Thesis Manual

LAUREN PASION Thesis 2011-2012NEWSCHOOL_OF_ARCHITECTURE_+_DESIGN

TABLE OF

special thanks to mentors and critics: mozhdeh matin . bryan acomb

doug wiganowske . gil cooke . mike kim . craig howard

1.0 LINEAGE “the core” 4

2.0 POSITION “the idea” 6

3.0 HISTORY “the record” 8

3.1 HYPERCULTURE “the movement” 18

3.2 PROGRESSION “the force” 12

4.0 CRISIS “the condition” 24

5.0 EXPERIMENTS “the framework” 30

6.0 SOURCES “the analysis” 56

CON-TENTS

LINEAGETHE_C

ORE

LINEAGE THE_CORE 1.0 5

To understand our interests and architectural ideology, the students of A501 were asked to critically respond to 10 case studies of our selection and one person of interest. With no particular guidelines restricting our selections, I chose Queen Lili’uokalani as my person of interest. Born and raised on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, the Hawaiian culture has provided me a unique perspective on cultural inquiries.

Queen Lili’uokalani is not someone who represents the fall of a monarchy, but rather an iconic spirit of old Hawaii, which is still present today. As the last reigning Queen of Hawaii, Lili’uokalani lived in a time of high tension between old and new. Despite its foreign value, the Queen sought to preserve the culture and land. External entities saw this as counterrevolution to stifle economic prosperity and pressured for the appropriation of

Hawaii. This led to the Queen’s imprisonment and ultimate overthrow, a critical point in history, which brought light to the struggle between tradition and development.

Queen Lili’uokalani’s story exemplifies a battle between opposing forces that exists in all circumstances. Tradition and innovation, natural and synthetic, function and leisure, active and passive, public and private, good and evil are a few examples of opposing concepts. With the collision of two polarities, we are forced to question by contrasting, provoking a critical process in the decisions we make.

After critically responding to the 10 case studies, it became evident that there were particular architectural strategies and issues that I was attracted to. The first, being similar to the Queen Lili’uokalani analogy, the collision of two dualities peeked my interest. Flexibility and graphics were also reoccurring themes found between the responses. Notions of time and perception are underlying themes, which have been translated to shape the interests of my thesis.

1.0

POSITIONTHE_IDEA

Architecture is the slowest medium in adjusting to our Hypercultural society. Traditional notions

of architecture’s permanence must adapt to the blurred behaviors and relationships of contemporary society. The demarcation of

formal space-making will dissolve through the exploration of different types of transparency.

This thesis intends to model the ideal structure of spatial perception and plasticity in response

to society’s changing patterns.

2.0

POSITION THE_IDEA 2.0 7

Forces of technology and globalization have drastically altered behavioral patterns and relationships in society. People are becoming more interactive [hyperactive], disciplines are more collaborative [hypersocial], and architecture now occurs at all scales [hyperdimensional] with digital integration. However, amorphous concepts of networks and connectivity paired with the visual language of graphics and global identities have encroached on the presence of architecture’s contribution to spatial perception.

In response, the blurring of boundaries will facilitate the relationships that are evident in contemporary society. An exploration of transparencies will inform architectural strategies affecting perceptions of spatial relationships.

To begin, different types of transparencies must be identified. Expanding on Rowe and Slutzky’s Literal and Phenomenal categories of transparency, other

types of transparency addressing different scales and affects are established. 3

Literal transparency Phenomenal transparency Analogous transparency Fluid transparency Illusive transparency

Each category will be defined, dissected and include strategies to achieving its character. Once established, each transparency will be then applied and tested against the seam of identified dualities existing in society. [see page 22]

In Context of Consumerism in Urban America:Consumerism provides an ideal context for applying transparency. It is the driving force, which perpetuates such blurred behaviors and relationships.

Hypercultural_ adjectiveterm describing the drastic changes in society including the mentioned hyperactive, hypersocial and hyperdimensional patterns.

Blurred_ adjectiveterm describing the connectivity, hybridity and blend of entities

HISTORYTHE_RECORD

Consumption is inherently a part of our nature. We need food, tools, and shelter to survive. At its very beginning, the hunting and gathering of ancient nomadic cultures did not allow for a surplus of resources to occur. It was not until the invention of farming that there was a surplus of resources in order to trade. This created our early conception of commerce.

