience into realistic refugee camp settings, rooted in true stories about the refugee experience. For example, the last moment chance to jump a train by risking their lives translated into the hasty stasis of continuously moving unstable platforms.32 The scene transition was also urgent, and turbulent.33 Soleil performers have less than a minute for a costume change before the following role.34 They shifted props in and out the stage from everywhere in a swirl.35 Everything is unstable and is 27 meant to represent the frantic pace of refugee life.36
Presedent Study
The benchmarking asset is that Le dernier caravanserail assimilated the refugee crisis by absorbing it into an authentic community. This mantra allows actors to associate with a vulnerable group and convey authentic voices through their craft. The Theatre du Solie’s founder, Ariane Mnouchkine said, “I hate the word ‘Production.’ It is a ceremony, a ritual – you should go out of the theatre more human than when you went in.” 37 This quote inspires the thesis as a subset of performative living: a mutualistic performative living.
Appendix
Figure 12 Ariane Mouchkine, Le dernier caravanserail (2003-2005)
32 Philippa Wehle, “THEATRE DU SOLEIL Dramatic Response to the Global Refugee Crisis”, The MIT Press, 2005. 33 Ibid. 34 Ibid. 35 Ibid. 36 Ibid. 37 Andrew Dickson, “Ariane Mnouchkine and the Théâtre Du Soleil: a Life in Theatre,” The Guardian, August. 10. 2012, https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/aug/10/ariane-mnouchkine-life-in-theatre
Chapter 04. Case Study
A. Total Furnishing Unit by Joe Columbo (1972)
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38 Monika Parrinder and Barry Curtis, Home Futures: Living in Yesterday’s Tomorrow? Home Futures, An Exhibition by the Design Museum, London in Partnership with IKEA Museum, Almhult – 2018. 39 Ibid. 40 Ibid. 41 Ibid. 42 Ibid.
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As space becomes small, the spatial mass should be compact and provide several functions, to accommodate different scenes in living. Even a single armchair design needs to consider diverse postures and give a user more liberal gesture choices in limited space. The Total Furnishing Unit by Joe Columbo confirms that the intelligent use of rooms in the unit and smart ideas for details
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Joe Columbo is the designer who conceived an inhabitable, architectural furniture system in 1972.38 Inside twenty-eight square meters, the flexibility of interior arrangement enables varied scenarios of home and private life.39 For domestic space design, Columbo believes adaptability is the nature of objects and furniture.40 Mobility allows minimal user’s autonomic intervention to the personal sphere, and every component should be open-ended to react to manual contact.41 This belief leads Columbo to design the transformative compact unit responding to different resident’s needs.42
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Figure 13 Joe Columbo, Total Furnishing Unit & Multi Chair, The New Domestic Landscape at MoMA
Acknowledgements Abstract
are critical. Also, a well-designed texture palette and a lighting plan would decrease the handicap of micro-space and make an emotional attachment with a space user.
Appendix
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Figure 14 Case Study A - Program Analysis 01
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Figure 15 Case Study A - Program Analysis 02
B. House NA by Sou Fujimoto Architects (2012)
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Figure 16 Sou Fujimoto Architects, House NA, Tokyo, Residential project, 2012
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43 “House NA / Sou Fujimoto Architects” Apr. 30. 2012, ArchDaily, Accessed 12 May 2020, http://www.archdaily. com/230533/house-na-sou-fujimoto-architects/ ISSN 0719-8884 44 Ibid. 45 Ibid.
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It addresses how, regarding the exposure strategy of residential areas, showing the interiority is much more crucial than how much disclosing the space. This project also shows how the link between spatial concept and architecture helps decrease the antipathy against the transparency of the living space. Speaking of it further, the first impression of this house could be seen as exhibits in the art gallery. However, when an image of climbing a tree and sitting on its branch intervenes in the perception of house NA, the living in the architecture becomes a consistent romantic and unique experience. Fujimoto’s comment about the concept of this project supports the solution to the downside of transparency.
