Studio 22: Capriccio + Folly + City Zhiming Xu 1199095
Table of Content
Prologue
3---4
Reflection on the New City
5
New City Drawings
6---18
Appendix 1: Capriccio
19---23
Appendix 1: Folly
24---32
Appendix 2: Diary
33
Prologue
The chosen site is in the Canaleggio in Venice Italy, I chose it for three reasons:
In this project, I was explring the Venetian Jewish history and the conditions of their current distribution in Venice. In this high-density residential area, there are a large proportion of venetian Jewish living here. In the aspect of culture background and history, the location of “500 years of the Venetian ghetto organization” is in the center of the site. That is where the memorial service was held and the streets here is where the visitors visiting. The buildings in the site are adjoining and higher, this ghettostyle condition is an important characteristic. The roofs here are continuous and touching. For the new city, it can build visual and spatial connection between new city and original Ghetto. The conditions of the existing buildings are suitable for “ghetto memorial city” to interact with them. (Site plan, section, perspective in next page)
Reflection on the New City In this project, I explored the context of Venice in italy and I found the Canaleggio district is very different from the other area. It is on the center of the city and crowded, and showing the characteristics of winding paths and conterminous buildings. Some residential buildings are high-density. In this condition, some roofs are well used as Altana Roof Terrace. The Ghetto in Canaleggio is typical in building on narrow areas that the architectural volume was not extending in horizontal but in vertical with the increase of population. This historical problem made the Jewish residency in low ceilings and narraw passages inside their building. And the Jewish also made additions onto their roofs, which caused that their buildings went higher than other Venetian buildings. The act that isolated them in a small space made them had better view and right of overlooking than other local venetian. These are the site analysis of contect which supports me to design the "Ghetto Memory" new city. The new city is inspired by the "Ghetto 500 years commemorative activity" on the site. The time of Jewish segregation is an important part of history. Besides of it, what is happening to the current Jewish population in Venice is also deplorable. The unique "Venetian Jewish" was fading away because of the separation in spatial and the affect by tourist. According to the reference, the new city is to resurgence the local "Passover seder" Jewish festival and change the dispersal of space . I was following the concept of "building addtion onto roofs" and the verticality in new city. "Ghetto Memory" gallery is starting from the location of "500 years of the Venetian ghetto organization" and lying on the ascending continuous roofs. It is in the court yard made up by four hotel walls. The walls is inspired by the Aldo Rossi cemetery which is exploring verticality. The arrangement of rooms on the wall is along Hedguk's 9 squares method. In nine square system, people are close to pray and celebrate the "Passover Seder" to activate religious atmosphere. For the new city "walls", it can build visual and spatial connection between existing city and original Ghetto. In the rest parts of new city, the average height and continuous roofs of the existing buildings are suitable for “ghetto memorial city” to interact with them by highlines. According to Harman's question, "if the city is an object, what kind of autonomous forms of the city exist, and what is the role of the architecttural object as a part that makes up the city?" He defined city into four forms: city as a circle, grid, archipelago and solid. I think the context of my site is the city as a grid which is divided in to blocks. But the characteristic of Ghetto which is inside of the site shows a different nature, the highly shared space and systems makes it more like a city of archipelago. Look in to the Ghetto inside, there is no particular boundary. And the buildings are more like a confetti of loosely connected projects. But due to the boundary of ghetto, it getts close to the defination of "the city as a solid" from the macroscopical view. So it is very interesting. In the new city, I tried to find a way to redefine the old Ghetto city. To free the "Ghetto" from two contradictory qualities that as "archipelago" and "solid". Thanks to Hedjuk's nine squares spatial arrangement, I found it, in some way, it can unify the two ambivalent. When free the 9 squares from two dimensions into three dimensions, in a cubic form. The loop-locked gridding shows a strong sense of enclosure and isolation between inside and out side. But the objects in its core can reach through the holes of grids and connect with outside as passages. Which make the new city as a new form independent of the four difinations from Harman. For the "Ghetto Memory", the bridges are the mentioned "passages". In this view, the project could be seen as a experiment that new city is attached to, or say is parasitic on, an old city. It is figuring out the problem that how a city as a solid could break the isolation at the same time keep the inside pureness and conservative. When I was designing the highlines, the tentacle of city as a solid, a big problem is the missing of the information of the unfamous residential buildings. Such as the unimpressive buildings don't have their plans on website. It went against me to try a deeper interaction between new city and the old city. When the new city try to solve the crowding problem, new city caused some damage on one or two existing building.
The new city "Ghetto Memory" overview 30/60 isometric the new city located in Canaleggio district, Italy.
"Ghetto Memory" key view 1 perspective drawing The view from west-north showing the visual connection between new city and existing Ghetto island (bottom right corner).
"Ghetto Memory" key view 2 perspective drawing The view from east-south looking through the ground floor colonnade to the courtyard.
High-line The high line reaching out from court yard prayer room to residential area.
Hotel walls The facade of hotel building viewing from east-south.
Ground floor plan The ground floor is colonnade in four directions, some areas requires the cloumns pass through existing buildings.