In 3,000 B.C. we see true excess and opulence with the Egyptian civilization. This society also demonstrated first signs of strong attachments to products, which they were buried with. Following Egypt, Rome (500 B.C.) acquired vast land for connections to trade and commerce. Their excess allowed for a market with more than necessities. Once could buy anything from food to insurance. 5

The Industrial Revolution of the 18th century

was the critical turning point of our consumption patterns. It drastically altered the accessibility of goods. What was once considered a ‘luxury’ was then attainable due to the mechanization of manual labor. Cheaper products enabled the working class to purchase more goods, but also created disposable and lesser quality products.

A century later, the social scientist Karl Marx theorized that with the accessibility introduced by the Industrial Revolution, the fetishization of consumer products obscures social relationships. With fetishization and accessibility, social class is not accurately represented by possessions. He also noted that the market controlling the sales would become too powerful. 6

Soon after Marx brought light to the danger of corporate power, the rise of Sears Roebuck and Walmart came with the help of globalization. Technology, like globalization, allowed corporations to infiltrate consumer activities with accessibility. Websites such as Amazon and Ebay develop just before the 21st Century, creating ‘ecommerce’ where consumers can both buy and sell goods.

The following graphic [on page 10-11], demonstrates a holistic perspective of the evolution of consumerism. Key developments in history are mapped out on a timeline to demonstrate particular inventions altering consumption patterns. It is evident that in the past few centuries, society has drastically changed and more factors contribute to the complexity of consumption.

As seen in Harvard Design School’s Guide to Shopping, a variety of factors contribute to consumerism. In the Guide to shopping, the evolution of retail types and retail mechanisms are mapped separately. 7 With this information along with my own research, I’ve mapped evolutions of the following factors together, demonstrating the dense progression of recent years: Market [money] Technology Advertising Mobilization Theory

3.0

HISTORY THE_RECORD 3.0 9

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TECHNOLOGYHISTORY THE_RECORD 3.0 11

A

B C

D E

progression

THE_FORCE

A totalB basic materials C manufacturing D tradeE producer services

HISTORY

progression

THE_FORCE

Globalization, driven by the progression of technology, has influenced our means and patterns of consumption, as shown in the timeline on page 11. As our means of production and consumption change, so does our perception of economic value.

In earlier civilizations, we valued commodities in an agrarian economy. As these goods became customized, we entered the service economy. In a service economy, we valued the ability to modify goods to our particular tastes. In more recent times, we have customized services to introduce an experience economy. In an experience economy, architecture identity and the perception of spaces are critical. For example, take one of the most iconic corporations of our generation, Starbucks. In the agrarian culture, we valued the coffee bean. It was then used to create different types of coffee drinks suited to our needs or likings. This

service economy brought new employment such as a barista. Finally in the experience economy, Starbucks stores created a place where people can meet, use wifi, chat or relax.

Pine and Gilmore note in their article [Welcome to the Experience Economy], which was published in the Harvard Business Review “As goods and services become commoditized, the customer experiences that companies create will matter most.” 9 What alerted me with this headline was that commercial identity is controlling our spatial experiences. However it is Architecture that must be at the forefront in facilitating relationships between commercial interests and social interests. I agree with Ann Klingmann’s claim in her book Brandscapes, that our market culture has highlighted consumership over citizenship. Commercial interests cannot be independent of social interests and not perceived as polarities of black and white. With the notions of environmental sensitivity and financial awareness increasing, interests are combining and/or negotiating. This is a new relationship architecture should explore and facilitate.

3.1

HISTORY - progression THE_FORCE 3.1 13

<< Technologies have increased connectivity and the presence of media influences. This also increases our ability to spend.

e-Stats [United States] 10

53% households owning PCs34% households connected to the internet17% households buying items online15% of total shopping dollars spent online36% projected online shopping in 200213 number of purchases from last year11 number of sites purchased from last year51% online shoppers that purchased from an auction site43% purchases made online that could not have been made elsewhere16% impulse buying online51% online shopping trips resulting in online purchases25% online shopping trips resulting in store purchases

Jay-Z DECODED Campaign >>>This example demonstrates the various means of communicating through different mediums. 320 pages of Jay-Z’s new book were hid in outdoor spots relating to the content in 13 cities. The advertising agency incorporated technology and social media to release clues as to where the pages were located. People from all over the world communicated online to help decipher the puzzle of each location. 11

TECHNOLOGYGLOBALIZATIONINFRASTRUCTURE

phones

lapto

ps

TELEVISION

friend

smart

NETWORKS


Consumption is an activity we exercise on a daily basis for both necessity and desire. From the earliest times of human civilization, man has consumed tangible commodities, goods and resources. Food, tools and shelter were some of the first commodities to be traded. Contemporary society has, in addition to literal consumption, evolved to engage with abstract forms of consumption such as the value of information, services, relationships and experiences. This is called phenomenal consumption. Entertainment, tourism and recreation are markets, which have emerged from this concept.