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House NA is the 914 square-feet transparent residential space for a young nomadic couple in a quiet Tokyo town where ordinary concrete block wall houses are densely gathered.43 Transparency of House NA done by Sou Fujimoto Architects as residential space is noticeable due to the treatment of openness.44 Dynamic volume changes illustrate the concept of living within a tree.45 The whole structure translates the experience of climbing up the tree and sitting on a branch to see the down below view. In this sense, the spaces are tied with a coherent design language of transparent openness and stepping on different height levels. Therefore, it could have loosely defined programs rather than rigidly programmed spaces. Also, this project has a smart adjacent program study, which smartly balances functional efficiency and privacy.
Acknowledgements Abstract
“The intriguing point of a tree is that these places are not hermetically isolated but are connected to one another in its unique relativity. To hear one’s voice from across and above, hopping over to another branch, a discussion taking place across branches by members from separate branches. These are some of the moments of richness encountered through such spatially dense living.”46
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Figure 17 Sou Fujimoto Architects, House NA Concept image, Tokyo, Residential project, 2012
46 “House NA / Sou Fujimoto Architects” Apr. 30. 2012, ArchDaily, Accessed 12 May 2020, http://www.archdaily. com/230533/house-na-sou-fujimoto-architects/ ISSN 0719-8884
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Figure 19 Case Study B - Program Analysis 02
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Figure 20 Case Study B - Program Analysis 03
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Figure 21 Case Study B – Open & Closed Surfaces 03
C. Flux House by Ignacio Bedia, Kammil Carranza, Jitendra Farkade & Vinay Khare (Student team project in IAAC)
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In this project, the focusing study point was a rail system providing infrastructure for the movement of living pods. A grid system allows a floating architectural residential complex, which has the potential for unlimited expansion within a void. It was good to know about the mechanical method of how three-dimensional tracks and
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From an interior design perspective, the spatial scenario of this project overall relies on scientific technology. In these living units, robots will layout the room and provide furniture instantly. Appearing or disappearing furniture and screen cladding are interesting, but it seems that the pod design excessively relies on the virtual experience for living space, where people spend much time.
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The Graduate Project at the Institute for Advanced Architecture Catalonia suggests a radical residential pod system as a solution to housing deficiency in Hong Kong, known for an expensive rent city in the world.47 In “Flux Haus,” single-user -pods, moving along a track system, are parasitic to five existing skyscrapers.48 Users can access to utilities in a central amenities tower.49 The critical technology for this project is swarm robot and artificial intelligence to provide an adaptive habitat based on the individual’s needs.50
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Figure 22 Ignacio Bedia, Kammil Carranza, Jitendra Farkade and Vinay Khare, Sham Shui Po, Flux House
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47 Lizzie Crook, “IAAC Graduates Propose Parasitic Pods as Alternative to Cage Homes in Hong Kong,” Dezeen, September 27. 2019, https://www.dezeen.com/2019/08/19/iaac-flux-haus-conceptual-architecture-china-housing/ 48 Ibid. 49 Ibid. 50 Ibid.
Acknowledgements Abstract
movable units work. In terms of the interior proposal, as the nanorobot system primarily makes customized furniture immediately, the interaction between the robot and users seems essential in this project. At this point, the question is how parasitic interior volumes can provide an efficient, adaptable environment in a handicapped micro-space, rather than relying on robot technology. The more interior-focused aspects could focus on how the user in a parasitic room will feel, move, behave, and interact with space. 39
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Figure 23 (Interiority Concept) Ignacio Bedia, Kammil Carranza, Jitendra Farkade and Vinay Khare, Sham Shui Po, Flux House
Appendix
Figure 24 Ignacio Bedia, Kammil Carranza, Jitendra Farkade and Vinay Khare, Sham Shui Po, Flux House
Chapter 05. Site Analysis Why is 'Theatre for a New Audience' the host volume?
The Agency of Shakespeare
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One outstanding trait of this site is that it is an agency of Shakespeare’s playscript. Shakespeare’s playscript not only invites the audience to the drama showing colorful characteristics but also arrives at essential questions of humanity, personality, morality, and physicality. For example, in Hamlet, one of legendary four tragedies written by Shakespeare, when Hamlet knew the truth of his father’s questionable death and decided to revenge to Claudius, (who is Hamlet’s uncle and stepfather), he said the following timelessly renown lines.
