Galo Canizares Portfolio II

This is the time for drawing angels.

-John Hejduk

CONTENTS

Mastery and Mysticism:An Introduction

Exquisite Corpses:An Architectural Mystery

Distorting Cerdas Grid:Monumentality, Memory, and Infrastructure

Lincoln Labs: The Laboratory for Collective Memory

Floating Giants:A Program for Local Warming

Digital Agriculture:Urban Planning in Paju Korea, Phase III

Learning from PulpOr, the Secret Lives of Architects

A Man and His Pool

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47

71

95

119

140

152

MASTERY AND MYSTICISMAN INTRODUCTION

The first architecture portfolio I made was titled Fake Architec-ture, A Tragedy of Selected Works in Five Acts. All pretension aside, it was an honest retrospective of my architectural education up to that point. When I published that first collection of works, I was upset that I didnt get the education I felt that I deserved and that I had more questions than answers. Three years later, I still have unanswered questions, but I feel more prepared to embark on a quest for those answers. The second part of my archi-tectural education was completed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Partly pursuing a concentration in the History, Theory, and Criticism department, and partly delving deep into my own interests such as formal inquiry, postmodern discourse, and architectural representa-

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tion, I successfully graduated with a professional degree in architecture. But what does it mean to be a Master of Archi-tecture? That title, as ominous as it sounds, does not suggest my mastery of the discipline, but rather indicates an ability to be a productive agent of architectural knowledge. Mastery at this point is more of a trajectory or pursuit of knowledge within the field. Perhaps it also suggests that Ive mastered the tools of the trade, but still, architecture for me is less about Masters and more about Mystics. We are fascinated by the mystical properties of architec-ture. The phenomena of light in space, the psychology of public space, the politics of building are all intangible qualities that give richness to our discipline. However, we hesitate to admit this mystical belief. We delude

vii MASTERY AND MYSTICISM

ourselves in the thought that we are productive agents in the physical world where our real actions have real consequences. But architecture has rarely been real. Alberti argued that true architecture can only exist in the mind because as soon as you draw a line, information is inevi-tably lost. There is little time to debate about whether architec-ture is solely about building, but I will argue that architecture is about knowledge and mysticism. We as humans have an extreme weakness for mysticism. Religion, magic, the unknown intrigues and entrances us. In architecture, we are drawn to the inexplicable qualities of space, light, form, etc. We look for mystics that have skill-fully managed to translate these phenomena into physical objects and whats more: have managed to get people to live inside them.

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If you really think about it, the fact that humans built pyramids and skyscrapers is mystifying. But maybe thats just me. Regard-less, if youve made it this far, Im impressed and I will just say this: my work here is the result of an obsession with architec-ture. An obsession that drives me to push the limits of representa-tion, legibility, and agency. In an attempt to be critical, it borders on the absurd. Happy reading.

Galo, February 2014

ix MASTERY AND MYSTICISM

EXQUISITE CORPSESAN ARCHITECTURAL MYSTERY

In 1937, writing about the parallels between mystery fiction and urban dwelling, Walter Benjamin wrote, in times of terror, when everyone is something of a conspira-tor, everybody will be in the position of having to play detective. That is to say that anxieties present within the built environment often lead to a series of actions closely related to those undertaken by detec-tives. Using this as a departure point, this project seeks to reconstitute a discussion of meaning within architecture through the use of narrative, anachronous formal languages, and literary devices. If we are to take the dismissal of postmod-ern architectural discussions as a given, we can place meaning as an archaic subject matter limited to autonomous formal readings (i.e. dialogues of surface, geometric complex-ity, etc) and non-existent in the context of large archi-tectural production (i.e. real estate development, efficiency in construction methods, etc). However, revisiting linguis-tic analogies and a nostalgia for lost artifacts and pairing

them alongside contemporary concerns of urban dwelling and architectural agency, we can re-establish culture-centric modes of architectural production (ones not limited to parametric or positivistic attitudes). By embracing the fictional dimension of an architec-tural project, and exploring the limits of that fiction, Exquisite Corpses determines a more specific understanding of narrative architecture, one that does not dismiss or marginalize the subject matter but augments it. A fictional narrative suggests that contemporary discussions of meaning in architecture must be taken to certain limits in order to promote agita-tions, explore morals, and even mediate anxietiesmuch in the same way detective mysteries operate. While previous attempts at promoting these themes rely largely on archi-tecture ad extremum (read: paper architecture, utopia) this project operates at the scale of the detective mystery or the parable. It sets up an allegori-cal framework that situates Exquisite Corpses within the lineage of real projects with heavy theoretical underpinnings

ABSTRACT

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(Tschumis La Villette, Rossis urban plazas), but also accepts the dismissive value of fiction. Ultimately, the goal is to revisit a spectral dialogue excluded from most contemporary architectural production, and suggest a probable methodology around which to have discus-sions of collective memory, meaning, signification, and public identity. This thesis addresses two broad questions about the disci-pline of architecture:

1. How do we (as architects, detectives, and the public) read architecture?2. What is real and unreal in architecture?

These two questions are then fragmented into smaller topics including signification in architecture: a revisitation of meaning, contemporary state of urban dwelling, and whether it is possible to be avant-garde today. The following sections seek to unpack these themes in more detail, and outline the methodology undertaken throughout the course of the project. The section on reading architecture tackles the issue of

legibility in the built environ-ment. Taking the dismissal of postmodernism as a given, I posit that there is a need to revive dialogues of significa-tion in architectural discourse. If we incorporate the digital into the discussion, we can frame the discussion around a formal agenda for designing monuments, infrastructural elements, and public spaces (see Mr. Whites proposal in the Appendix). In other words we can ask, because architects, detectives, and the public read the built environment different-ly, how do we introduce legible and meaningful forms back into the city? The section entitled Real and Unreal takes on the second question on the agenda: the reality of the architectural project. If it is possible for architecture (as a project) to exist only on paper or in the imagination, we can state that the realness of architecture lies in its existence as a fictional tool. Fiction here is put forth as synonymous with specula-tive, hypothetical, and alterna-tive. Shifting the paradigm of the thesis as a real solution, I explore a different understand-ing of a speculative project; one

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rooted in a completely fictional (almost dismissive) framework that reaches out to the literary discipline in an attempt to be critical. The last two sections continue the analysis of fiction and pursue the affective poten-tials of the mystery genre and architectural representation. In the section on paranoia, I examine the traits of the detective novel from a perceptu-al perspective drawing examples from Walter Benjamin and Rem Koolhaas. The concluding section on representation sums up the project with an emphasis on the necessity for appropri-ate architectural representation. I argue that testing the limits of representation allows for a multiplicity of readings and facilitates the discussion of particular themes, such as the roles of spectacle and perfor-mance. By using this thesis defense as an example that sought to question the limits of representation, the goal is to set up a precedent for an alterna-tive way of representing an architectural project.*

*This is an abridged version of the entire thesis.