Typologies that were once thought as independent of market forces have incorporated commercial programs in order to sustain themselves in a market-driven economy.

“Not only is shopping melting into everything, but everything is melting into shopping. Through the successive waves of expansion - each more extensive and pervasive than the previous - shopping has methodically encroached on a widening spectrum of territories so that it is now arguable, the defining activity of public life.” -Sze Tsung Leong 13

LITERAL

PHENOMENAL

Pervasion of consumption>>

religious

education

convention

airport

infrastructure

museum

customization

comm

odificationextract

make

deliver

stage

COMMODITIES

GOODS

SERVICES

EXPERIENCES

customization

comm

odification[society’s desire to experience customized novelty]

CULTURAL PERVASIONresidential

office

retail

library


hypercultureTHE_MOVEMENT

HISTORY

Mobility and accessibility are two salient characteristics that shape our behaviors today. With the help of mechanisms and technological advancements, people are becoming more and more interactive and connected to one another despite geographical locations.

This connectivity is also evident in disciplinary ideologies. Cross-researching and information sharing between disciplines are creating collaborative synergies that have brought about a market for consultants. There is obviously a direct link between social behaviors and capitalistic strategies. Rick Poynor looks to business literature as evidence that cultural ideas are imbedded in business initiatives. He posits that this ‘blur’ between what were once separate and distinct structures should be welcomed as opportunities for restructuring and innovation, not chaos. 15

For example, the Hyperlinking exhibition and publication made by Zoe Ryan and Joseph Rosa explore the exchange between the fields of architecture and design. The collection of thirty-four projects catalogues ideas drawn from fields such as science, biology, communication, data visualization, manufacturing and material innovation. This illustrates the potential of critically understanding trends of diverse fields in an effort to spur ‘new thinking and progressive outcomes.’

Architecture, in reference to these collaborative and blurred relationships, is changing in scope. Dimensionally architects are tasked to consider global relationships beyond local identities. This includes digital networks and infrastructure. Rather than demarcating boundaries, architecture as an ideology is more about the adaptive interface facilitating relationships, which expand from space to space, physical to digital, social to commercial, and so on.

By understanding these shifts in patterns, I am able to establish polarities existing in society and explore the hybrid or interstice of the two. The hybrid or interstice is the moment of ‘blurring’ that must be explored architecturally.

3.2

HISTORY - hyperculture THE_MOVEMENT 3.2 19

INFRASTRUCTUREMARKET

<< For consumption to thrive, the movement of money, goods and people is critical. Without either of these components the system is inoperable. Digital and physical infrastructure facilitate our need to survive in a market driven society. It is critical that this thesis address both the physical and virtual relationships consumption.

3 components that supply consumerism >>

Each component is further specified by its influential characteristic; consumer behavior, architectural organization and commercial identity. While my thesis will mainly focus on an exploration of the architectural organization, layers of consumer behavior and commercial identity will come into play when a typology and program are chosen.

CONSUMERISM = the movement of MONEY + GOODS + PEOPLE

VIRTUALThe movement of money is essential in a global market. Money, now in the form of plastic, shares, or investments, can be exchanged through a virtual infrastructure. Consequently, our understanding of economics through abstract concepts is complex. Author Dan Ariely explores psychology and behavioral economics to understand other forces (emotions, relativity and social norms) to reexamine individual motivation and choice.

PHYSICALThe movement of goods and people is made possible by our transit infrastructure. The Japanese ‘Depato’ or department store best exemplifies consumption as an integral part of infrastructure and urban public space. 16 By placing stores at transit stops, or the intersection of transit and destination, the depato engineers its own survival by being an integral part of the city while fulfilling the need for people in retail spaces.

