House of Memories
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House of Memories
Gavin Argo
To My Father
Table Of Contents: Prologue
07
House
09-11
Orthogonal Projection Studies
13-21
Spacial Character and Tectonic Directedness
23-33
Memory of House of Story
35-67 35-69
Chair
71-81
Orthogonal Projection in Axonometric Plane
83-87
Model Photography and Physical Testing
89-97
Epilogue
99-101
Acknowledgements
103
Prologue The following is a project about memory. Not merely the kind had whenever eyes are closed and previous experiences recalled, not the dĂŠjĂ vu moment, but also an acknowledgement of the past. Cultural foundations are laid from accumulated memories (as well) and these moments, not stagnant laws, are built up. Slowly this collection becomes its own foundation on which new memories are fostered. From this, new buildings spring forth, fresh from the fertile intellectual platform on which they stand. Architecture then exists in a bicameral way; both at a level concurrent with new memories, and as a monument to the past.
7
House
11
Orthogonal Projection Studies
Room which lies in section. There is an often-used phrase, “the drawing never lies.” What happens when they do? How can they be approached when they deliberately obscure certain truths about themselves? They deceive viewers by hiding parts so they become unapproachable. What then happens when some of the lies are brought into view? No longer can a small seat hide behind the lamp above it. The light and the viewer’s gaze, which penetrate the masks, reveal all. The games are exposed.
15
Shelter For years I walked through that city. Others believed I had seen the entire thing; I think it continues forever. As I past among the houses, all seemed identical, I began to see how that morning each resident painted their house a nearly imperceptible shade darker then the previous. However when I looked all I’d past looked the same. The building closest always seemed tallest, as though all others were bowing in reverence.
17
Staircase in Two Intersecting Cubes People often meet in stairwells. Why can’t objects as well? These places deliberately encourage a subtle meeting between parties. The two sleeping giants that lie on both sides of the stair, which acts as a mediation between the two, suggest such interactions to be kept gentle. This intersection of personas can then become the building. The stair becomes their arms when the two meet in a warm embrace.
19
Child’s Playroom The child imagined the room, and the many small spaces hidden away within, to be his personal kingdom. He explored the small crevices between the shelves, charted the caves full of awesome wonders, and scaled the mountain-like ladder to his throne. After all that, he was able to climb to his bed, tucked away just beneath the sky, and was held safely over all his dominion (and could still see under the bed).
21
Orthogonal Projections Towards Spatial Description and Tectonic Qualities
Front Entrance of a Many Roomed House When approaching a labyrinth it is of utmost importance to pay careful attention to the entrance, for within the labyrinth is an entire world. The many pieces therein work together obeying the same rules. It is the fool who runs forth brazenly, without studying the map and guide, which the entrance would so freely have given. So be vigilant. Pay close attention, for even on the portal there may great treasures.
25
Mediating Step The single step, placed askew, changed the approach to the front door. No longer could the castle be charged head on. Now the building played far more subtle games. The approach became slower; the crossing of that step was not unlike crossing a drawbridge. We now had to sneak up to the door, as if not to wake the slumbering gatekeeper.
27
Processional Room Traversing the building was like catching a butterfly. Not only does the path meander across the floor, darting this way and that, but also glided up the walls and across the ceiling. The entire place had grown like a forest, all intricately woven together. Each part guided the path, issuing it forth. The space seemed to reach down from the sky, like stalactites, lightly grazing the floor, carefully signaling a way through.
29
House and Entire World Once a young man was asked to draw his house. He quickly answered that he knew neither how to draw nor what his house would look like. Slowly, after thinking it over further, he again began to speak. “My house is the sunlight creeping up the face of the mountains. It is the darkness hanging under the forest canopies. It is the cave which shelters and keeps my thoughts close; and it is the vast green fields in which my mind runs, stopping to smell every tiny flower.�
31
Projection of a House Before me small pieces emerged from the darkness and began to form. Perhaps it was a house. At first, they were merely shadows, broken fragments from my past. Over time, however, I saw their detail emerge. A fireplace, sets of windows, a stair; they slowly apparated into a solid. It looked so familiar. Finally, I remembered.
33
Memory
Front Windows Where I was, I couldn’t tell. Was I traveling through the forests of Scandinavia, the desert southwest, or the fanciful worlds of my dreams? Through that infinite meander, following that small stream, I stumbled upon them. Those eyes on the hill looked out over the deep valley as if watching over their entire domain. From there I stumbled along the narrow path leading upward, seemingly forever, toward that majestic watcher up on the hill.
37
Fireplace While I was still a long way off, I saw within that castle a room. The light from its’ center reached out to me, inviting me to approach; the fire summoned me forth with its warmth, to climb out of the chaos. The fire stood, issuing forth its brilliance, standing against the darkness.
39
41
43
Front Door The next thing I remember, I came out onto the mesa. It was set as though I were expected; the Watcher had prepared the plateau as though I were a guest returning from some distant land. The door stood there, hung slightly askew on its massive hinges from the wall, willing me to open it, challenging my resolve to enter and join the residents dwelling within. It was as though it were testing me to see which of us was more real.
45
Front Interior Stair Once inside, those steps unfurled before me, similar to a rug welcoming royalty home. Each of those steps lay, leading me onward and upward. As I ascended I noticed at my side, laid against the wall, a pair of large boots waiting to embark on some remarkable journey. If only they could call forth the stories they had. While I continued to ascend those steps, the light and warmth, which had bid me enter, slowly wrapped and enveloped me and beckoned me to continue forward. As long as I stayed within, I was protected from the wilderness beyond those heavy walls.
