POR TFO LIO TOM COWMAN
POR TFO LIO TOM COWMAN
Masters of Architecture Stage 5 2015/2016
Contents
Design Projects
Re - Materialising Rotterdam - In Praise of Folly Operation Rotterdam - Urban Hacking Charette - Migratory Hides Conclusion
ARB Mapping
Non - Design Projects (See separate booklets)
ARC8051 - Tools For Thinking About Architecture ARC8058 - Linked Research
Re-Materialising Rotterdam
In Praise Of Folly...
Introduction
T
he studio “in Praise of Folly” is based on the essay written by Erasmus of Rotterdam in 1509 to Thomas More of Bucklersbury. He characterises Folly in his essay to manipulate and disguise his critique of the powers ruling at the time. In the story Folly is accompanied by a number of disciples which each of us in the studio would take on the persona of. This persona and a craft assigned to us was to be the starting blocks and initialise us to build a vocabulary in order to begin to design a 4m x 4m x 6m folly within the Het Nieuwe Instituut located in Musuem Park.
Anthony Vidler, in his essay “History of the Folly” traces the parameters of an architectural folly as: - Referring back to, or nostalgically alluded to a short history of modern follies: it is a solipsism. - Acting as the asylum for the forbidden, for the repressed, for the denied and the absolutely impossible. - Exhibiting, although somewhat perversely, a discipline, a logic, a reason in itself, which because withdrawn from the world, remains in the sense pure. The folly ... at best sublime and at worst, frivolous, have their place and their role, but only as long as (new) reason is desired.
persona of self love and a craft of joinery elements that close i.e. windows, doors and screens. Initially taking my persona through to a design was difficult to integrate. Philautia is one of the four main types of love. It can be roughly defined as;
- The love we give to ourselves. - This is not vanity, like narcissism, but the joy in being true to our own values. - The strength to care for ourselves so that we can in turn care for others. This led me to looking at Plato’s Timaeus and Euclid’s Elements, the sacred geometries and his rationalisation of the elements into bodies shapes. And the later developments by Wenzel Jamnitzer in his Perspective of Regular Solids (1568) Philautia evolved from the folly project to Candor in the main design, which developed my programme to a International Financial and Business Law Court. Leading me into theories of the panoptican by Jeremy Bentham and the theories of deception with an economic context and the confessional in a talk by Dan Ariely in “The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty” have been extremely interesting and informative about architecture and psychology of space.
The folly is used as a springboard to propel us forward into designing a larger building with the vocabulary that we have developed to a site situated within Katendracht. My character, Philautia, has an assigned New
Amended
Philautia
Defining Self love through a model. External spokes causing internal pressures through the body on a unseen energy. Models of the 3 pillars to self love. Left Exploration / Discovery. Bottom Healing / Acceptance Right Liberation Top Philautia
Thresholds
Marbling studies and variations that visually capture the play pressures and bodies that are created between oil and water. Above
Right Axonometric of window frame
from the craft and the barrier it creates between the external and internal spaces within architecture. The plan of the frame also shows different voids and thresholds that are created.
Column Thresholds
Above The Northwestern National Life
Above Ansel Adams, The Breezeway,
Insurance Building, Minneapolis, by Minoru Yamasaki & Associates, 1965
UC San Diego, April 1966.
Left Tama Art University, Tokyo, Toyo Ito Above Column Intersection Plan
Column Thresholds Study
Above Metric dimensions.
Handbook
corridor
Above Column and threshold iterations
threshold
Column Thresholds Design
Above Column loactions extracted
from densities in marbling study.
Left Folly site located at the Het
Neuwe Instituut within Museum Park, Rotterdam Above Tracing of marbling study
Folly Design
Silver Birch Columns
Lighting In situ Column Cavity Drainage Channel Marbled In situ cast concrete Above Folly model. Columns constructed
from silver birch trees and left in an unmachined condition. Base made from marble. Columns fixed into concrete using a concealed detail in order to extenuate the materiality and enhance a sense of minimalism to express the feeling of self
love. The use of unmachined timber was to realise a bringing of nature back into the city and place of sanctuary, a place to listen and a place to gain some perspective. The use of springs within the detail allows some gentle movement within the folly simulating notions of being in a real wooded area and
sounds that are associated. Drainage is also hidden within the detail and the ends of the timber capped to protect the wood from rot. Lights and mirrors inside the detail allows the folly to be illuminated at night. Lights within the water will illuminate the structure and water at night.
