cab 42ARCHITECTURE : STRATEGY, DESIGN

OPDRACHT - Concept and design strategyOPDRACHTGEVER - Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Willem de Kooning Acad-emy of Arts, Helsinki faculty of Architecture. REALISATIE - permanently under constructionOPMERKINGEN - Design strategy for third and forth year students of architecture and interior, including concepting and elaboration of given assignment. I N S T R U C T I O N S

INTRODUCTION This brochure explains the teach-ing method that ended up with the name finX. In 1997 there was an architecture workshop in the finnish archipelago, within the frame of the Coast Wise Europe network (Rotterdam Academy of Architecture 1996). The method was later improved over time, and evaluatued in practice. The method is based on a principle I call ‘concre-tion’. Concretion is the opposite of abstraction. Abstraction results by the nature of its quest, in the loss of specific meaning. At it’s extreme, something abstract can mean anything. Concre-tion seeks to (re)produce new meaning by specify-ing everything that is included within a definition. Concretion seeks the specific rather than the generic, the concrete rather than the abstract.

WHAT IS REAL ? In the last century abstraction was a highly worthy goal for modern artists who wanted to capture the essence of the things around them. Mondriaans sequence of the apple tree is a beautiful example. Designers and archi-tects soon followed. To free his work from the style limitations of the preceding era, Mies van der Rohe designed a pavillon with such minimal material suggestion that almost nothing but pure space was left. Le Corbusier took the emerging Modernist ideology into technology, and the inher-ent abstraction allowed him to start a mass production of the minimalist aesthetics of Mod-ernism. La Ville Radieuse was an extreme result. Changing the context of a well-defined object already gave Duchamps urinoir a completely new

brilliance, very different from the original mean-ing, yet carried by the same object. Context has since been a fertile soil for editing new meaning. What is reality, and what is fiction? The anorxic junkie-model selling brand jeans in a glossy maga-zine? Or politicians applying film industry to mili-tary strategy? Inquisitive attitudes rewrote the dictionaries of our environment, it has become a hypertext so dense with links that no one can read it. The intention of creating, powered by new tech-nology, has become so much more important than the dry reality of it, that details and definitions suffer from underestimation, and the expression with it. “There’s a huge gap at te moment between architects and societies. It will keep

getting bigger if architecture, instead of dealing with its own substance, insists on the schiz-ophrenical withdrawl of reality through the cre-ation of abstract contents or the imitation of exterior subjects.” (Carrilho da Graça in PROTO-TYPO #001 januari 1999).

DE-CONSTRUCTION / RE-CONSTRUCTION The nine-ties can be characterised by the conferences called ‘ANY-…’. The Technical University of Delft is basing it’s curriculum on a book with a collec-tion of approximately 200 design approaches. The Berlage Institute has asked 100 architects how they see the future of architecture. Everybody is generating ideas at an incredible rate. Generally speaking, one can see a confusion taking place

after the storm of abstractions and the search for identity. Identity is thinning out, as Koolhaas would suggest, and there’s also a mass pro-duction of identity noise. If a new generation of designers wishes to adress an audience, i.e. their clients, with the expectation of being heard, they should learn to communicate their work in an intelligent and evocative way. The finX approach tries to rediscover original vehicles for meaning and how they can be constructed, to edit them into communicative new meaning. Meaning means very little now, and specially students are easily confused by the amount of possible interpreta-tions to a given subject. FinX tries to give a tool for orchestrating intended spatial and material experiences.

B- for each associated element goes the same (objects in category 2). C- In the middle you end up with an amount of associated elements. D- By critical selection you reduce these ele-ments to those that comply to the set of criteria. E- The chosen elements are synthesized into a new meaningful element (the derivative object).

LECTURES 1 - 2 - 3 To introduce this scheme into the realm of three dimensional design, three lec-tures are prepared. The lecture on textual mean-ing introduces basics of communication, language, idiom and syntax, and how they can be seen as a flexible system of signification. The lecture on visual meaning skips through history to explain the

development and the logic of visuals. The lecture on shape and meaning introduces design intents and results, and the criteria by which they can be discussed. Gradually design expression and design media are introduced. Meaning and construction become understandable elements of design.

EXERCISES 1 - 2 - 3 Based on the same subjects, three excercises were developped. At all times communicating a meaning is the norm. The first exercise, finX1, is a textual exercise. An easy one to get acquainted with the structure. FinX2 is a visual exercise. It demands more creativity in association. In finX3 a three dimensional object is chosen, de- and recom-

posed. Sculptural expression is the goal. The synthesis, or finX4, forges the results of the exercises into a conceptual model. This is not an architectural design, but a complex object using textual, visual and sculptural expression. They have all the aspects of an architectural model (colour, texture, composition) except one : programme.

