Viya Zhang_ Thesis Journal by Viya Zhang

J O B

Nostalgic Heritage Yanxing (Viya) Zhang Design Thesis Studio 05 JOB Tutor Yvonne Meng

Content

Chapter I

Site and Research

Chapter II

Concept Design

Chapter III

Sketch Design

Chapter IV

Final Propsal

Bibliography

Figures

J O B

Chapter I

Site and Research

Hypothesis Statement

Nostalgic Heritage An Architectural Palimpsest of past

Nostalgic Heritage is a methodology for heritage preservation based on Svetlana Boym’s theory, which described nostalgia as ‘revisiting time as space’ and ‘superimposition of past and now’(Boym,2001). This nostalgic approach aims to arouse sympathy and déjà vu of the site by layering the memories and elements. The proposal focuses on Job Warehouse on Bourke Street in Melbourne and intends to revitalise the lost stories and meanings. It aims to recognise the social and cultural value of neglected old building and reconnect people to the site by superimposing and displacing the nostalgic objects and events from past, present and future. Eventually, these architectural palimpsests will be the resources and generators of materials, forms and spaces.

Heriatge

Memory

Architecture

connection

Nostalgia

Value

Activities

Space

People

Collage

Collage of Job Warehouse

• Events

• Programs

• Activities

• Memory

• Stories

• Elements

The Job Warehouse Job Warehouse, or Crossley buildings, is a row shop standing at the east end of Bourke Street. Unlike the other registered heritage buildings, it hardly impressed people with its plain and damaged render at the first glimpse. It was firstly built and owned by William Crossley in 1848, a famous butcher(VHD 2000). People came and left, and the remains of their stories disappeared either. There lived Crossley family, the artist Eugene von Guerard, butchers, a draper, a cafĂŠ owner, a photographer, a tailor, a grocer, and a wine and spirit merchant (VHD 2000).). Some names were forgotten, but the memories remained in the building. In 1956, Jacob Zeimer became the owner and started the story of fabrics. Textiles and fabrics occupied every corner of the shop, like a shop in the Diagon Alley (Wilson 2005). Jacob took care of the shop, and the shop took care of him. In the 60s, the Paperback shop moved into the corner at Crossley street, and there were always some books you could not find anywhere else(VHD 2000).). Jacob left in 2005, and the drapery lasted for more seven years. Now the shop is closed and waiting for the next legend.

Research

Scholar Research The starting point of the site research was the chronicle analysis of the past occupants and events related to Job Warehouse. As shown in the diagram, the programs and use of the building has been changing from the 1840s till now, which caused amendments to architecture as well. For instance, the removed chimney and the displaced staircase were the evident witnesses of the history (VHD 2000). Focusing on the past events and objects, the research extended to the value of the site. According to the progress of heritage values by Judson and IyerRaniga (2012, 20), the definition and classification of heritage value evolved from the primary use and aesthetic to the cultural and social meanings. In the case of Job Warehouse and the other neglected heritage buildings with no distinct architectural features, the social and cultural value of this heritage building play a more significant role. The irreplaceable memories and stories of the building and place show us “who we are” and “what formed us” (The Burra Charter 2013). It is critical to understand its values and figure out appropriate methods and strategies to conserve the heritage.

Tschumi_ n Manhatta Script

Use forms Space

Event, Activities, and use of space

Preservation

Value of Heritage

Architecture Composition/ Elements Value of Past/Memory

Tactile Architecture Nostalgic Architecture

Adaptive use

Restoration

Soacil & Cultural Meanig

Narrative Architecture

Heritage Conservation

Field Diagram

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there (Hartley, 2000).â&#x20AC;?

Ruskin

Kulin Nation As so Ae ciat io Sc sthe n Ed ient tic uc at ific Rar iona l So ity Indi cial ge Austr alian Trad nous He ition rita ge Co uncil E Sisto

Built by William Crossley

vi H den A isto tia C est ri l Eng om heticc lish mu Her nal ita ge

Adjoining Shops added at ease Malasp

ina

Clo leas sed an ed in 20d 18

G TA RI HE

VA LU E

Cu ltu ra S l/ S co sym Ae pirit cia bo lic sth ua l No Us eti l e c Mas n-U on se