The complete thesis book is available through MITs DSpace website, and at http://issuu.com/itsgalo/docs/thesisbook-sm2

5 EXQUISITE CORPSES

The story that unfolds within this project revolves around a detective and his struggle to crack the case of the serial killer, Mr. White. Set in contem-porary New York City, the narrative follows the mysterious murders of four unrelated strangers during the summer of 2013 amongst anxieties of terrorist attacks and the pervasiveness of virtual media. The instances happened all in different subway stations along Broadway in midtown Manhattan, but what was curious about these deaths was the way in which the victim died. Witnesses at the scenes described fast, jerky movements, terminating in a rigor-mortis-like pose. The detectives assigned to the case have an extremely difficult time deciphering the meaning of these deaths until several discoveries are made. The first discovery is a series of compounds in the victims bloodstream that suggest that the cause of death was a chemical reaction. That is to say that each victim was forcefully injected with several compounds that resulted in the

THE CURIOUS CASE OF MR. WHITES EXQUISITE CORPSES

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bizarre body movements and invol-untary poses. The medical examiner explains that not only were these deaths premeditated, but they may have also been choreographed. The second discovery is a small white object with a fingerprint on it. The fingerprint belonged to a Charles White, an architect living in NYC. Upon searching Mr. Whites apartment, the detectives come across hundreds of drawings of a plan for the NYC subway stations, small models labeled monuments, and hundreds of journals in which Mr. White wrote about archi-tecture, philosophy, the city, and most notably chemistry. One of the journals contained drawings of body parts being manipulated through chemical reactions. The primary suspect then becomes the mysterious Mr. White. While at his apartment, the police noticed that he had not been present in a long time. Though the police make advances in the case, their inability to fully construe the logic and motives of Mr. White frustrate them. As the story draws to a close, Mr. White remains at large.

7 EXQUISITE CORPSES

TOKENS

a. 2a. 2a. 2a. 2a-5d. (2a-5d)-d. (2a-5d)-d. vlt((2a-5d)-d). Obeliskora.

a. 4a. 4a x f. 4a x f. (4a x f)-2d. (4a x f)-2d. (4a x f)-2d. vlt((4a x f)-2d). Obeliska.

b. b/2. b/2. (b/2) + 10. (b/2) + 10 - 5e. vlt((b/2) + 10 - 5e). (vlt((b/2) + 10 - 5e)) - 5d. Pentunda.

c. c - 16d. c - 16d. ttr(c - 16d). ttr(c - 16d). (ttr(c - 16d)) - (d x c). (ttr(c - 16d)) - (d x c). Theatora.

d. d. d. d - (d/2). d - (d/2). (d - (d/2)) - 4e. vlt((d - (d/2)) - 4e). Tricade.

e. ~e.

~e.

3e. 3e - (1/3 - z). 3e - (1/3 - z) + vtr. 3e - (1/3 - z) + vtr. avg(3e - (1/3 - z) + vtr). Archeatre.

e.

11e. 11e - 1/4. (11e - 1/4) - 10d. (11e - 1/4) - 10d. (11e - 1/4) - 10d. vlt(11e - 1/4) - 10d) - 20d. Archora

f. f - (f/10). vtr(f - (f/10)). vtr(f - (f/10))/2. vtr(f - (f/10))/2. vtr(f - (f/10))/2. vtr(f - (f/10))/2 - 2d. vlt(vtr(f - (f/10))/2 - 2d). Cylindra

MR. WHITES MORPHOLOGICAL VARIANTS ON PRIMITIVE FORMS.

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MR. WHITES INITIAL URBAN MONUMENTS STUDIES ON TYPOLOGY AND FORM.

9 EXQUISITE CORPSES

MR. WHITES COMBINATORY GRAMMARS.

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These gramars stem from an obsession with the monolith and perfect square proportions. Using the monolith as a primary signifier, new typologies are achieved through combinatory strategies.

13 EXQUISITE CORPSES

MR. WHITES INFINITE COMBINATIONS.

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A case study of one specific configuration for Times Square plaza. The monument is a subway entrance, a theatre, a public restroom, and a ventilation shaft.

26'-0"4'-0"26'-0"4'-0"26'-0"4'-0"26'-0"

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26 PORTFOLIO I I

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30 PORTFOLIO I I

72ND &

66TH &

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COLUMBUS CIRCLE

TIMES SQUARE


SECTION THROUGH 72ND & BROADWAY MONUMENT.

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SECTION THROUGH 66TH & BROADWAY MONUMENT.


SECTION THROUGH COLUMBUS CIRCLE MONUMENT.

36 PORTFOLIO I I

SECTION THROUGH TIMES SQUARE MONUMENT.


Here the emphasis on form is figural. Like hand puppets, White uses the constraints of the human form to achieve new combinatory compositions, ones not restrained by typology or monumentality.

Mr. Whites Manhattan Transcripts

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Stills from a movie about Mr. White. Throughout the clips of Mr. Whites apartment, the detectives voice narrates the state of the investigation and the discovery of the architectural project.

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42 PORTFOLIO I I

MR. WHITES APARTMENT (TOP) AND THE POLICE INVESTIGATION (BOTTOM).


Photocopies of Mr. Whites journals identified his neuroses and anxieties.

Red string tied the clues together.

FLOATINGGIANTSA PROGRAM FOR LOCAL WARMING

This project posits itself as an opposi-tion to the boom/bust scenario. In contrast to the historically significant booms and busts of the herring boom, this project seeks to use the data center as a catalyst for a permanent revitaliza-tion of the fishing industry of Raufar-hfn, Iceland. Because the town needs no new building, an intervention in Raufarhofn must react and utilize the residual cultural artifacts and percepts already existing in the town. This, along with the immense affect of the natural phenomena in the landscape ultimately results in a more systemic intervention working in the interstices of culture and industry. Productivity, here, is directly tied to the identity of the town, thus, any foreign object that is introduced must be mobilized by a larger social or moral order. Floating Giants, proposes a symbiotic network of data buoys directly connected to a fish hatchery that, using principles of water warming, will revitalize the fishing industry in Raufarhofn. The resulting intervention is a

ON FLOATING GIANTS

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SITE PLAN. RAUFARHOFN, ICELAND

49 FLOATING GIANTS

system of energy flows that encom-passes an installation of wave genera-tors, data center buoys, and a fish hatchery. Using the excess heat of the data servers to heat up the surround-ing water, one can create a symbiotic relationship between the server buoys that creates an optimum temperature for farming Atlantic Cod. The cod similar to the herring, thus, becomes the new industry for the town. Further-more, we can see not only an industrial impact as a result of the data center, but also environmental and cultural consequences. The system of aqua-farming or more accurately aquaform-ing, creates a new nature distinct from the existing experience of the town. Here, the direct heating of the water, and fish farming become a fantastic landscape of rugged industrial systems, inflatable environments, and new wildlife. Programmatically, the system is made up of Data Center buoys and fishing nets. By shifting the traditional method of fish farming from solid tanks to inflatable boundaries, we can radically increase the amount of cod produced and take full advantage of