BRAIN STORM FinX tries to give a frame for analysis and proposal: de-construction and re-con-struction. This scheme is a scalelessly structured brain-storm. It allows one to cross the line of evident solutions. A- any element (a primitive object) can be described by an acceptable set of associated elements (objects in category 1), and

D

ABSTRACTION

CONCRETIONfin X 1 - fin X 2 - fin X 3 - synthesis

YONDER =primitive

HORIZON =

FATE =

HOPE =

GOAL =

DEPTHBORDERDISTANCESUN-DOWN >

DECREEDESTINATIONLUCKCHANCE

FAITHFUTURE >WISHEXPECTATION

RESULT >USEINTENT >PLAN

N: SUN-DOWN }

E: FUTURE }

C1: RESULT }

C2: INTENT } AFRODISIACderivative

< “The INTENTion for the FUTURE is to improve the RESULT of the SUN-DOWN.” >

N: nature, E: experiment, C1: culture, C2: communicationfinX

1

primitive subject background detail derivative

finX

2

primitive primary volumes & boolean operations derivative

ENVE

LOPE

ENVE

LOPE

RO

TATI

ON

SUB

STR

AC

TIO

N

finX

3synth

esis

AFRODISIAC + + +

?

finX1 finX2 finX3 finX4

lectu

re1

: language and meaning

lectu

re2

: image and m

eaning le

ctu

re3

: shape and meaning

idiom allows us to signify our environment and share our expe- riences.

duct conduit, pipe, canal, tube, channel, passage

pro - duce

bring - forth

grammar allows us to construct new meaning in our changing environment.

produce make product yield production making

prefix: pro = for as opposed to: anti = against

no word for ice 1word for water

20 words for ice

20 words for water

performance . . .

style . . . . . . .

representation . . . . . topology . . .

technique . . . . .

A

B

C

D

E

ornament . . . icon . . .

reference . . . reality . . .

fiction . . .

O

L

N

cab 42ARCHITECTURE : STRATEGY, DESIGN

OPDRACHT - Concept and design strategyOPDRACHTGEVER - Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Willem de Kooning Acad-emy of Arts, Helsinki faculty of Architecture. REALISATIE - permanently under constructionOPMERKINGEN - Design strategy for third and forth year students of architecture and interior, including concepting and elaboration of given assignment. E X A M P L E S

INTRODUCTION The finX approach consists of three exercises and a synthesis. The exercises follow the logic of the scheme but the synthesis has no method. By going through the exercises, students are forced to propose and discuss tex-tual, as well as visual and three dimensional mean-ing and communication. The work frame is quite strict, but the content is completely free. Anything can be chosen, analysed and proposed, as long as its comprehensible for the group. For textual communication this is usually no problem. The resulting phrases of finX1 often resemble evoca-tive haikus. Visual communication of finX2 is all-ready more difficult and personal, but can still be discussed within general consensus. Three dimensional communication of finX3 is much more

abstract for many, but elementary spacial notions, such as shape, proportion and scale, soon become the subject of evaluation. The group discusses the characteristics of certain types of spaces. Gradu-ally meaning and construction become controlable elements of design.

TWO PROJECTS On this page there are two projects. The first shows the steps taken to achieve a conceptual model. The second shows how the conceptual model is elaborated into a complete design. The scheme illustrated on the first page, is active in the whole process of con-cepting. The elaboration of the conceptual model is an application of the model to a given assignment.

FINX1 The first language exercise, by student Tom van Odijk, considers words taken form a poem on the city of Rotterdam. The word ‘city’, leads to ‘business’, ‘internationality’, ‘massiveness’, etc. etc.. In the end the three resulting words are joined in a phrase : “realising is the courageous salvation of our existence”, which in turn is char-acterised by the word ‘confrontation’. The source text, in this case the poem, has been ‘uncon-sciously evaluated’, and has delivered the notion of confrontation. This notion will be transferred to the synthesis.

FINX2 The image exercise starts with an image chosen within the context of the assignment, in this case an information centre for the city.

As a reference is chosen the lobby of the Nederlands Architectuur Institute. The image is de-constructed and re-constructed in images of constructions, city-scape backgrounds, and lob-bies. The three images that are chosen, the bridge, the cantileved space and the duo-seats, are characterised by one image : a rooftop swim-mingpool with a view of the skyline. It becomes clear that the original picture has been evaluated as a space for distant reflection on the city. This notion will be transferred to the synthesis.