Archite

Use cture

Research

n vo ne ge rard Eu Gue

Dav

l l tura na Cul atio ic uc om e Ed on rc nal Ec ou io Res reat tic e he ag Rec st Herit Ae sh gli En n

201

tio cia so hetic st ific l Ae ient iona Sc at ral s uc Ed Cultu ness enes ch tiv Ri enta y rit l es pr Ra cia toria Re So Vic ge rita He ntity Ide rity Ra omic on e Ec Us onal ucati l Ed cia So al to litic Po okileh n&J Feilde

199

Western shop as a meat-p reserv with a slaugh ing ter yard and boiler with chiney

1890

1980

JOB WAREHOUSE

1970

190

The Pa Book perba shop ck

1930

192

1940

Fro m th 19 Liv e sh 09-1 co erp op a 970 rne oo l t th s, r as was Stree e a c us t afe ed

The wa Corne s se r totw pera shop o sh ted ops

ES RI EO TH

Research Diagram

etic sth ric Ae isto tific H en l a Sci oci OS S M O IC

1880

e ve Ag orati em mm Use Co Art ss e wn l e N ieg R

Zei

The were shops oc by va cupied busin rious es after ses 1850

Occu at the piers live d abov rear e the and shop s

Rom eo C Cro hang Lane ssle ed y S to tre et

1850

2020

As mentioned before, this thesis mainly centred at the lost stories and social meaning behind the heritage building. The scholar research ranges from different categories, including narrative architecture, deconstructivism, adaptive use of architectural heritage, memory and architecture. The diagram shows three most evocative theories and projects related to past events on-site and discussed time and memories. They can be concluded as object-oriented, activity-oriented and memory-oriented.

The Manhattan Transcripts, Bernard Tschumi.(1976-1981) “Architecture is not simply about space and form, but also about event, action and what happens in space (Tschumi 1979).”

Fig. 1. The Manhattan Transcripts (Tschumi 1976).

The Mnemosyne Atlas, Aby Warburg. (1929) “The Mnemosyne Atlas is a figurative atlas consisting of a series of plates. Each plate is made up of a montage of works of art from the Renaissance, from the antiquity (artworks, playing cards, archeological finds, etc.) and from the 20th Century (Lucarelli, 2013).”

Fig. 2. The Mnemosyne Atlas (Warburg 1929). 13

Nostalgia

Nostalgia, Svetlana Boym. (2001) “The nostalgia that interests me here is not merely an individual sickness but a symptom of our age, a historical emotion.” “The nostalgic desires to obliterate history and turn it into private or collective mythology, to revisit time as space, refusing to surrender to the irreversibility of time that plagues the human condition.” “A cinematic image of nostalgia is a double exposure, or a superimposition of two images—of home and abroad, of past and present, of dream and everyday life.” “Nostalgia, in my view, is not always retrospective; it can be prospective as well. “ “Unlike melancholia, which confines itself to the planes of individual consciousness, nostalgia is about the relationship between individual biography and the biography of groups or nations, between personal and collective memory.” “While futuristic utopias might be out of fashion, nostalgia itself has a utopian dimension, only it is no longer directed toward the future. Sometimes it is not directed toward the past either, but rather sideways.” “Reflective nostalgia does not follow a single plot but explores ways of inhabiting many places at once and imagining different time zones.” (Boym 2011)

Among these scholar precedences, Boymâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s theory of nostalgia was chosen as the cornerstone for further studies. There is a great potential of the symptom which relates to the past and memory. It can be applied as a design approach to transform the meanings and value of the past. In the article, Boym used some description and metaphors to define the word of nostalgia, which implies the spatial and architectural aspects of nostalgia. Guided by this theory, there are three significant questions derived from the research and contributed to the transformation from theory to architecture.

Why do we love old things/buildings? Will new thing and places evoke nostalgia? How can nostalgic moments be transformed into architecture?

Value

Memory

Nostalgia

Connection

Heritage

5 key words 15

Palimpsest

Palimpsest “ Paper, parchment, or other writing-material prepared for writing on and wiping out again, like a slate. (Oxford English Dictionary 1984).”