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ANATOMY OF A GIANT

51 FLOATING GIANTS

the local warming impact. It is a highly choreographic system. The fish spawn closest to the server buoys, then as they mature, the nets deflate, releasing the fish to another net, for the next stage of growth. At full maturity, they are transferred to the largest area, where they roam until its time for them to be harvested. The Harvesting itself then becomes part of the choreogra-phy, instigating festivals and spectacles that can be integrated into cultural moments of reflection in Raufarhofn. The project itself is sited as an offset of the major peninsula. Using this figure as a mediatory buffer between the rough seas and the coast line, the site plan itself is a dynamic organism both iconic, and natural. It expands, contracts, and directly reflects the choreography which mobilizes it. Capturing it at as specific instance in time, we can see the contracting of the inflatable nets, the servicing of the data buoys, the docking of the ships, and the interactions at a human scale. The dynamism, here becomes the spectacle that interpolates between culture and corporate industry. If we are to take

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the temporality of the data center as a given, we can begin to plan a series of phases for the instantiation of this system. When the data center becomes obsolete, what remains is not a bust in the fishing industry, but a series of water-based power stations and cod species adapted to the rising tempera-ture.

53 FLOATING GIANTS

Traditional Model Proposed Model

T1T2T3

The Floating Giants take the traditional workflow of a fish hatchery and expand it, creating urban scale thermal interven-tions in the ocean. By using the canister type, each giant can be modular and manufactured easily.

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Prototypical Phasing

2015 2030 2060


2015 2030 2060


2015 2030 2060

The complete system is not permanent. It will be imple-mented over a number of years and takes into account climate and oceanic changes that are projected to happen in the region.

PHASING STRATEGIES

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Atlantic Cod

Canada

Alaska(USA)

Russia

EuropeSpawning Areas

Atlantic cod spawning areas as of 2010. Using this as the driver for the new intervention, we can also develop a prototypical strategy for the entire North Atlantic climate zone.

With the increase of water temperature, the potential production of Atlantic cod can actually increase. By studying the sweet spot we can identify a scenario where the water temperature yields a maximum number of cod.

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2000

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Production of Farmed Cod in Iceland

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

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Sea Temperature and Farming Cod

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What this new landscape suggests is a new nature that emerges out of a symbiotic network of technology, climate change, and nordic culture. Raufarhofn, here, becomes a prototypi-cal environment to test out potentials for a techno-sublime future.

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59 FLOATING GIANTS

A NEW NATURE IS BORN.

FRESH PERSPECTIVES

The new flow of heat and energy through the hatchery system. Electricity gives heat which spawns cod, which in turn feeds both man and wildlife, which contributes to an economy of goods, but also tourism.

FISH FLOWS

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The nets and inflatable structure of the giant gives it an organic quality which expands and contracts and moves with the ocean.

FLOATING ( INFLATABLE) NETS

65 FLOATING GIANTS

INFLATABLE TYPOLOGIES

Along the same lines of imper-manence and temporality, the Floating Giants allow for a series of temporary pavil-lions that pop up during the height of the fishing season and highlight fishing culture, Icelandic history, and innova-tion.

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A FARMERS MARKET DURING COD SEASON.

67 FLOATING GIANTS

INFLATABLE HISTORY

L INCOLNLABSTHE LABORATORY FOR COLLECTIVE MEMORY

What the new landscape suggests is not a static harmony, but dynamic continuity; it eludes our comprehension except as a chain of organizational levels.

- Gyorgy Kepes

There is a particular sublime in the architecture of the military-industrial complex. This architecture, born out of a rich history of arms races, and techno-political paranoia has become stagnant, and boring. Standardization of laboratories has made it difficult to envision a future architecture of the laboratory complex. There is, however, a kind of organic system of organiza-tion that grew out of a lack of space, new technological requirements, and interdisciplinary research. Ad hoc, temporary, and modular constructions are being added to existing buildings in order to keep up with changing methods. Currently, the need for a tremendous infrastructure is what is over-whelming when attempting to even touch the subject of such a future. My goals are to begin to establish the architecture of this technological complexity, to celebrate the large infra-

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structural network within a research institution; and to explore to what extent research culture within an archi-tecture has evolved. This will be done with several strategies:

1. House large infrastructural elements, elevators, egress, restroom, HVAC, AHUs, electrical system, plumbing, and other necessary systems in what will be referred to as the infrastructural monolith; a thick wall system that feeds the internal organs of the labora-tory and provides structural support.

2. With the major systems in the monoliths, the programmed spaces

1951 1952Lincoln Laboratory was established in order to build the nation's rst air defense system.

Lincoln Laboratory begins research on advanced com-puting in order to power real-time radar surveillance.

1955SAGE prototype becomes operational in Cape Cod; signals the end of an era for Lincoln Laboratory.

1957Lincoln Laboratory looks for new research opportunities in national defense including, ballistic mis-sile defense and communica-tions.

1960sLincoln Laboratory begins ballis-tic missle defense testing and development.

1960-PRESENTLincoln Laboratory continues to per-form research and development on various emerging technologies including both national security inter-ests and coroporate ones.

2001 Laboratory was called upon to design and build an air defense system for the Washington, D.C., National Capital Region following the attacks of September 11th.

TODAY Lincoln Laboratory has active programs in Air and Missile Defense, Space Control, Air Traffic Control, Homeland Protection, Tactical Sys-tems, Communications and Information Technology, ISR Systems and Technology, and Advanced Electronics.

George E. Valley Jr., Father of the S.A.G.E. system

SAGE operator uses the light-sensing gun.

AN/FPS-3 Cape Cod radar tower in South Truro, Massachusetts.

Ret. Adm. Edward L. Cochrane (MIT's vice president for industrial and government relations),Dr. George E. Valley, Maj. Gen. Raymond C. Maude, and Col. Dorr Newton at press conference announcing the SAGE system for continental air defense.

Haystack radar in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts.

become flexible and adaptable and do not require standard ceiling or wall types, thus are free to be customized, or specialized.

3. Create a campus of heterogeneous typologies in order to bring out the collective memory of the site and existing research culture, whether its collaborative or independent.

The purpose of this is not to introduce architecture into a project that lacks it, but rather to explore how an abundance of architecture may bring about a new research culture of trans-disciplinary interaction and collaboration.

1951 1952Lincoln Laboratory was established in order to build the nation's rst air defense system.