FINX 3 The last excercise introduces formal pref-erences. A chosen object form the context of the assignment is formally de-constructed, in this case a city trash can. After some basic sculpting

finX3, the text follows the results form finX1 and the images come from finX2. It’s a model; it could be a building, but this model is meant for an interior. The model should not be seen as a literal spatial model. It is has to be interpreted for its meaning and it’s representative logic.

INTERPRETATION The model is an organisation of representations: an escape to survive (the white volume) that pierces through layers of mundaine humdrum (the transparent images), and stems from a earthly basis (the cortin steel base). These representations are translated into ‘char-acters’. Most important was to know how the

experience of each element played a part in the experience of the whole. The model for architec-ture becomes meaningfull. PROGRAMMING When each element had a char-acter, the next step was to translate these characters into dwelling activities. The Source became the most intimate space, the Navigation

was used as circulation system, and the Resist-ance was translated into all the boring daily task spaces, such as work and kitchen etc.. With each programmatic choice, a preference for materials was found. DESIGN Plan and section emerged and were improved within the limits of the assignment and

the intended experience. Materials were chosen in correspondence with the intended characters of the separated space-elemements. Making all this work for practical circumstances and techni-cal criteria rounds up the assignment where the spatial and material experience can be present found, even in the details.

SYNTHESIS 2 The conceptual model made by stu-dent Jan Geert de Bruin, shows a large white trapezoid volume, towering from two horizontal layers. One layer is a transparant layer with images of advertisement and commercials, the layer underneath is a solid layer made of rusted cortin steel. The shapes follow the results form

noun: city

phrase: ”buildings based on the24-7 lifestyle reflect the chances

of diversity.”derivative: salvation

selection: ‘24-7 lifestyle’, chances,buildings, diversity.

verb: to strawl

selection: experience, dream, talk

phrase: ”by talking and experiencing dreams one is inspired.”derivative: to realise

inspire.

adjective: exciting

phrase : ”looking for the uncontrolable and uncertain

derivative : courageous

selection : enticing, uncontrolable, surpassing, unknown.

surpasses the enticing.”

phrase: ”realising is the courageoussalvation of our existence.”derivative: CONFRONTATION

contents by Tom van Odijkdd 06.06.02

finX

1

primitive beam

1 >

beam 2

beam 3

seats 2

seats 1seats 3

>

tower 3

>tow

er 2tow

er 1

subject background detail derivative

lobby with

and tower in theback

beam overhead

rooftop pooldeckchairs and skyline

with

finX

2finX

3

primitive derivative

contents by Tom van Odijkdd 06.06.02

synth

esis

contents by Tom van Odijkdd 06.06.02

synth

esis

inte

rpre

tatio

npro

gra

mm

ing

desig

n

contents by Jan Geert de Bruin

dd 21.01.03

contents by Tom van Odijkdd 06.06.02

TRASH CAN

ROUNDED CONEINTERLOCKING WITHEXCAVATED TRAPEZIUM

relaxed retreat

CONFRONTATION : “analyse - relate”

... and skyline

to take a reflexive distance

“ survive “

visual media noise

red earth

to break through the hype and fly

The central vaulted spacefound in a Palladian villa.

1.source 2.navigation 3.resistance 4.survive 5.growing

1.

2.

3.

4.

Section becomescirculation.

Activity and materials linked

Section is programmed

Private programme, breaks through circulation,

breaks through resistant activity.

Plan and colour scheme.

Model 1 : 100 Details 1 : 20 & 1 : 5

and puzzling the resulting object has two intwined volumes, both triangular, but one is rounded and the other is rectangular. This notion will be trans-ferred to the synthesis.

SYNTHESIS 1 In the synthesis we see a hollow cone illustrated with sleeping people on the inside and mirrorring on the outside. It mirrors the words ‘analysis’ and ‘relate’. These words fill up the space between the cope and the triangle illustrated with the skyline, i.e. the city. The model suggests already solutions for future design questions but it is not yet a design. It is open to interpretation within certain boundaries. It definitely has a mean-ing, but it doesn’t have a fixed form yet.

fin X

4 / P

ijnac

ker 2

002

fin X

4 / F

ranx

200

2

fin X

4 / R

amec

kers

200

2

fin X

4 / T

oeba

st 2

002

fin X

4 / d

e Ri

dder

200

2

fin X

4 / v

an W

oerk

om 2

002

SYNTHESIS RESULTS AT THE WILLEM DE KOONING ACADEMY 1ST SEMESTER 2002

5.