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Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn is also known as the Polonsky Shakespeare Center, is the first home for classic drama in New York since Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont in the 1960s.51 Funded and developed through a public-private partnership with The City of New York and Polonsky Foundation, the theatre is a particular performance space in New York.52 A focal facility of the Brooklyn Cultural District with Brooklyn Academy of Music, the 27,500 square foot Polonsky Shakespeare Center can accommodate 299 audiences in Samuel H. Scripps Mainstage.53 Elizabethan courtyard inspired the stage reborn with modern technology and flexible configuration.54 Referred by the Dorfman at London’s National Theatre, the open-end design of Scripps Stage functions with diverse programs such as various productions, lectures, workshops, and family activities for the community.55 Also, it is available to rent the stage for any artistic visions.
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51“TFANA Home.” Theatre for a New Audience, March 24. 2020, https://www.tfana.org/ 52 Ibid. 53 Ibid. 54 Ibid. 55 Ibid.
Acknowledgements Abstract Site Analysis
To be, or not to be, that is the question, Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, The insolence of office and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscover'd country from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pith and moment With this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action.--Soft you now! The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remember'd.
Appendix
William Shakespeare - Hamlet (III, i)56
56 William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, New Folger's ed. New York: Washington Square Press/Pocket Books, 1992.
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These phrases imply multiple options for interpretation. People can question the meaning of life, death, and events post-death. What if the quality of life after death is better than being alive? Then the revenge could remain meaningful? Is it fair to pay the death back with another death? These kinds of endless questions are the power of Shakespeare’s story, and the New Theatre wants to inherit those interpretive qualities.
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What you see, or What you want to see, What you cannot see, or What you do not want to see, What you see, or What it is, What you cannot see, or What it is not, Seeing, or Being seen, To be seen, or not to be seen, Those are questions in the New Theatre.
The Social Platform in Gentrified Area
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57 Themis Chronopoulos, “African Americans, Gentrification, and Neoliberal Urbanization: the Case of Fort Greene, Brooklyn”, Journal of African American Studies Vol.20 No. ¾ (pp. 294-322), 2016. 58 Ibid. 59 Ibid. 60 Jon Erickson and Charles Whilhelm, HOUSING THE HOMELESS, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersy (p.241-252), 2012.
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In the context of city-sprawl, this site has been gentrified over a half-century. Although Fort Greene was once a low-rise human habitat, it is expanding the boundary as a central commercial stream in Brooklyn. The site’s history carries significant meaning in bringing the ‘Living Laboratory’ as a contribution to the renaissance of Downtown Brooklyn. Fort Greene has undergone roughly two different gentrifications since the late 1960s.57 Scholars in Brooklyn discovered that gentrification subjected to the mainly black population before 2003, is based on a mostly bottom-up pattern because real-estate businesses were not fully activated.58 Since 2003, as a white population has been a majority, public and private projects have brought a new top-down type of gentrification, which speeds up white influx.59 Consequently, the old black urban neighborhood and business have become a victim of urban economic revitalization. Regarding homelessness in gentrified areas, there are two considerations. First, when big and small private corporations, state agencies, and local development corporations develop an area, their vision of the inner-city is to increase the area’s value and focus on pedestrian consumer habits60 The emphasis on visual aspects in urban planning could ‘hide’ the homeless rather than
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Appendix
Site Analysis
Figure 25 (General Site Analysis) 262 Ashland Pl, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Figure 26 (Diagram) Expanding Zoning Map of Special Purpose District
fundamentally ‘solving’ the homeless issue. When I researched the thesis site, as I walked into the central commercial area, the overwhelmingly modernish street seemed that the city already forgot homeless issues. However, I still saw people experiencing homelessness sleeping on the polished public benches. Based on consumer economic behaviors, the quality of some commercial streets is increasing, but attention is unpaid toward the condition of homeless shelters. Consideration should be paid to the divergence between ‘street spaces’ and ‘street life.’