Lincoln Laboratory begins research on advanced com-puting in order to power real-time radar surveillance.

1955SAGE prototype becomes operational in Cape Cod; signals the end of an era for Lincoln Laboratory.

1957Lincoln Laboratory looks for new research opportunities in national defense including, ballistic mis-sile defense and communica-tions.

1960sLincoln Laboratory begins ballis-tic missle defense testing and development.

1960-PRESENTLincoln Laboratory continues to per-form research and development on various emerging technologies including both national security inter-ests and coroporate ones.

2001 Laboratory was called upon to design and build an air defense system for the Washington, D.C., National Capital Region following the attacks of September 11th.

TODAY Lincoln Laboratory has active programs in Air and Missile Defense, Space Control, Air Traffic Control, Homeland Protection, Tactical Sys-tems, Communications and Information Technology, ISR Systems and Technology, and Advanced Electronics.

George E. Valley Jr., Father of the S.A.G.E. system

SAGE operator uses the light-sensing gun.

AN/FPS-3 Cape Cod radar tower in South Truro, Massachusetts.

Ret. Adm. Edward L. Cochrane (MIT's vice president for industrial and government relations),Dr. George E. Valley, Maj. Gen. Raymond C. Maude, and Col. Dorr Newton at press conference announcing the SAGE system for continental air defense.

Haystack radar in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts.

WHAT IS A RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT FOR INNOVATION? A COLLECTION OF TYPOLOGIES

OR

BOTH!

BAR

MAT

WALL

Program Organization

Nonlinear Collaborative Workow

THE INFRASTRUCTURAL WALL

SPATIAL INTERACTIONS

Collecting different research laboratory typologies allows for a heteroge-neous campus to form. Adjusting geometry allows for pockets of light and the possiblity of articulating an architecturally complex building.

By using the diagonal of the site, either side can be used to its full square footage capacity and thus, let the opposite side be left open for landscaping or open space.

The plug-in system allows for versatility of services to be housed within the thick wall. The wall contains HVAC, water, electrical, plumbing, AHUs, egress, and a set of corridords that serve as the backbone of the building.

The wall not only houses the systemic aspects of the building, but also becomes, the primary threshold dividing the different programs of the building. In order to navigate the building, one must traverse the wall at least once, experiencing both a traditional banal corridor with interrupted moments of new office and lab types.

The abundance of programs can be generalized into ve specic sections. These ve sections require abundant infrastructure and support, and it is this infra-structure is what ties them all together. The infrastructure, therefore can be used as circulation since it acts like the veins of the building. This system of circulation/infrastructure allows for various types of interactions -- office-to-office, corridor-to-office, corridor-to-collaboration-space, manufacturing-to-office. It is these spatial interactions that bring out the various types of research methodologies at play in Lincoln Labotatory.

By organizing the program in a cluster rather than compartments, the design and research process become more uid and dynamic, allowing for more opportunity to interact with others.

HVAC

WATERSERVICES

ELECTRICAL

NORTH SIDECampus of hetero-geneous programs

SOUTH SIDEOpen and integrated into the landscape

DATUMDivides the site in half.

WESTLAB

High Bay

Manufacturing/Assembly

SupportCleanRoom

Offices/Workspaces

Infrastructure & Systems

300K

SQF

T

CLEAN ROOM

OFFICES

OFFICES

RAPID PROTOTYPING

I&T SUPPORT

BONDED STORES

BONDED STORES

HIGH BAY

HIGH BAY

MACHINE SHOP

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLY

CLEAN ROOM

CLEAN ROOM

! !

N N

SITE CONDITIONS

GLAZING LANDSCAPING

PRIVATE PROGRAMS

The geometry of the fanning bars on top allows for maximum views of the site and maximum natural light.

Each private program, such as heavy manufacturing and clean room fa-cilities is contained within thick walls to preserve security, but they all have an element of glazing allowing natural light to penetrate even the most private of spaces.

Because the majority of the program is located on the NORTH half of the site, the south side is free to get sunlight and become a large green open area. The clean rooms also get a green roof so as to continue the theme of landscape on the SOUTH side.

Shifting the paradigm of the research laboratory to a more collaborative enviroment stems out of a need for serendipitous encounters.

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OR

BOTH!

BAR

MAT

WALL











HVAC

WATERSERVICES

ELECTRICAL




WESTLAB

High Bay


SupportCleanRoom

Offices/Workspaces


300K

SQF

T

CLEAN ROOM

OFFICES

OFFICES

RAPID PROTOTYPING

I&T SUPPORT

BONDED STORES

BONDED STORES

HIGH BAY

HIGH BAY

MACHINE SHOP

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLY

CLEAN ROOM

CLEAN ROOM

! !

N N

SITE CONDITIONS

GLAZING LANDSCAPING

PRIVATE PROGRAMS

The geometry of the fanning bars on top allows for maximum views of the site and maximum natural light.

Each private program, such as heavy manufacturing and clean room fa-cilities is contained within thick walls to preserve security, but they all have an element of glazing allowing natural light to penetrate even the most private of spaces.

Because the majority of the program is located on the NORTH half of the site, the south side is free to get sunlight and become a large green open area. The clean rooms also get a green roof so as to continue the theme of landscape on the SOUTH side.

ONE TYPOLOGY IS NOT ENOUGH.

77 L INCOLN LABS


OR

BOTH!

BAR

MAT

WALL











HVAC

WATERSERVICES

ELECTRICAL




WESTLAB

High Bay


SupportCleanRoom

Offices/Workspaces


300K

SQF

T

CLEAN ROOM

OFFICES

OFFICES

RAPID PROTOTYPING

I&T SUPPORT

BONDED STORES

BONDED STORES

HIGH BAY

HIGH BAY

MACHINE SHOP

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLY

CLEAN ROOM

CLEAN ROOM

! !

The infrastructural wall hosts a range of services and systems crucial for the functions of the lab. Hiding these elements, yet celebrating them in a monolith provides an architectural paradox.

The heterogeneity in the spaces produced out of the mash-up of typologies provides different experiences at every instance of the laboratory.

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PRIMARY STRUCTURE (STEEL)

CONCRETE WALL

STEEL TRUSS(CANTILEVER)

3 STEEL COLUMN(x3)

STEEL FRAME(SUPERSTRUCTURE)

STEEL COLUMN

CAST CONCRETESLABS

SECONDARY STRUCTURE (CONCRETE)

The infrastructural wall provides the majority of support for the building. It is essentially a giant moment frame. Other parts are attached to the steel frame, such as trusses and cantilevers. On the ground and base-ment levels, conceret shear walls take up the majority of the loads. There is also extra sup-port for the cantilever at the end made up of three 3 diameter round col-umns.

vertical loads

horizontal loads

vertical loads

The structure of the lab consists of a steel superstructure (the infrastructural wall) and concrete walls, bunkers and columns. The robust nature of the structure echoes the character of post-war laborato-ries.