47
49
Main Room As I emerged from the tunnel, my gaze slowly swept across the wall in front of me, admiring the simple textures the wall seemed made from. My eyes were drawn to the subtle deformations that caused shadows to leap forth, across the wall, fleeing the light from deeper within. To my left the room stood casting forth its glow and warmth (or perhaps it was the daylight, now slowly peering through the windows) leading me from the darkness of the entry.
51
There I stood, within that room; first comforted by its intimate embrace, then entranced by its enormity as my eyes slowly danced around the room, delicately feeling the small ripples on the wall, and the elegant stripes on the wood telling of its age. Beneath me stood the smooth polish of the floor (from which my reflection gazed back at me), and the vast expanse of glossy stone, solid and sturdy, anchoring the house (and perhaps my feet) to the world below.
53
Ceiling Overhead floated the vast weave of the rafters. With the bits of light flitting through the many layers, it was as though those simple beams held the entire sky. And there, between the floor and ceiling, rested the fire (by which I had been so enticed), standing as though it were the glue binding the two together.
55
Kitchen and Dining Room Near by, the kitchen waited. It’s pots and pans gleaming with the dark patina of use. The dining room lay just beyond, eagerly waiting for the culinary delights to show themselves. The kitchen seemed akin to an alchemist’s lab, holding within many small glasses and bottles, from which strange and beautiful smells emanated. These small things were the sorceress’s tools, captivating others with delicious treats.
57
Rear Interior Stair As I ventured further, I left the delicious smells running from the kitchen, which seemed to seek out my nose with a single-minded determination. I was drawn toward the colors, which slowly crawled across the stairs to then climb carefully up the adjacent wall. Their luminance slowly reached out for the books held within that wall, stealing the stories contained within, challenging the house to accommodate these ephemeral phantasms now looking for shelter to prolong their short releases.
59
61
Rear Windows Then, cautiously, I looked over, seeing the glass vessels that so deliberately caught the light, only to slowly release it to explore its new surroundings. Those bottles seemed content there, each soaked up the sun from the day. I wondered how they could hold so much. Was something nesting inside?
63
Exterior Stair Gazing out, past the windowsill of glass bottles, I saw part of those eyes’ world. They looked out on a small building tucked just beneath them, protected by their unerring vigil.
65
Bedroom After looking for some time, I turned my back to the light inside. I couldn’t remember when last I’d slept, slowly gravitating to the bed tucked in the back corner. While my eyes slowly traced the path that moved from the bed, up the wall and across the ceiling, I fell asleep.
67
When I awoke, the house was gone. The walls fled, the roof had drifted off. The house had vanished like rain in the brutal desert sun. I could not shake the feeling that I’d been there before. Every piece had felt so familiar. It had been like looking at part of myself.
69
A Chair
First Chair This initial study was about the connections between the different pieces; the joinery. The chair itself is merely a move from a traditional mental imagery of “chair� in an attempt to understand what that is, and to explore this drawing type.
73
Second Chair As a radical departure from the first chair drawing, this combined two well known pieces of furniture; the Eames plywood lounge chair, and Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair. In combining these two, this study took a material understanding of wood into a drawing type usually used for analytic descriptions.
75
Descriptive Geometry and Complex Curves To fully explore both what bent plywood and this drawing type can achieve, manipulating complex curves worked well. Since wood can be bent, with great care, into compound curves, achieving their geometric descriptive construction and shop drawings was of great importance. Within this also exists the ability to transfer a compound curve to a planar surface, even if the information about the curve is only partial.
77
Simultaneous Iterations and Layering A great challenge in the design of this chair was to include the signifiers which make it more inviting for people to use; the subtle curves and sensuous lines which give a glimpse to where a person fits within the object. Within this refinement was the necessity of simultaneous iterations. Small changes and adjustments were constantly made, with different layers of information added. In the end, the density of the final construct is both a demonstration of the process of design, and the information of what worked and what did not.
79
Descriptive Geometry on Seat Design
81
Projection
Orthogonal Projection in an Axonometric Plane Used as a design technique, this drawing typology has immense power. These constructions enable constructed foreshortened representation of the object, as well as descriptive normal projections. Between the two, information can be transferred and designs moved forward. Because there is a translation within the drawing, time is included, allowing for design decisions to occur within a highly descriptive mode.
85
87
Model Photography Physical Testing
91
93
House
95
97
Epilogue & Acknowledgments
A Young Man’s Mantle
101
Acknowledgments. Steve Thompson, Patrick Doan, Hunter Pittman, Hans Rott Rehanna Rojiani, Hoi San Sio, Fred Esenwein, Daniel Wright, Mike Cincala, Jimmy Laughlin, George Cooke, Jordan Mrazik, Moreo Rivera, Andrew Shaver, Jarri Hasnain, Natalie Mutchler, Mickey Chapa, Aino Bäckman, Mark Auvray, Ioana Maftei, Justin Whiteford, Steven Harper, Obinna Elechi, Erica Cochran, Ryan Patterson, Matthew Sander, Matthew Benning, Mark Holbrook, Rob Deane, Jay Osborne, Jared Clifton, Matt Stark, Jered Tate, Amrita Raja, Pekka Heikkinen, Mikko Mertz, Ransu Helenius, Kimmo Lylykangas, Netta Böök, Marko Huttunen, Katja Savolainen, Jorge Luis Borges, Gaston Bachelard, Giambattista Vico, Gottfried Semper, Douglas Hofstadter, Johann Sebastian Bach, Gaspard Monge, ... Thank you all. ...
103