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This thesis centers on a person’s experience among these excluded populations rather than developing macro-solutions to displacement. When those who used to occupy a single room and cultivated their life based on resources in that area can no longer afford the rent, what should they do? Do they need to be monthly nomadic, seeking cheaper rent all over the state? Does their only hope need to be lucky accommodation on a friend’s couch? The thesis wants to ask those questions by locating the Living Laboratory in the gentrified area.
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“In Manhattan’s Upper West Side and the Murray Hill section, the newly arrived gentry have come face to face with shelter and SRO (Single Room Occupancy) populations, while the “Brownstone revival” in Brooklyn has displaced countless illegal rooming houses. The mayor himself has repeatedly asserted that the presence of the special needs populations of shelters will disrupt neighbor-newly valorized central city. Certain types of housing stock, which is to say certain types of people, are apparently incompatible with policies of revitalization, particularly policies of partially subsidized “private” sector revitalization.” 62
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44 Secondly, according to the article, “Gentrification and Homelessness: The Single Room Occupant and the Inner City Revival” by Philip Kasinitz, the author notes that shelters in NYC in revival regions have situated under a possibility of exile.61 It reported the following.
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61 Jon Erickson and Charles Whilhelm, HOUSING THE HOMELESS, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersy (p.241-252), 2012. 62 Ibid.
Acknowledgements Abstract
Accessibility and Huge Emptiness
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Appendix
Figure 27 (Sheet) One-way commute time list
Figure 28 (diagram) Architecture structure of the Theatre for a New Audience
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The site-building has an appropriate existing architectural condition to test the idea of inserting mutualistic volumes – a vast emptiness. The main testing area would be the stage existing with 11 beams63 above the ceiling and the void used for sound resonance and spacious feeling. Geometry studies of the building reveal diverse grid parameters as the base guideline in which to insert more volumes. Among three choices (Linear, Rectangular, Circular), the design study developed the linear grid.
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The site enjoys easy access to reliable public transportation. The average commuting time between the site and the locations of universities in NYC participated in the college homelessness report is 40 minutes. When parameters are limited to surrounding universities, commute time is lowered to an average of 25 minutes. College students from various educational communities can conveniently gather and scatter from the Living Laboratory to their educational basecamp.
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Theatre for a New Audience has humanities programs, which are free and low-cost public events to respond to the legacy of Shakespeare with all backgrounds’ audiences. In 2014-2015, a total of 1,815 people participated in Humanities events.64 For instance, between September 2014 and May 2015, the theatre held eight “TFANA Talks” and two additional Tamburlaine post-show talk-backs.65 Collaboration with educational institutes in
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63 Definition of Beam: a long, sturdy piece of squared timber or metal spanning an opening or part of a building, usually to support the roof or floor above. 64 THEATRE FOR A NEW AUDIENCE; POLONSKY SHAKESPEARE CENTER, “Annual Report for the 2014-2015 Season”, www.tfana.org, 2015. 65 Ibid.
Acknowledgements
Rectangular
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Linear
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Figure 29 (Model Photos) Geometry Study 01.
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Figure 30 (Drawing) Geometry Study 02.
neighbor could develop these existing programs by integrating the school community. Union events can cover much broader and more creative themes blending art and diverse majors from universities’ curriculum.
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Chapter 06. Programming
New Volumes | Horizontal & Vertical Insertions 49
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Figure 31 (Model Photos) Volumes Insertion
In this model study, the primary purpose was to accommodate additional rooms without overwhelming the building’s capacity. The vertical insertion is a wall inserted with eight living pods forming the stage’s background. The horizontal insertion with suspended 30 living pods and hallways occupies the ceiling, which affects the stage’s lighting options. Figure 29 demonstrates that inserted volumes create approximately 2300 additional, occupiable square feet.