79 L INCOLN LABS

BASEMENT PLAN-5

HORIZONTAL CIRCULATION

EXISTING BUILDING

HEAVY INFRASTRUCTURE (HVAC, SYSTEMS, AHUS)

VERTICAL CIRCULATION

EXTERIOR CIRCULATION

MID LEVEL PLAN+20

UPPER PLAN+40

20.00

90.00 80.00 90.00

A

B

Plan at -5

20.00

90.00 80.00 90.00

A

B

AB

Plan at 20

AB

Plan at 40

Section BB

Section AA

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89 L INCOLN LABS

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93 L INCOLN LABS

DISTORTINGCERDAS GRIDMONUMENTALITY, MEMORY, AND INFRASTRUCTURE

The first issue that this project addresses is that of the Icon. Barcelonas long history with icon stems from Cerdas grid, and as the city moves toward a post-icon global image, the grid begins to show its inability to act as a cohesive fabric. In the Poblenou area in particular, the low density and scale of the urban environ-ment doesnt coexist with the grid. Its stance as an infrastruc-ture that encourages individuality in the single block is outadated in the time of integrated networks and smart grids. Thus, Cerdas grid has become a product of excess rather than progress and leads us to reinterpret Barcelonas infrastructrual needs. The second issue is that of scale. While in Barcelona, we talked to the chief architect, Vicente Guallart, who is advocat-ing a new systematic breaking down of the city by scales. In

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the studies conducted at the Insitute of Advanced Architecture of Catalunia, we see that one must work simulatenously at the scale of the city, neighbourhood, block, and building to establish a hierarchy of smart systems and networks that relate one to the other. Therefore, Vicente Guallarts goal is to establish many slow cities inside a smart city, a project for creating neighbourhood scale self-suffi-ciency initiatives that tie commu-nities together within the larger intelligent system of the city. And so, what this project seeks to explore is a possible response to the problems of both icon and scale with regards to cultural production and self-sufficiency. The current site, with its derelict and abandoned status provides an excellent space for a large scale urban interven-tion that brings together cultural

97 DISTORTING CERDA'S GRID

spectacle and infrastructure. The negotiation between icon and scale thus, becomes the way in which a new megastruc-ture is inserted into the urban fabric. Following the Barce-lonas tradition of monumental-izing technology and branding, I propose the construction of a systemic monument that can be realized anywhere and simultaneously provide solar power (as per Barcelonas Solar Ordinance regulations) and a cultural nucleus for the surround-ing neighbourhood. And so this infrastructural nucleus, instead of being an iconic indepen-dent sculptural piece, becomes a systemic megastructural languange in itself that can be reproduced as part of future energy initiatives in the city.

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AA

BB

1

2

3

5 6

7

8

4

1. Outdoor theatre2. Picnic area3. Outdoor market4. Temporary performance spaces5. Spectacle seating6. Sports arenas7. Lockers/amenities8. Fountain

SITE PLAN

ENERGY DISTRIBUTIONHIERARCHY

WATER COLLECTION AND DRAINAGE FLOWS

GREY + RAIN WATER PROCESSING NODE

EXISTING WATER UTILITY PIPELINEThe systems at play in this

infrastructural park are choreo-graphed through existing regulating lines through the site. Water flows, pedestrican flows, vehicle flows, and energy flows constitute a new type of park, one for the digital era.

Energy harvested from the solar panels travels to adjacent housing and business develop-ments. Due to the abundant sunlight in Barcelona, enough energy can be harvested to power a small neighborhood sustainably.

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6000 sqm of PV Panels

Megatruss

Structural Support

Recreation Area

Open Air Market and Public Galleries

Water Fountain

Outdoor Theatre

Paths

Landscape

103 DISTORTING CERDA'S GRID

4m10

0m

2-AxisSolar Tracker

AccessLadder

Recycled Building Materials

Anatomy of a solar folly. It is a heavyweight steel structure with PV cells, modular, and therefore repeatable along any site. The monumental scale perpetuates the idea of the infrastructural monument.

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Theatrical SpectacleSocial SpectacleRecreational SpectacleRecreational Spectacle

DIGITAL AGRICULTUREURBAN PLANNING IN PAJU, KOREA PHASE 3

This project is the next in a succes-sion of phases in the development of Paju, Korea. A small urbanization in the outskirts of Seoul, Paju stands as a highly modernized eipcenter of the publishing and media industries. At the outset of this studio we were asked one question: how do you design a city using only a 15% building footprint? Along with this question, this project also explored the charac-teristics of a new way of interact-ing in the digital age. Can we design digital cities? What do advancements in technology have to do with urban planning and the design of public space? This project proposes an episodic understanding of city planning. The city needs to be a heterogeneous mat of experiences and encounters, therefore the form the city takes needs to be representative of the episodes that lie therein.

PAJU, KOREA. 2013

*In collaboration with Julian Ocampo. The research and masterplanning phase was part of a team exercise.

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The second phase of the project is an in-depth exploration of a specific typology. In this instance it is a skyscraper. By exploding the cores to the perimeter of the building, a super-structural frame becomes the primary driving force behind the architecture. A vertical city is created by pluging in specific programs into the super-structure. Expanding on Le Corbus-iers axiomatic diagram of his Unite dHabiation, this project embeds the urbanity of the city into a modular framework.

? Paju 3rd Phase

Paju 1st Phase

Paju 2nd Phase

XClassic Grid Extruded Grid Superimposed Grid

Y

XZ

Y

X

X2Z

Y

Y2

X

Y

XZ

Y

X

X2Z

Y

Y2

Classic Grid Extruded Grid Superimposed Grid

Then switching the mode of urbanism from an extrusion on a plot of land to a superimposition of a winding three-dimensional grid that maximizes the potential inhabitation and land use.

First, the goal is to connect Paju Phase 3 to the first two phases by creating a highway through the center in the same character as in the previous cities.

123 DIGITAL AGRICULTURE

Simplified Grid

Circulation

Elevated Road Gound Level Ring Road Ground Level Interior Roads

Main Axis

Artisanal Agriculture River Crossing Highway Crossing Industrial Agriculture Proposed Circulation

Optimized Agricultural Land

Rice Corn Barley

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Typological Areas

Artisanal Agriculture River Crossing Highway Crossing Industrial Agriculture

Plot Division Irrigation infrastructureRoads


INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE THE LOOP THE RIVER ARTISANAL AGRICULTURE

Large Scale FarmingAgricultural plots are consolidated to allow for up to date large scale farming.

Highway IconLocated in the most visible locationof the site, a highway overpass is designed as

the tallest structure on the site and acts as an icon for the new Paju 3.