Springs
Stainless Steel Cap Stainless Steel Rod
Precedents Folly Location
Above David Chipperfield tree trunk
columns in Mies van der Rohe’s Neue Nationalgalerie.
Branden bus stop by Sou Fujimoto, Austria.
Above
Materiality
Above Silver birch forest.
Above White and gold marbled effect.
Left Folly location axonometric located
Right Folly elevation and axonometric
within Museum Park. Folly Situated within Het Neuwe Instituut ponds to create an emphasise entrance into folly.
showing folly in context and the build up of layers of development and thought processes.
Folly
Folly Design
Healing creates a spaces for an individual to occupy, allowing for self reflection.
Right
Right Liberation creates open
spaces allowing someone to feel less restricted and to view more of the sky.
Left Exploration creates spaces
for individuals and groups to explore the site by moving through tighter thresholds or closer to the water.
Left Philautia creates a space for
groups to gather and experience the site as a collective. It creates contact ,communication and interaction.
Folly Approach
Folly Perspective
Folly Perspective
The Arrival of Candor
Above The introduction of Candor. The folly has
allowed me to explore the realisation of philautia through the medium of architecture. However what has also emerged and from the development of the folly is how I have made a particular design move to conceal the detail in order to emphasis materiality and a sense of minimalism to allow the feel different spaces to be focused on. This architectural vocabulary has developed further into a International Financial
and Business Law Court for the Programme of the second part of the studio. I will be continuing to use the existing vocabulary that I have previously used or the folly and developing this further in the larger design stage. Right Development of Philautia 3 pillars to Candor plan. Tessellation of the body development from Wenzel Jamnitzer and the Plutonic Solids.
Thesis
Left Jeremy Benthams
idea of a panoptican prison design allowing all the cells to be viewed from a central tower. The idea that this would make the prisoners self regulate their own behaviour.
Confessional elevation and plan. Dan Ariely, The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty. Evidence that the confessional can reduce deceptive behaviour in society. Left
Implementing these theories into architecture to create an atmosphere were people want to be honest their actions. Left
Above Diagrams of the Soul, Harmonic Universe
, Daniel Martin Diaz.
The Panoptican
The key to dishonesty is rationalisation and maintaining a psychological distance from the consequences.
the power relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles� (Discipline + Punish iii .3, Micheal Foucault)
However the internet could be seen a panoptican that everyone can enter or the prison cell but without the doors.
By collecting data from businesses that have a lot of power and publishing this online it therefore forces institutions such as bank and international businesses be more transparent and hopes to address the deceptive environment that currently resides.
“He who is subject to a field of visibility, and who knows it assumes responsibility for the constraints of power; he inscribes in himself
Business / Financial Institutions
Collecting + Analysing Data
Field of View / Internet as a Panoptican
Reduction in Deception / Reminders of Morality
The Confessional
With society becoming ever increasingly distant from physical money we also are becoming a society with a higher distance between us and the consequences of our actions. Dan Ariely suggests that the confessional and the act of confessing reminds us about morality, even if this not our own, and makes us more thoughtful
of our actions leading to people to cheat less. If people are in an environment which allows cheating to keep occurring it causes people to cheat all the time. “What the Hell Effect� Regular confessing stops this effect from occurring and again reduces deceptive behaviour in society.
The Panoptican
1 De Rotterdam High End Accommodation
2
3
Van Den Herik + Verhulst Attorney
Openbaar Government Offices
4
5
SVB Social Security Office Insurance
Belastingkantoor - Tax Department
ABN AMRO Bank
3
1 2
5
4
Thresholds
Dense Slender
Individual
Group
Private
Sparse Thick
SPACE
Public
COLUMNS
CONFESSIONALS
Candor Taxonomy
Column Locations
Column Splitting
Ceiling Plan
Combined
Confessional
Overlayed Column Plan
Programme Diagram
Offices
Offices
Judge’s Offices
(Small)
(Small)
Data Collection
Court
Confess
(Large)
Confess
Confess
Confess
Confess
Judge’s Offices
Court
Court
Confess
Confess
Confess
Confess
Confess
Confess
Confess
Confess
Confess
Judge’s Offices
Confess Judge’s Offices
Court
Court
(Small)
(Small)
Offices Offices
Court
Court
(Large)
(Large)
Confess
Court
Confess
Confess
Public
Offices
Court (Small)
(Small) Confess
Confess
Confess
Confess
Offices
Semi Restricted Restricted
Judge’s Offices
Judge’s Offices
Site Context Plan
Form Iteration Models
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Iteration 3
Site Model
Left Floor plates removed to allow
Courtroom Locations
more light into the floor plan. This allows for more greenery and vegetation to be planted.