Figure 32 (Chart & Diagram) New Volumes
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Figure 33 Programs Sheet
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Figure 34 (Chart) Square footage differences between Old & New
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Programming
For the new purposeful theatre, a programming study focuses on analyzing under-used areas in the existing space and maximizing spatial efficiency by introducing residential programs. The new plan retains minimum volumes for mechanical rooms and sacrifices a trap room used for flexible stage arrangements. Figure 34 shows that all the existing sections were slightly reduced. However, the inserted square footage accommodates living units and new utilities. The New Theatre has three different user groups: public, theatre crew, and residents. The public includes theatergoers, tourists, students, (or ticketholders) for an event. The theatre crew represents theater employees and includes actors, performers, artists, stage directors, etc. Residents are the key group members for the New Theatre who were previously homeless/housing insecure college students and now have adequate housing. The method used to connect these groups is a critical mission for this thesis. Figure 30 shows the size of the Dream Factory (1,083sqf), a shared lounge space between the theatre crew and residents for exchanging information, socializing, and supporting their future, which is a significant allocation.
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Figure 35 (Diagram) Program bubble
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Figure 36 (Diagram) Three different circulation
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The new program layout's primary consideration is to preserve the current location of the stage, balconies, backstage, and electrical & mechanical rooms. Once preserved, vertical and horizontal insertion can impact the remainder of the arrangements.
Acknowledgements Abstract
Regarding circulation, the public mainly moves from the entrance and lobby toward the stage and seating areas, including balconies. The New Theatre has a specific conceptual perspective toward space. A sequence between the lobby and second-floor stage suggests to the audience, this new co-existing world. For the theatre crew, a connection between backstage and stage, mostly at the backside of the building, is a crucial area because they work backstage. Horizontal & vertical insertions form a living boundary for residents. All living units are adjacent to bathrooms, small kitch53 ens, and gathering areas to provide a convenient lifestyle.
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Figure 37 Three different areas
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Figure 38 Three different areas in Section
Chapter 07. Final Thesis Design The New Theatre
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Figure 39 (Site Photos) Theter for a New Audience's facade view and the main stage
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The New Theatre’s main stage, located at the core of the architecture, is designed for all three user groups to gather and interact. This experimental stage is a pilot for residents to integrate their housing into the theatre community. Simultaneously, the New Theatre is a working space for theatre crew to operate and prepare performances. For the public, the space is meant to encourage mindfulness towards homelessness and gentrification and their responsibilities within the community.
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Acknowledgements
Floor Plans
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The exterior open plaza of the building extends into the lobby, where patrons can enjoy summer movie nights. The audience may opt to wait for a performance in the center circular lounge, which has a small cafĂŠ, or they may enter the ‘egalitarian village’ (stage) through a narrow spiral ramp surrounding the lounge. Along the ramp, they may see silhouettes of actors in the adjacent dressing and green room, bounded by a translucent partition, facing the ramp. The vertical farm, shower, dining room, kitchens, and back entrance, noted in the plan, are shared spaces for both residents and theatre crew. 56
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On the second floor, patrons ascending the ramp, arrive at the main stage of the floor plan. Within the first-floor cafĂŠ, an upward glance toward the transparent ceiling reveals the partial ceiling of the stage (horizontal units). Inside the stage, stairs on both sides allow access to the second and third-floor balconies. The stair near the building entry is a vertical circulation, obscured by veils, reaching the fourth-floor residential living units. The audience may take their seats or enjoy the lounge where they will see silhouettes of resident movement behind the veil.
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The second-floor mezzanine is the entry space for the theatre balcony and functions as a circulation area to reach residential units. The stair (east wing of the stage) originating on the first floor, is connected to horizontal living units on the fourth floor.
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On the third floor, vertical living units connect to the Dream Factory, and the stair between the vertical living units leads to the hallway of horizontal living units located on the fourth floor. Integral mechanical rooms for a theatre are located on the east wing of the stage.
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Thirty living units are on the fourth floor. All living units are adjacent to a bathroom, a small kitchen, and common areas so that residents can access these areas even during production. The stairs lead to the vertical pods’ hallway, and residents can easily access the Dream Factory and reach other facilities in the back of the building (west wing of the stage).