River TwistThe river bridge is the only structure that dislocates the order of the 3D grid.

Artisanal AgricultureLower, smaller scale structures accompany the smaller grain of the artisanal agri-

culture site, where small farms have private and consolidated shared facilities. The four districts of Paju Phase 3: Industrial Agriculture, The Highway Loop, The Bridge, and The Artisanal Agriculture.

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Dense High Rise DevelopmentAn aglomeration of dense high rise treedimensional blocks characterizes this par of

Paju 3, the composition of these blocks enables large and small companies to occupy Paju 3 in asymetrical ways.

High Rise BillboardThe tallest structure on the development stablishes the monumental nature of Paju 3.

Leisure BridgeLeisure activities are incorporated in this mixed use area, with sports, culture and hos-

pitality framing the context of the river.

Small Grain Lower and easily divided structures make the artisanal agriculture site, where many different small farm operators will have their own storage and living areas while some of the agricultural functions

such as silos and greenhouses can be consolidated for greater efficiency.

INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE

HIGHWAY ICON

THE TWIST BRIDGE

ARTISANAL AGRICULTURE


128 PORTFOLIO I I

CORES

SUPERSTRUCTURE

PRIVATE

CORPORATE

PUBLIC

HOUSING

OFFICE

POROUS SPACE

COMMERICAL

THEATRE

RECREATIONSITE PLAN1:2000

SITE PLAN1:2000

PLAN 0 : 25M

PLAN 1 : 50M

PLAN 2 : 80M

PLAN 3 : 115M

PLANS

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SECTION 01

120m

114m

96m

90m

66m

60m

36m

30m

SECTION A


SECTION A

SECTION 02

120m

114m

96m

90m

66m

60m

36m

30m

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LEARNING FROM PULPor, the Secret Lives of Architects

In times of terror, when everyone is something of a conspirator, everybody will be in the position of having to play

detective

Walter Benjamin

Two discussions that emerged in the late twentieth century concerning the agency and role of the design professions are still relevant. The first is the question of design research and how the scientific process can influence methodologies for designers and architects. The second is the notion of multi-disciplinarity in the design field characterized by the growing list of external stimuli on architectural processes and experiments. While both of these discussions stem from a larger disciplinary anxiety in which architects and designers are questioning their role and power in a world increasingly concerned with crowdsourcing, automatons, and artificial intelligence, I will posit an alternative take on both themes. What if instead of drawing analogies between the design researcher and the scientist, we associate the former with the detective? Moreover, what if in addition to borrowing from disciplines like robotics and biology, we borrow various tropes and methods from literature, science-fiction, or detective novels? In this light, the

discussion of architectures cultural permeability and malleability can expand to reveal a more poetic cabinet of curiosities: a treasure trove of techniques and strategies not limited to technology-centric disciplines. Using the detective mystery as a design-research analogue, we can extract potentials for a methodology of design investigation that recalls the ghosts of Bernard Tschumi and Colin Rowe. Furthermore, the detective novel as a literary trope carries with it several qualities which Walter Benjamin has associated with urban analysis and the anxieties of metropolitan life. The following possibilities for learning from pulp fictions examine an expanded understanding of multi-disciplinarity in the design fields and the potential to re-examine our roles as architects, designers, and private investigators.

ARCHITECT, P. I .

All architects, to a certain degree, are detectives. That is to say that the two characters share a particular set of qualities, methodologies, and


personality traits that allow them to engage both spatial and conceptual situations similarly. The detective shares with the architect his method, technique, sharp eye, deductive power, acute intuition, and diligence.1 As a character living in a world of mystery where everyone is a suspect and every detail is a clue, the detective must piece together strange details in order to form a cohesive argument for a motive. He deconstructs crime scenes and with his cunning ability to look at all the angles in a space or situation recreates them three-dimensionally. He is a master of his craft, but most of all he is an agent of inquiry. The analogy of the detective-as-architect begins with this personality trait: curiosity. As the fundamental driver of research and investigation, the unique ability to control curiosity and think simultaneously in the abstract and physical immediately put the detective and architect in cahoots with each other. One is never far from the other when it comes to techniques of detection.

Detection is the method of the flneur, the ragpicker, the archaeologist, and the

historian, who search for clues among dead data. Readingor rather reconstructingthe traces of a shattered tradition, the tradition of the oppressed, is the redemptive activity of this alternative figure of detective, who seeks to bring insignificant details and seemingly fortuitous events into a

meaningful constellation. 2

Carlo Salzani made this point in 2007 as a revisitation of Walter Benjamin and the fictional character of the detective. In his essay, The City as Crime Scene: Walter Benjamin and the Traces of the Detective, Salzani opens up the interpretation of the detective as a primarily methodical character. Though he focuses largely on the detective-as-historian, the detective-as-architect is not out of reach. The characters inherent skepticism and diligence when combined with the drama of the metropolis results in a unique mastery of the surrounding environment. Salzani argues that the trope of the detective is applicable beyond fiction due to the complexities in his behaviour and method. Because our figure (the detective-as-architect) provides a specific technique for investigation based on part-to-whole relationships, traces, and episodic narratives, the potentials of an architectural

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mystery being to emerge.First, let us unpack the curious burlesque that is the architectural-project-mystery. Its structure is a detective mystery executed in reverse. The motive and act of catching the culprit can be likened to the concept or initial strategythe end of the book and the beginning of the project, respectively. On the one side, the story begins with clues or fragments that eventually lead one to the motive and culprit, and on the other, the architectural project becomes more and more detailed (or fragmented) as it develops. This structure allows for the development of characters with great attention to detail and deductive power, phantasmagoric urban settings, speculative futures, and suspicious fragments which constitute a whole. We must also note that the crafting of the fictional narrative is an act largely based on gut feelings not unlike a designers mysterious intuition. The fact that they are both creative acts allows both endeavors to function intuitively, but always with a set of structural constraints stemming from

each discipline. It is from these rudimentary comparisons, rooted within larger questions of architectures permeability, flexibility, and critical connections to other disciplines that we can suggest a double agency of the kriminalroman. In other words, we can say thatall literary theory asidea detective story about architecture can be equally read as an architectural story about detectives. One such architectural story can be traced back to Bernard Tschumis Manhattan Transcripts and his theory of event-space. Tschumis architect-as-detective acts as the quintessential urban dweller piecing together two and three-dimensional clues in space. For him, the detective not only embodied Baudelaires metropolitan man (flneur), but also an icon of inquiry: an investigator of the urban environment. The footprints and traces exhibited in his Manhattan Transcripts are emblematic of an urban architectural idea of reconstructing space. In the Transcripts clues become blurry photographs and movements dotted lines; there