Courtroom Floor Plates
Site Access
Floor Slab Openings
Internal Atmosphere
1:50 Column Splitting Model
Top Gaudi’s hanging model to find correct
shape for arches in Sagrada Familia Cathedral Right Inspired model of central atrium design showing splitting columns. Below Inverted image of columns.
Below Inverted image of hanging
model shows how columns split and create vaulted gothic like ceiling. Right Shadows created by columns and floor plates.
Precedents
Precedents shows how cut out and beams would feel like in the space and the vaulting effect that it would create.
Precedents showing how the planting could be used to transform the uilding into a more peaceful and tranquil space that is calming for the user.
Site Context Section
Site Plan
3rd Floor
3
3
2 2
2nd Floor
1
Ground Floor
1
Public Floor e.g. Restaurant, Public waiting areas.
2
Small Court.
2
Law Court Offices, Judges Offices, Witness waiting areas.
Candor Section
VIEWING PLATFORM OFFICES LIBRARY OFFICES COURT SMALL COURT LARGE
PUBLIC
ATRIUM
PUBLIC
CAR PARK
DATA COLLECTION
Integrated Section
Above Detail of column system. Services and steel structure concealed behind concrete
panels keeping materiality honest and minimal using same vocabulary as folly.
Court Room Plan
Left Detail of hollow column
system. Services and steel structure concealed behind concrete. Secret assess panels allow access for maintenance keeping materiality honest and minimal using same vocabulary developed from folly.
Court Room Plan
Confessional Plan
Above Photo showing 1:1 of the confessional grill panel used to
obscure vision between confessor and listener.
Confessional Details
Left Plan shows spaces for confessor and listener with the grill panel used to obscure vision in between. Other walls are sound insulated in order to keep the conversation private. Timber is used for the pockets of activity that reside within candor i.e. Public Area Spaces, Law Courts and Confessionals taking the vocabulary used for the folly regarding the use of timber and the comfort this material can provide, which is in stark contrast to the concrete used for the structure of the building.
Left As with the folly and hiding the detail away emphasising a
sense of self love the services for the confessional are hidden within the corners of the walls.
Confessional Section
Left Section showing confessional in individual area on top floor, where some of the columns are replaced by trees to reflect back to the folly and the use of nature.
Confessional Details
Left Hidden guttering detail set inside wall to reinforce idea of minimalism and materiality to emphasis self love.
Left Raised flooring system allows for drainage and other
services to ran back to core and columns to carry services around the building. Insulation and waterproofing surrounds only the areas of active.
Charette 2015/16
Migratory Hides This project looked at the origins of the ghillie suit that emerged through Scottish folklore and mythology, integrating these ideas and making our own out of 70% recyclable materials fitting it into a urban environment. We also had to create a place within the school for it to reside during our exhibition. We decided to use the masses of old bicycle parts and tyres that can be found at many recycling plants around the city. We used these parts to create a dehumanised form to disguise him within our urban environment, used to store bikes. We gave him our own folklore story, cloaking him in mysticism. His lair being the lift creating awkward encounters with people traveling up and down the school, which we thought apt for his character.
Conclusion
I
am proud of what I have produced this year. I have tried completely different styles of representation trying to pair the style with the theme of the project. It has also been the first time at University where I have really enjoyed working in a group that worked together well in Urban Hacker and created some great exhibition work but also the individual work in Praise of Folly.
people and getting understand what West Kruiskade meant to them.
It has been hard at to get my head back in to an academic mindset. However I have found it incredibly interesting to discover and investigate the potentials of both briefs. Urban Hacker allowed us to investigate the site in a much more socially rich way allowing me to find out a side to a site that I wouldn’t have found by surveying it in the standard way. Meet
This year has been challenging but I am looking forward to exploring and developing a thesis that will hopefully produce a interesting year.
The Praise of Folly had a great narrative which have really enjoyed trying to get to grips with a feeling that is inherently intangible and exploring this through models and the small catalyst folly project and developing this vocabulary further for the main design.
Tom Cowman, Stage 5