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Living Pod Design | Horizontal Living Units Horizontal Living Units contain a Living Extension. When a resident sits on a uniquely shaped armchair, they can travel underneath the units and have a visual connection with his or her neighbor. The armchair design is customized explicitly for the elevator system so that the fencing component is seamlessly attached to the body of the seat. A monolithic rubber structure protects a user’s during travel and provides storage space, perhaps for a rider’s book.
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The module design consists of a 3D-printed pre-fabrication structure and detachable architectural cork panels. Old and dirty cork panels are replaced regularly for hygienic purposes. When college residents can move out of the theatre, other housing insecure college students may occupy a newly clad unit.
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The building’s capacity permits each living pod 56.25 sqft, which is considered a micro-living space. The Living Extension leverages the limited modular size to provide a spacious experience for the user. Additionally, the Living Extension’s performative function alerts the audience of a housing insecure student’s plight (because they have now become a resident of Living Laboratory) toward the stage.
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Living Pod Design | Vertical Living Units The Vertical living unit has two different balconies. At the balcony toward the stage (Pop-up Balcony), residents can choose to expose themselves to the audience. The balcony is equipped with a linear lighting system and an attachable curtain, which creates the silhouette. As with Living Extension, the Pop-up Balcony functions as a messaging tool to reveal the residents during the performance. Additionally, the Pop-up Balcony can be a seat when the stage is used 69 for a lecture hall or forum. On the other side balcony, the user can communicate with his or her neighbor.
Appendix
Final Thesis Design
Residents Can store their beds when not in use and pull out a small desk to create a workstation. The ‘Theatre for a New Audience’ broadcasts shows five times a week, starting at 7:30 PM for around two hours. Theatrical haze, emitted from the surface of the vertical units, appears intermittently, curated with scenes during the shows. The theatrical haze will be a water-based harmless ingredient, so the hazing system will not cause trouble for the user’s living. Since these units cannot get an advantage from sunlight, they are closed to Dream Factory, which can perform as a living room.
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Systematic Veils | Light & Theatrical Haze System (noun) 1. A set of things working together as parts of a mechanism of an interconnecting network. 2. A set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized scheme or method. From the Oxford dictionary
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The essence of this project is that systematic veils are an invitation to engineering technology to contribute to co-existing spaces in society. The connection between all the interior construction utilities, including electrical, mechanical system, HVAC, and water circulation system or cladding, has the potential to accommodate micro-living spaces, working spaces, or other intentional spaces as mutualistic volumes.
Acknowledgements Abstract
In this design study, though it is a blueprint, horizontal units transform solar energy into theatre lighting. The unit is designed to obscure all wire and chain systems inside a hollow structure. Vertical units generate theatrical haze, and the haze generator is a part of the water circulation system traveling to the vertical farm and showers.
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Final Thesis Design
The roof of the building should be renovated to include more windows for this project because sunlight is essential to the horizontal units’ system. The roof plan/draft/layout shows how the roof should be rebuilt to capture sunlight for integration with solar panels.
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The Coexisting Stage In the New Theatre stage, living units create ambient lighting and haze for the performance. Residents’ silhouettes may appear behind the veil during a performance. Living Extension units are traveling over the ceiling, and we can see the silhouette of a resident. Pink light means the unit is vacant, and a yellow light indicates residents are home. The stage director may adjust the brightness of the whole lighting for specific scenes. Ch. 01
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Acknowledgements Abstract Final Thesis Design Appendix
Autonomous Seating System The New Theatre leverages an autonomous seating system. Seats are a fixed price, and the guests determine their position in the theater. Since each perimeter wall is designed to interlock the foldable chairs, the audience can select any chair from the wall and sit wherever they please. Every audience member has varying perspectives in viewing a production, and this design invites spontaneous and random seating placements to reflect these varying perspectives. Honoring each person’s seating perspective and yielding to each other’s convenience, is a vital concept of this multi-usage stage, which intentionally blurs divisions between the stage and seating areas.
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Theatrical performances exist within a cycle of conceptualization, production, rehearsal, and release. A theatre may maximize stage usage if they collaborate with educational institutes during production gaps and lapses. The theatre and partnering universities can hold lectures, forums, or workshops on this stage. Community artists may be inspired by the interior system creating haze and Living Extension for an innovative art exhibition.