Boym’s description of nostalgia as the superimposition of past and present inspired the design approach creating the palimpsests of the site. This method also aims at the question of will people get nostalgic with new things or places. To answer this question, a survey was done by showing photos of Job Warehouse to different groups of people. Interviewees’ answer to the question if theses photos evoke any memories of the past are diverse and intricate. The answer is Yes, people will get nostalgic with something or someplace they never knew before. The triggers of nostalgia can be anything from the past of life. They can be a single object, the smell, a unique feeling at that moment, or just a fragmentary image. A series of nostalgic palimpsests were created by overlaying the images of the site and nostalgic memories. These palimpsests show how this method will connect people and introduce external information and resources to the site.

Palimpsest

â&#x20AC;&#x153; We experience our present world in a context which is casually connect with past events and objects, and hence with reference to events and objects which we are not experiencing when we are experiencing the present (Perec 1974).â&#x20AC;?

Analytical Drawings

Architectural Palimpsests The plans and sections of Job Warehouse from different periods were superimposed to explore the link between past and now. The conjunction and coincidence of events, forms and memories will be the generators of new forms and space and become the resources of architecture.

Activities and Events on site

Pedestrian on Bourke Street 20

Activities Section

Suit Shop by P.Johnson

book club re adi ng

Rubbish collection on every Tuesday

V O

vi cti

The smell of Alley

CROSSLEY STREET 22

Lookin

Paperback Bookshop

Looking for a book

COVID & POST - C

PRODUCED BY AN AUTODESK STUDENT VERSION

PRODUCED BY AN AUTOD

The cornershops...

old tailor shop

ies vit cti

ng for a book

Eugene von Guerard doing paintings

Romantic....

The drap ery sho po wn ed

book club re adi ng

mily r Fa me Zie by

s itie

JOB WAREHOUSE 56-58

Collage of Nostalgia

timeber framing the old house in hometown

old sinage neon sinages fullfiled the street

gate iron wire â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home grandma f o te a g the

rolls of fabric the smell of laundry

ding

buil old d n a ture itec

ice corn h the l arc sica clas

th road lights laneways at night

Shadows of tree the sunshine

crackin g the con

poster

certs a nd

perform ance

Chapter II

Concept Design At this stage, the critical concern is to translate the thesis of nostalgia to conceptual ideas and architectural form. The key points of revisiting time as space and nostalgia as superimposition indicate the architectural potential of this nostalgia approach. However, it is critical to acknowledge that this transformation from theory to form should infiltrate every aspect of design instead of a literal translation.

Formal Precedence

In the movie Interstellar, an essential plot happened in five-dimensional space, where the time can be read and visited at different points. It is tricky to represent time(fourth dimension) or even the fifth dimension. Cleverly, the film made the time as extensions and replication of the main character’s bedroom. This visual and spatial metaphor of time can be experienced as space inspired the translation for the nostalgic architecture.

“ Tim Cooper : All of this is one little girl’s bedroom. Every moment. It’s infinitely complex. They have access to infinite time and space, but they’re not bound by anything.”

“ Amelia Brand: to them, time may be just another physical dimension. To Them, the past might be a canyon they can climb into, and the future a mountain they can climb up.” (Intestellar, 2015)

29 Fig. 3. Post of Interstellar (Eng 2015).

Design Approach

The first step is developed from the palimpsests from the previous research. To echo with the hypothesis, the form-finding and making process was based on the superimposition method. A series of parti diagrams were drawn following the mapping and section palimpsests of Job Warehouse. These diagrams were overlaid again to achieve new forms and novel spatial relationships. Iterations came out from this parti palimpsests and became the resource of the new forms of the extension to the existing structure with a nostalgic approach. This method closely relates to the site by inheriting the existing spatial relationships and languages. Its connection to the site Job Warehouse and the hypothesis contribute to rationalise the forming process and design decision making.

FORM

PROGRAM

MASSING

STRUCTURE

UNITS

HISTORIC

PALIMPSEST

ADDITIVE & SUBTRACTIVE

TRACING FROM PALIMPSESTS

Design Approach

Precedence

Fig. 4. Model of Mannisto Church and Parish Center (Leiviska 1991).

Fig. 5. Compositional Plan of MyyrmĂ¤ki Church (TTKK 2014).

Referring to the movie Interstellar, the translation from the diagram to mass and form will focus on showing the superimposition and building up the nostalgic space. The MyyrmĂ¤ki Church by Juha LeiviskĂ¤ (1984) was chosen and studied as it shows how the layering can be represented with walls systems. Volume is inserted in between the wall without closed boundary. Similarly, the Sonsbeek Pavilion diagram by Aldo von Eyck shows how to create voids and variable space in between the parallel walls. Fig. 6. Diagram of Sonsbeek Pavilion in Arnhem (Eyck 1966).