is a deconstruction of space into fragments.3 When he asks what the form of the space is, the result is a reconstitution of the physical event that took place. Thus the theory of event-space can be most closely associated with crime scenes: spaces where the event is so ostentatious that it changes the entire form and experience.4 Following a similar train of thought in 1977, Tschumi wrote, to really appreciate architecture, you may even need to commit a murder. 5 This transgressive noir statement stems from a desire to situate the architectthe primary agent of space-makingat the center of the event. The action of murder provides an event so scandalous that it dictates the experience and quality of the space. Tschumis event-space writings and projects depict a notion of transgression in the service of architectural stimulation.6 By adopting noir representation, he sets up a line of inquiry meant to shock and destabilize the traditional methodologies of design. For him, Murder is a radical instigator for a variety of questions about the nature of the event as well as the quality

of the space in which it takes place. Murder in the Street differs from Murder in the Cathedral in the same way as love in the street differs from the Street of Love, but it also differs from dance, shopping, playing, due to its transgressive and scandalous qualities. Because the police detective deals with primarily unsettling content, the architectural detective must embrace similar extremities.7 Consequently we can say that to truly act as an architectural detective, one must have a flare for the dramatic. Every scene must be a crime scene, every actor a suspect, and every detail a clue. Tschumis architect-as-detective embodies a character that methodically breaks down three dimensional space not just into details to be worked out, but an entire scene with actors and movements. Retracing steps can not only be a way of investigating a crime scene, but perhaps recreating a specific way of moving through space. Part-to-whole relationships, in this case, become traces to which we must add significance, even mystery. When Salzani writes, To dwell means to leave traces...Benjamins theory

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of the trace is related to the revolutionary potentiality of modern architecture, he is directly making a connection between the physical objects we touch and spaces we inhabit.8 In the context of the detective mystery, these objects become laden with meaning and specific implications: the clues of dwelling lie in the objects left behind. The architect-detective is thus charged with the task of unravellingperhaps even designingthe meaning of the traces. For the architect that lives with a detectives mind, space presents the ultimate stage set. From the outset of a project, the designer is given a site and a program. From there, the traditional means for unravelling the architectural narrative is any variation of the sentence form follows [program, context, concept, etc]. But what if form followed fiction? That is to say, if we take the methodologies of the detective, the quintessential investigator, is there a way we can step into the mind of the end-user? Can the designer establish a list of clues that hint at the totality of a design? Are precedents and context cues not

unlike suspicious fragments that are trying to tell a story? This is what sets the architectural detective apart.

SECRET L IVES

If the detective is the canonically inquisitive figure, then the detective novels structure can provide a series of tropes applicable to architectural design. Over the past decades we have seen architectures ability to be porous and permeable in its incorporation of various concepts and techniques from neighboring disciplines. Some are taken for inspiration, others for experimentation, but the trend in recent years has been heavily technology-oriented. This was not always the case. 1982: in an attempt to revisit the viability of two distinct modes of operating in architecture and urban design, Colin Rowe drew the conclusion that neither program (read as: empiricism or positivism) nor paradigm (read as: rationalism) alone have the ability to be successful in design problem solving.

So, as we speculate on the problems of program versus type, on the problem of an


academy become recently extinct and the problems of another academy not yet in full working order, might it notpossiblybe argued that we find ourselves confronted with no more than the superficial alternatives of a false empiricism and false idealism? And if an empiricism which refuses to concern itself with the fabric of ideas can only be illusory and, if an idealism which rejects involvement with empirical detail will only be inadequate, then must it not further be argued that it is exactly within this theatre of the mind that today

we find ourselves placed?9

Rowes polemic critiqued design research methods as fundamentally biased to either a pro-functionalist or pro-rationalist camp leading to a stalemate within the discipline. He then proposed an analogy to the detective mystery as a means of reconciling both camps, citing the detective as the central figure of any design investigation. For Rowe, as for Benjamin and Salzani, the detective story, was an illustration of the problem-solving process which emphasized a highly meticulous way of working.10 Rowes analogy, however concerned a more fundamental question of design methodologies as the only balanced combination of both typological (rational) thought and factual (empiricist) discoveries. The conflation of findings that results from

the simultaneous modes of operating yields the enigmatic, and unsuspected conclusion. The success of the two modes stems from the character of the detective himself. Going back to Benjamin we see that the personality traits of the detectivehis all-suspecting and ultimately skeptical nature but also logical mindallows for an inquisitive deconstruction of things as they seem and the solution as it must be, for the ultimate conclusion can come from a variety of seemingly illogical parts.

[W]ith Poe as with Popper, it is the initial conjecture that awaits either refutation or confirmation. In other words, related to a particular situation of crime, the investigator should have a knowledge of the great criminal paradigms because without it he will not be able to place facts in their

proper place.11

This is the turning point for the analogy: Rowes pairing of Edgar Allan Poe and Karl Popper. In suggesting that Poe preceded Popper in developing a hypothetico-deductive method for problem solving, he equalizes the potential influence of literary tropes and scientific theories. Plot twists, red herrings, secret lives, and unlikely suspects

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traditionally the makings of a good detective novelbecome quasi-architectural tropes and perfectly viable modes of elaborating and conducting design research. The combination of facts and intuitive solutions, for Rowe, presented a more successful paradigm for investigation. The architect or designers task therefore is not to provide instant solutions but rather to think critically, historically, and empirically about all parts of the project. He must be both a dim-witted cop, and a wild-card loose cannon, knowing that questioning the motive and the typology of the crime can be just as crucial as finding the culprit.

THRILLER

The anesthesia of a fear through another one is the travelers salvation. Between the fresh cut pages of the crime novel he looks for the idle, as it were, virginal apprehensions, which could help him to get

over the archaic fear of the journey.12

In the Arcades Project, Walter Benjamin laid out the origins of the detective novel.13 Stating that it was initially a way of removing oneself from the anxieties of modern life by escaping into a fictional world.