ECOLOGY OF NETWORKS = + +CONSUMER BRANDPLACE

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Consumers are the key ingredient to the equation. Without consumers to sustain profits, businesses would not exist and thus the places for their activities. With the heightened awareness of financial issues and environmental sensitivity, trends are progressing towards ‘collaborative consumption’. As Rachel Botsman explains, such trends are made possible by social networks and social connectivity. 17

ARCHITECTURAL ORGANIZATION Architecture is no longer limited to the vernacular. With tools such as technology and forces such as globalization, architecture no longer operates at a local scale. The scope of an architect extends beyond the form and tectonics of a structure to the conceptual networks and connectivity of a global context.

COMMERCIAL IDENTITY Commercial identity is best explored through Ann Klingmann’s analysis of ‘brandscapes’. Her investigation on the benefits and dangers of controversial practice of branding displays the need for collaborative efforts between the built environment and commercial identity. x Disciplines are looking to other industries for research and assistance in understanding the growing complexities of fluctuating progression.


COMMERCIAL IDENTITY

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

ARCHITECTURAL ORGANIZATIONculture

concentration dispersionformal informal

public privateobject field

demarcated amorphousephemeral adaptive

content

audience

homogenous

tactileegocentric collaborative

virtual

heterogenous

individual network

presrciptive unpredictable

parochial global

generic customized

[hyper]adjectives describing the changes in the three identified components >>

<<Shifting patterns in societyThese dualities will serve as the context for testing modes of transparency, particularly with architectural organization. The architectural organization dualities are further categorized by dualities that affect culture, content and audience.

HYPERACTIVEPeople are more are interactive, encouraging connectivity and shared resources.18

HYPERDIMENSIONALThe capacity for architecture to adapt and transform over time, assuming changes in size, scale, form and appearance depending on specific situations and needs of the contemporary society. 18

HYPERSOCIALNetworks of cross-disciplinary collaborative approaches that inspire sharing and participatory efforts to achieve contextually responsive

HYPERCULTURE


CRISISTHE_CON

DITION

Much like any medium, architecture is constantly reinventing and redesigning itself to accommodate the endless flux of contemporary behaviors driven by market forces and technology. However, the method in experimenting with new models of building and design costs time. Only time can tell the value of architecture and its ability to transform with changing needs. Thus, this ever-slow process prolongs architecture’s relevance to current demands.

Consequently, architecture is replaced, altered or abandoned, wasting resources. When architecture is replaced, so is identity and history. When architecture is altered, it proves the premise of its original inability to adapt to new needs. Lastly, when architecture is abandoned, it contributes to the stagnation of its context until it is gentrified or like the latter, changed or demolished.

Regulatory forces are just as slow in adapting to the changing patterns of society. These bodies perpetuate the prolonged process of architecture’s progression. [This thesis can provide evidence by demonstrating the benefits of a more transparent and plastic environment.]

In addition, consequence to architectural pastiche, other temporal mediums such as graphic imagery and digital interfaces take over the presence of architectural influence. This ‘junkspace’ as Rem Koolhaas explains, “pretends to unite, but it actually splinters.” Through the strategies of different transparencies, architecture will be able to integrate such mediums in a more relevant methodology.

In a capitalist context: Unlike the anarchist perspective of the Situationist International movement, this thesis intends to look to incorporating consumer culture as an inevitable force. Looking at relationships formed by consumerism will give context to apply transparency.

4.0

CRISIS THE_CONDITION 4.0 25

<< Big box suburban developments demonstrate corporate agendas, which have left vacant scars on our landscape in a down economy. Such are examples of the results of design tactics, which do not consider context or social behaviors.

Statistics showing the perpetual displacement of spaces and construction of new identities. >>

OVER-

PRODUCTION

Nearly 4.9 million office buildings existed in 2003 in the U.S.20 Every year, approximately 170,000 commercial buildings are constructed, and nearly 44,000 commercial buildings demolished (1995).21

2000 2005 20100%

6%

12% strip malls

regional malls

recession

recession

US MALL VACANCY RATE


SOLUTIONSEPHEMERAL

<< NEW YORK CITY

Many factors impact our decisions on what we consume. Mass media in particular has been targeted as having a significant contributor affecting our preferences and what we choose to identify with. Advertising and public relations have become markets for businesses to differentiate themselves by providing a designed identity catering to the needs of people with specific lifestyle profiles. Customers increasingly view their consumption as a part of a lifestyle choice.