Transformation of Layering

Parti+ Forming Process Instead of direct application of the diagram, the initial form is combined with the superimposed parti and extruded walls from the site, as an architectural palimpsest. The walls are scaled and modified to respond to the palimpsests and form a new spatial relationship.

Extracted from site

plan palimpsests

Process

Mass+Site

Cornice

Window

Framing

Heritage

What will remain? Instead of entirely keeping the original building, only the nostalgic objects and elements will be reused and reinterpreted. The primary reason behind this strategy is that the critical concern of the social and cultural value of Job Warehouse and the concept of nostalgia. Our nostalgia of the past is always incomplete, fragmentary, blurred and distorted. Hence, the new form of Job Warehouse will acknowledge what was on-site and also present a new form of it.

Fig. 7. Entry to Collage House ( S+PS Architects 2015) 42

Fig. 10. Acute House (Granleese 2016)

Concept Drawings

Both of the plan and section are new layers to the nostalgic palimpsests of Job Warehouse. Ass showed in the plan, the building can be accessed from different points, and the entries and circulation are visible to the public, which encourage visitors to explore. The section drawing is clearly showing the idea of layering and superimposition. The space and structure are an architectural presentation of nostalgia and a palimpsest of past and now.

Horizontal

Program

COURTYARD

Vertical

OFFICE

RETAIL

GALLERY RETAIL (BREWERY ABOVE)

RETAIL

Concept Drawings

BREWERY (OFFICE behind)

GALLERY

RETAIL

Program 46

Section

Mass+Composition

Walls/Layers

Massing

Walls + Plates

Walls + Massing

Chapter III

Sketch Design

Transformation from Concept

At this stage, there are two focuses on the transformation from the concept. The first one is the architecture. The form has been modified and refined with consideration about programs and activities. Details and materials also contributed to the translation of the nostalgic thesis and refinement of the formal design. In the designing process, decision making and design strategies were guided by the critical ideas of Superimposition, Layering, Revisiting time as space which are extracted from the statement. Besides forms and space, another focusing point is the visual presentation. Referring to the Graphic Anatomy Atelier Bow-Wow (2007), the drawings should be like the ‘miniature drawings’ and ‘show the interrelationships between diverse elements.’ The drawings composed in this phase are not only for a technical purpose but also an expression of the ideas and concept. They contained all related elements including concept, space, form, program, atmosphere, materiality and details.

Superimposition/Palimpsests

Layering

Revisiting time as space

Design Strategies

Superimposition Layering Blade Walls

Vertica

Revisiting time as space

al Circulation

Extended Lanes

The key ideas are achieved through three specific strategies, which are extrusion, vertical circulation and extended laneways. The extruded walls enhance the concept of layering, both visually and spatially. By celebrating the vertical circulation and acknowledging Melbourne laneways, people are encouraged to travel the space, eventually travel the time.

Forming Process

Extrusion - layering

setback - i

in between

Vertical circulation - visiting

â&#x20AC;&#x153; Nostalgia, unlike screen memory, does not relate to a specific memory, but rather to an emotional state. This idealized emotional state is framed within a past era, and the yearning for the idealized emotional state manifests as an attempt to recreate that past era by reproducing activities performed then and by using symbolic representations of the past.(Hirsch 1992).â&#x20AC;?

THE PAPERBACK

Street View from Bourke Street

Plan As shown in the plan, the building can be accessed at three sides through the extended laneways. The laneways are a symbol of the urban and living culture of Melbourne, which helps to anchor the architecture to its context. The existing retail remained at the original place connected to the new program of gallery and offices through the interior street. To replicate the atmosphere on laneways, materiality, objects, events and moments are also installed in these alleys.

Plan The conceptual plan and other drawings are showing both of the architectural features and also the concept. In the form of the palimpsest, the two-dimensional line works are overlay with nostalgic moments, objects and extrude blade walls above.