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The host and parasitic relationships also inspire a furniture collection designed for this space. The structure of the sofa is that the host and guests can use parasitic stools to arrange more exceptional seating and storage options. The connection between people in this furniture makes this piece as a mutualistic component in the space.
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Facade Design | Intro to Egalitarian Society
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The Faรงade Design is a huge entry veil for the new society. Neutral colors and silhouettes of people create a peaceful environment, revealing and concealing different vibe from the busy city.
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Conclusion | Toward Co-existing Society Host and parasitic volumes, which are the core of this design study, concern new internal volumetric connections. Although defining parasitic volumes may be controversial because of the negative connotations of the term ‘parasite,’ the reality is that homeless or housing insecure college students must confront exigent circumstances subjecting them to parasitic modes of living. However, the thesis initiates an interpretation of parasitic volumes as a promising cornerstone for a co-existing society. Mutualistic volumes are an attempt to empower vulnerable populations with a supportive interior system by repurposing the interiors of community-based public buildings. The fundamental purpose of these design strategies (furniturization, systematic veils, and autonomous seating system) is to move toward an egalitarian society where people can perceive less visible issues and hear muted voices. These strategies create permanent living spaces for housing insecure college students and space where residents, theatre workers, and the public can utilize the same building according to their needs. Notably, residents’ lifestyle behaviors become a process of performative living based on the interior system to address homelessness and reduce college student homelessness.
Appendix
Final Thesis Design
This study requires further research to address engineering issues, improved quality of micro-living units, and consideration for overlapping living and working areas. However, simultaneously, this study is a spatial solution template to homelessness, beginning with a subset of the larger homeless population. It is also an alternative for educational institutions to expand their influence into community theatres to host lectures and classes rather than building new structures. Since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, half of this thesis progressed in unusual circumstances. A shuttered campus (including a woodshop, laser cutting lab, 3d printing lab, and art material shop) restricted prototype and installation developments of this thesis design, which was always intended. A detailed three-dimensional model could foster a further design study.
91
Appendix Spatial scenario for the hallway on the fourth floor
Ch. 01
92
Ch. 02 Ch. 03
Spatial scenario for the hallway on the third floor Ch. 04 Ch. 05 Ch. 06 Ch. 07
Appendix Appendix
93
Transition study 01
Transition study 02
Abstract
Acknowledgements Acknowledgements
TH
STU PRIVATE SINGLE BED DORM
DOUBLE BED DORM
MAIL ROOM
HOUSING OFFICE
BED
ARMCHAIR
SHOWER
BUREAU
CLOSET
Ch. 01
94
LIGHTING FIXTURE
SLEEP
THE BASIC NEEDS
Ch. 02
THE PARASITES
STUDY
RELAX
Ch. 03
EAT
Ch. 04
ENGINEERING - BASED WATER ELECTRICITY
STORAGE BODY POSTURE
Ch. 05
LIGHT
STRUCTURE-BASED
VIBRATION DRAIN
Ch. 06 Ch. 07
Acknowledgements
Appendix
HE HOST
UDENT DORM Abstract
PUBLIC LAUNDRY ROOM
WORKING STATION
KITCHEN
TOILET / SINK
LAUNDRY
LOCKER ENTERTAINMENT
MAILBOX
SOFA
STUDENT LOUNGE
VERTICAL FARM
95
SCALE-BASED
Appendix
FOOD PENTRY
DINING AREA
ASTHETIC-BASED
RATIO
TEXTURE
HUMAN SCALE
CONTOUR
OPEN / CLOSE
SHAPE
The thesis mind map 01
96
The thesis mind map 02
The thesis mind map 03
Š2021 Terry Junghun Hong
(In)visible Platform: Mutualistic Volumes and Spatial Synergies for The Housing Insecure The Veiled Living Laboratory for Housing Insecure College Students Co-existing with a Theatre Community
(In)visible Platform
terryjhong0@gmail.com
Pratt Institute Interior Design MFA 2021