Despite its intention to generate a distinct appeal in today’s global marketplace, the concept of ‘branding’ has severed contextual sensitivity in order to appeal to a greater audience. The fragmentation of controlled environments impose standardized forms and methods on the urban landscape and becomes isolated from the complexity of an urban environment.

Exemplified by corporate franchises, iconic buildings, shopping centers, expositions, emblematic buildings compose self-referential, introverted entities that contain edges and boundaries. 23 Architecture should be an integral part of the urban fabric and promote the dissolution of demarcation instead of being conceived as products independent from time and place.

TECHNOLOGY is pervasive.TECHNOLOGY is complicated.

TECHNOLOGY is real-time. TECHNOLOGY is changing.

ARCHITECTURE is pervasive.ARCHITECTURE is complicated.

ARCHITECTURE is real-time. ARCHITECTURE is changing.?


EXPERIMENTSTHE_FRAMEWOR

K

In response, the blurring of boundaries will facilitate the relationships that are evident in contemporary society. An exploration of transparencies will inform architectural strategies affecting perceptions of spatial relationships.

Expanding on Rowe and Slutzky’s Literal and Phenomenal categories of transparency, analogous, fluid, and illusive transparencies will explore perception influenced by various components of spatial design. Literal transparency addresses tectonics. Phenomenal transparency affects transparency through organization. Analogous transparency is achieved through assorted media. Fluid transparency is shape by variable forces. And lastly, illusive transparency is manipulated by deceptive identities.

The following framework is a catalog of strategies, examples and case studies defining the affects of transparency at different levels through a variety of mediums. Once a clear definition is established, each transparency will be then applied to the seam of identified dualities existing in society as identified on page 22. And lastly, this result will be applied to a typology and program chosen in the context of consumerism.

The structure of this ‘experiment’ will be utilized to demonstrate the necessary dissolution of demarcated formal space-making to catalyze the connected, collaborative relationships in our contemporary society.

An outline of prospective steps in the following pages demonstrate a clear understanding of how time and energy will be spent to contribute to the conversation of transparency in a blurred society. Ultimately the results of this exploration will be implemented to a built development including commercial agenda and social interests.

5.0

EXPERIMENTS THE_FRAMEWORK 5.0 31

EXPLORING

the blur

LITERAL TRANSPARENCY tectonics

PHENOMENAL TRANSPARENCY organization

ANALOGOUS TRANSPARENCY media

FLUID TRANSPARENCY external force

ILLUSIVE TRANSPARENCY identity

12345

INFLUENCE THROUGH:HYPERDIMENSI

ONAL

instantaneous perception

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JANM

ARM

AYAPR

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10.3.11

12.12.12

3.16.12

1.9.12

4.9.12

6.22.12

workingbreak

workingbreak

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winter

spring

<< Transparencies will be tested against dualities of behaviors identified by research background.

The work-break over the Holidays and Winter quarter will focus on the testing of transparencies, which will then be applied to a program and typology in the context of consumerism.

Planned Steps >>This outline is subject to change, but provides and overall view of the methodology used. Other layers (step 6 and so forth) will be incorporated dependent on typology and program.

STEP_1 Define transparencies

STEP_2 Establish strategies of transparencies

STEP_3 Identify case studies for each strategy

STEP_4 Apply transparencies to seam of identified dualities

STEP_5 Identify typology/program

STEP_6 ?

STEP_7 ?

STEP_8 ?

STEP_9 ?

METHODOLOGY


ARCHITECTURAL ORGANIZATION

culture

concentration dispersionformal informal

public privateobject field

demarcated amorphousephemeral adaptive

content

audience

METHODS material attributes:1. Glass2. Openings

transparent materiality through material attributes

DESCRIPTION

1A BTRANSPARENCY

LITERAL

Transparency in a literal sense refers to material attributes pervious to light, air and movement. In this category, it is purely a physical condition.

Two main methods have been identified, glass and permeation. Glass itself has many attributes that can affect the perceived transparency:One Way glassTwo Way glassColored glassFrit/patterned glass ... and so onGlass has the ability to physically separate without obstructions to perception.

Openings can take form by means of fenestrations or perforations. Sizes are dependent on what is permeating the plane. Anything from the permeation of light, air, views, objects and people can help determine openings.