Parti

COURTYARD

OFFICE

RETAIL

GALLERY RETAIL (BREWERY ABOVE)

RETAIL

Program 62

Sectional Perspective

Elevation

Parti

BREWERY (OFFICE behind)

GALLERY

RETAIL

Program 66

Remains from the Past

cornice

window

framing

and ice cture corn hite the l arc sica clas

old

ding

buil

th road lights laneways at night timeber framing the old house in hometown

Shadows of tree the sunshine old sinage neon sinages fullfiled the street

cracking

poster the conc erts an d perfor

gate iron wire maâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home of grand the gate

mance

rolls of fabric the smell of laundry

As mentioned in the previous chapter, the objects and elements of the old Job Warehouse will be replaced and reinterpreted to evoke the idea of nostalgia. These elements will be distorted, exaggerated, represented in new forms and also become resources for the form-making.

Chapter IV

Design Development

Final Proposal

In line with the statement of nostalgia heritage, the existing Job Warehouse will be replaced with an architectural palimpsest of past and memory. The new building will take the layered blade walls as fundamental forms, and in-between space will express and illustrate the old stories. By inviting people to visit and evoking the nostalgia memory, the connection and attachment to the place will be built and tighten.

Master Plan

View from Bourke STreet

â&#x20AC;&#x153; To remember, then, is precisely not to recall events as isolated; it is to become capable of forming meaningful narrative sequences as these narratives generate a remembering through the use of present triggers(Connerton 1989).â&#x20AC;?

View from Crossley Street 77

Title for each page

Conceptual Plan 78

Plans & Programs The laneways will extend into the architecture to anchor it to its context. The ideas of superimposition and layering are not only expressed through the walls but also the floors. With modifications of floor height and spatial hierarchy, the floor on plans will achieve the quality of palimpsests. The existing shops will remain, and new programs such as the gallery, a microbrewery and office will be introduced to activate the building.

Layering Blade Walls

Vertical Circulation

Extended Lanes

Alleys Office Brewery Gallery

New Retails

Alleys Alleys Existing retails 80

The ‘New’ Job Warehouse

Plans & Programs

Superimposition

1 5

1. extended alleys 2. P.Johnson suitshop 3. new retail 4. office 5. void 1st Floor Plan

1 6

2 3

1. extended alleys 2. oberservation spot 3. gallery 4. brewery 5. office 6. void Top Floor Plan

Further Research

Layered Space

Fig. 11. Axonometric Analysis of Layering Planes and Giusuppe Terragniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Casa del Fascio. (Eisenmann 2003)

In relation to the layered and in-between space, the Eisenmannâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diagram showing the overlay planes are not necessarily solid walls but can be structured by beam and columns (Eisenmann 1975). This refined layering system can introduce complexity and richness, which answers to the vital concept of nostalgia.

In-between Space

Fig. 12. Oversentimental ( Zac Koukoravas 2016)

Inspired by Koukoravas’s Arcylic painting, six characters of layered space are extracted as ‘solid’, ‘information’, ‘translucent’, ‘gradient’, ‘texture’, ‘void’.

solid

information

translusent

gradient

texture

void

Interpretation of layered and In-between space

The six characters contribute to form the in-between spaces and translate the different statuses of memories. These facades directly illustrate one or a combination of these ideas, such as the screens showing information and offset curtain mullions. Eventually, the concept of superimposition is not only achieved through the walls but also the space between them.

dm emo ries

Pap

erb ack B

Rom eo L ane

the offs ette

Bar

ook sho p

Luc y

Folk

the offs ette

dm emo ries

Overall Form & Composition

JOB WAREHOUSE

light from sky

visi ting the tim e ve

rtic ally

Elevations

translucent

Elevation on Crossley Street

void

layered

gradient

information solid+texture

gradient

Elevation on Liverpool Street

Conceptual Section 92

“ Teddy: Lenny, you can’t trust a man’s life to your little notes and pictures. Leonard: Why not? Teddy: Because your notes could be unreliable. Leonard: Memory’s unreliable. Teddy: Oh, please! Leonard: No, no, really! Memory’s not perfect. It’s not even that good. Ask the police. Eyewitness testimony is unreliable. The cops don’t catch a killer by sitting around remembering stuff. They collect facts, they make notes and they draw conclusions. Facts, not memory. That’s how you investigate. I know. It’s what I used to do. Look, memory cand change the shape of a room. It can change the colour of a car and memories can be distorted. They’re just an interpretation. They’re not a record. They’re irrelevant if you have the facts.” (Memento, 2001.)