The novel, therefore, became a kind of anesthetic to fears of train travel, crime on the streets, and general metropolitan concerns. The power of fiction to mediate these anxieties stemmed from the extreme removal of the mind from the situation at hand. In short, this displacement counteracted fears by exacerbating other fears. But can fiction as an escape mechanism apply to a discipline increasingly concerned with its role in the world of the future? At a disciplinary level we find that architecture is one of the few fields that has a recurring identity crisis. These crises, symptomatic of the changing nature of technology and artistic attitudes, occur from time to time to illustrate the aforementioned plurality and permeability of our unique discipline. But how are we to mediate these disciplinary anxieties? Perhaps by picking up a good murder mystery. Moving beyond the characters, structure, and subject matter as quasi-architectural objects, we find that the detective mystery can also be placed within a lineage of esthetic and and qualitative architectural concerns, namely


phenomenology and urbanism. The double agency of the kriminalroman emerges from an unpacking of theories of metropolitan life, the uncanny, and the sublime. If we situate the detective mystery within a larger architectural contextstrategies for dealing with urban realities and representationwe find that the detective mystery can be understood as a way of reading an architectural project and engaging the inherent paranoia and anxiety present in the reader. Originally a tool for anesthetizing the anxieties of modern life, the crime or detective novel has always been an urban construct.14 That is to say a tool for representing urban realities or environments. Pulp and noir carry with them specifically urban ideas, which whether intentional or not, have had a significant influence on architects conception of the city. Writing on this uncanny impact, Anthony Vidler states,

A contemporary philosopher of urban architecture is faced then, at the end of the twentieth century, not so much with the absolute dialectic of ancient and modern posed by the avant- and rear-gardes of the last eighty years, as with the more subtle and difficult task of calculating the limits of intervention according to the resistance of

the city to change.15

Vidlers point is that the modern idea of acting in the city is subverted by human anxieties of what it means to change or speculate on the city in the first place. Therefore, the task of the architectural agent is to anesthetize anxieties and provide solutions to the problem of urban dwelling simultaneously. In order to resolve both tasks, the designer is forced to tap into a more phenomenal way of working, a way in which to use the accepted fictional nature of architecture in order to speculate on possibilities of the future. This is evident both in early representations of the future metropolis la Fritz Lang or Hugh Ferriss and in the later dystopian depictions of science fiction imagery. Anxiety, or more accurately paranoia, is a gateway into a particular phantasmagoria which, according to Benjamin, is a major part of modern life. The success of which lies in the psychological affect in the depiction of the metropolis. Noir representation is an example of the sublime notion that goes back to Piranesi,

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Boule, and Ledoux. In other words, we can say that pulp fictions depict the city as a dangerous, yet exciting place in very much the same way as Ferriss Metropolis of Tomorrow or even Tschumis Manhattan Transcripts. The delirium that noir activates places the designer at the forefront of speculative practices. While shock value goes hand in hand with the ability to speculate, the psycho-creative representations of these potential futures mustlike the detective novelbe rooted in a real setting. Edgar Allan Poes Man of the Crowd addressed very real fears of being in urban crowds; Tschumis Transcripts hinted at the eeriness of Manhattan in the 70s. The fear to be anesthetized must be a real fear. The metropolis of today is not as wild and savage as Poes or perhaps even Tschumis, but the anxieties of urban life, particularly those associated with designing the urban environment of the future are very much real. As architects and designers, we deal constantly with anxiety, paranoia, and delirium from a variety of sources: clients,

environments, even our own fears and fantasies. So how do we adapt to these forces in a way that does not water-down our criticality or end-goals? Is there a way of engaging paranoia productively as a means for developing and representing our fictions? What learning from pulp allows for is an embrace of a new kind of external stimulus; one that relies on suspense and constant skepticism in order to grasp the entire situation; that accepts the discomfort of the reader and exacerbates it as a means to prove a point or anesthetize another fear; and that shows that the suspect is sometimes the most unlikely of them all. By expanding our repertoire of techniques and trying on the shoes of detectives and fiction writers we may shed some light on the situation at hand and stumble across some never-before seen evidence. Though we may never find out who the killer really is, we can learn to live with the clues and characters left behind and enjoy the thrill of the journey.


Notes

1. Carlo Salzani, The City as Crime Scene: Walter Benjamin and the Traces of the Detective, in New German Critique No. 100 (Winter, 2007): 187.2. Ibid., 185.3. Bernard Tschumi, The Manhattan Transcripts (London: Academy Editions, 1994).4. Bernard Tschumi, Architecture and Transgression, in Architecture and Disjunction (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1994).5. Bernard Tschumi, Advertisements for Architecture, in Architectural Design 47 (1977): 214-218.6. Tschumi, Architecture and Transgression.7. Tschumi, Advertisements for Architecture.8. Salzani, The City as Crime Scene, 177.9. Colin Rowe, Program vs. Paradigm, in Cornell Journal of Architecture 2 (1982):16.10. Ibid., 19.11. Ibid., 18.12. Salzani, The City as Crime Scene, 166.13. See Salzanis introduction to The City as Crime Scene, 165.14. Ibid.15. Anthony Vidler, Oneirism, in The Architectural Uncanny (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992): 199.

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A MAN AND HIS POOLPublished in CLOG REMSummer 2014

There have been many Rems. The radical student, the skyscraper theorist, the modernist, the urban-ist. My favorite is the Rem haunt-ed by the pool. This is his story. In the original 1978 Oxford Press printing of Delirious New York, there is a short story that was omitted when reprinted with Monacelli Press. The curious odd-ity appeared in the original post-script as a piece called, The Story of the Pool, written by Rem in 1976. The story itself is an intrigu-ing allegorical work. It revolves around a group of Russian (a.k.a. Constructivist) architecture stu-dents in the 1930s; they have just designed and built a floating swimming pool. When swimming in the pool, the students find they can move the structure in the op-posite direction and navigate it like a ship. Thus, their natural in-stinct is to flee communist Russia


and make their way to New York City. In lieu of spoilers, Ill just say that they spend forty years swimming across the ocean, only to be disappointed in the banality of Manhattan. Rem ends the story with the pool ripping apart a component of his Welfare Palace Hotel. The Story of the Pool is com-pelling because it laid out and reified the project that Rem/OMA began after Delirious. We see his allegiance to Miesian modernity in the design of the rectangular pool itself (glass, minimal, infi-nite); his urbanist tendencies as he describes the pool as a pro-totypical Manhattan block, and even an inkling of his political leanings when he claims we can use architecture to escape com-munism. It is symbolic of an in-timacy both socio-political and spatial; perhaps the only situa-

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tion where one feels a volume of space pressing against your body. The pool was clearly a pow-erful mechanism that tied togeth-er Rems architectural project. It was also something of which he was never able to fully let go. It appears first in Exodus, then again in the Villa DallAva and in the Maison Bordeaux. But the physical pool is fading now. While the Constructivists pool symbolically embodied his at-titudes towards modernism, his socio-architectural experiments, and even his political fervor, the physical version is nowhere to be seen. All that is left is a series of uncanny rectangular forms that reappear from time to time. OMAs recent work is more reflective of the political side of the story. Master plans in China and the Middle East, and sky-scrapers for large corporations


may embody the offices mission for a Metropolitan Architecture, but there are no pools like the one in the story. Perhaps by re-visiting the pool as the symbolic, intimate, urban condenser it was, Rem may present a new image for OMA. Somewhere between the perversion of the baths in Exodus and the modern glamour of the floating pool in the Villa DallAva, there exists an image of a space unlike any other. Im-material, yet tactile, and cultural-ly-dependent, the pool can be a physical token of OMAs mission; a quintessential metropolitan ar-chitecture.

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Documents

Galo Canizares Portfolio II