Typical plan of level 3,4,7,8,11,12
Typical plan of level 1,2,5,6,9,10 The openings on the whole "walls" in four directions are common space for the "celebration of the Passover Seder" festival, also as viewing decks responding to the main characteristic of Ghetto that "the state of isolation in Jewish history gave their residency higher field of view."
Section 1 See from inside to outside of the Gehtto hotel, showing the visual connection between origional Ghetto and new city.
Section 2 The high line reaching out from new city court yard prayer room to outside residential area.
Key view of the court yard Viewing from north "wall" to south through the courtyard. The color elements in yellow showing the distant view (outside skyline), mid-shot (another wall), and close shot (handrail). The red shows how the high line reach out from new city court yard prayer room to outside residential area.
Gragment 1 The gallery, pray room, common resting space, and library in court yard successively lying on the roof of existing buildings. The staircase and lift room of the "wall"
Fragment 2 The end of the highline system connecting to the staircases of existing buildings The medium of the highline bridges as a praying room and tea room
Appendix 1: Capriccio + Folly
Capriccio 1& 2 Deliverables
Capriccio 1. The Transforming Volume In the original capricci, the painter is having viewers’ attention on the sky line of architecture. Along the line, we see the tower, building and bridge. Which is relevant to the 3 projects of Hejduk. The watching tower is slender and the highest. The Texas house is lying on the ground and extending horizontally. The memorial towers are as a medium, its form is transforming and connecting the other projects. In my capriccio, I place them imitating the original one. And in the iso drawing, it is manipulating the ratio and scale along the 9 square ideology to show the connection and transforming concept between projects.
Capriccio 2. Void into Hem OMA
In this one, OMA’s idea in 19 century is to take space and materials out of structure. The 3 projects with dramatic negative space are chosen, and placed into Manhattan blocks, exploring the relationship between solid and void.
Folly 1, The revolt The quote, “you are just another brick in the wall”. In the video, the singer Pink Floyed is being bullied in school. In his position, the teachers as regulators are thought controlling and monitoring him unequally." You are just another brick in the wall" shows that he is questioning the rationality of this supreme power, "watching". He wanted to revolt. And in the folly. The watching towers designed by Hejduk are showing the characteristics what Floyed said. The people in towers had unique power of watching other people. The folly is a revolt to overthrow the watchers. The watching towers are dragged down into the ground. This manipulation of space converts the roles of architecture in the space. The highest "watching" room in towers now is the sight intersection of the other people. In the form of the folly, I mixed the architecture elements from Hedguk. In previous phase of the projects, the tower had a smooth surface and small openings. They are isolated and standing out of the context. In this version, towers are place into context structure. The supreme watchers are now one of the bricks and being watched.
Folly 2, The waving edge The quote, “We will make a come back, they are waiting for something huge. Well, give it to them...You paved the way for those other clowns." The women in video found a husband's cheating by the pattern of his tie. The quote illustrated the concept of "perception". The folly is emphasizing "perception" by water waving in Venice. The small things are happening beneath the ordinary. The small changing of water level sometimes are not easy to be noticed. The stairs square is enlarging its representation through ramps, areas are easier to be recognized than water level in height. The matrix shape is extended from Hejduk's ideology, the exploration of dimensions and splitting method. With the water level waving, the visual appearance of the matrix is acting. In the Venice, the folly is placed in the second block which is facing the sea and surrounded by channels. It emphasized the connection with context.
Folly 3, I paved the way The quote, “We will make a come back, they are waiting for something huge. Well, give it to them...You paved the way for those other clowns.". The man in video was an obsolete movie star, he sacrificed a lot but now be abandoned because of face disfigure. He wanted to come back and prove himself urgently. This strong emotion is responding to the architecture in Venice. There is a very unstable geological condition in Venice. They don’t have reliable basement in this city. The buildings are lying on the wooden stakes underground in soil. The stakes in soil are playing an important role silently and supporting the whole city. Their position is just like that actor. People don't see them, even don't know them. "Wooden stakes" want to prove themselves. In the folly, the stakes are breaking through the ground and reaching into the air. They are holding Venetian columns and arches on their top which are the classic symbol of old Venetian architecture form. A strong urge of showing off can be felt in this folly. This is the concept. Hejduk's work, Plan for Diamond house A, is referenced in this folly. The watching towers made up the matrix, and the other two projects are placed in the space alone with no connection. In Hejduk's theory in Diamond A Plan, "the scattered architectural elements and the incontinuity of the arrangement in the matrix space" can achieve the stop of time in sensory. I used it to create the sense of timeless, responding to week 5 theme “trancendent across history”. In the site, the folly is placed next to the Venetian church whose architecture form is interacting with folly. There is also a narrative between three follies. I explored the gridding and how the volume transform between three Hejduk’s projects. I bring this concept into follies. The folly one is dragging towers down to the ground. The folly two is exploring what is happening above and below the water edge. And the woods are reaching into the air in folly 3.
Appendix 2: Diary
Sorry it's a very rough diary, my diary app on ipad is damaged when exporting just before submission. I had lots of reference. I'm sorry for that.