British Luxury brand Dunhill’s Autumn/Winter collection installation

Dunhill’s recreation of the Boudon House [London home of Alfred Dunhill] illustrates the strategy of glass. Glass has the ability to create space while exhibiting or curating internally contained objects or program. This strategy is the most literal translation of understanding spatial relationships.

Different types of glass or permeation can be layered for different affects of depth and perception because of its material attributes >>

openings

glassperforationscreen


P=perceivedO=observer

P P O P

PUREperception CONTROLLEDperception

>>

CASE STUDY

LITERAL

Iori Tomita: New World Transparent Specimen >>

Japanese Ex-fisherman, now artist transforms marine life and other species into an art form. Utilizing a scientific technique of preserving and dying the anatomy of specimens are revealed.

<< Toyo Ito’s Sendai Mediatheque

The structural system of this project allows for what appears to be floating floor slabs. This allowed each facade to be completely transparent, revealing the internal activities. Such transparency, much like Tomita’s art forms, allows for the visible expression of structure.


METHODS organization:1. layer2. stagger3. extrusion4. interlock

2simultaneous perception of different spatial locations through organization

DESCRIPTION

A B TRANSPARENCY

PHENOMENAL

“The impression of transparency is created when the depth, attributes, and arrangement of spaces or sequences of spaces are clearly perceivable.”27

Phenomenal transparency is the simultaneous perception and understanding of different spatial locations at any instant. This allows users to easily understand their position in a space relative to others.

Phenomenal transparency is achieved through organization. Strategies of organization that particularly play off of depth are best utilized for achieving phenomenal transparency. Extrusions, layering, interlocking and staggering are methods this thesis has identified. The collective use of multiple strategies is an ideal tactic. Phenomenal transparency lends itself more to forms of aggregation than single monolithic imagery.

LAYER

STAGGER

EXTRUSIONS

INTERLOCK


3d section through the opera house’s complex

<< Busan Opera House Proposalby Ayrat Khusnutdinov

Busan’s Opera House exemplifies a hybrid of all four strategies. Through a series of spaces for both public activity and the more controlled environment of a opera house, Khusnutdinov creates an “undulating structure... creating different scenic effects, closing the space and opening in its climax on the shoreline.” 28

CASE STUDYPHENOMENAL

>>


3Media:1. Graphic2. Digital3. Information

representative interface of transparency

METHODS

DESCRIPTION

A BTRANSPARENCY

ANALOGOUS

This category utilizes different mediums to represent transparency. Content that cannot be made visible by literal transparency is understood through the interface of media.

The study of visual language is critical in understanding the methods of achieving analogous transparency. Vision is the most dominant sense when acquiring perceptual information.

GRAPHICREPRESENTATION“Sight is swift, comprehensive, simultaneously analytic, and synthetic. It requires so little energy to function, as it does, at the speed of light, that permits our minds to receive and hold an infinite number of items of information in a fraction of a second.” -Caleb Gattengo 29

Graphic Means: mass media signage wayfinding print

Content >>

ABSTRACT TO CONCRETEsnapshot of timebig-pic viewsdata displaysvisualization of infomore than geography

CLARIFY COMPLEXITYsegments + sequencesspecialized viewsinherent structure

CHARGE IT UPemotional saliencenarrativesvisual metaphorsnovelty + humor

VISUAL LANGUAGE


viewer interface network virtual space

DIGITALREPRESENTATIONDigital representation has opened a world of accessing spaces, events, products, services and people. It, however, incorporates the visual language and interactive nature of perception.

Digital Means:cinemaonline accessibilitylive streamingmobile technologyinteractive interfaces

INFORMATION REPRESENTATION Information sharing is a critical factor driving the use of online networks. Its presence in a social, professional and academic sense can be found online, but not spatially. Does statistical knowledge, not typically represented in our daily activities, contribute to our spatial perception? Imagine if you knew the square footage of each space you stepped into and how it would affect your spatial interpretation of architecture.

Information examples>>

OPEN32 occupantsmaximum capacity73 degrees F2 seats available

no public restrooms

3,800 sf

CASE STUDY

ANALOGOUS


Variate Labs Office, LA

The interactive facade spans multiple platforms and scales, including the web, print media, tablet and mobile devices and architecture. Once visitors

approach the facade, they can directly interact with the content by controlling and manipulating the screen. Through the web interface they can explore the firms projects and process.

<<

4Variable Forces1. Influenced by light at a surface level

deformed experience shaped by variable forces

METHODS

DESCRIPTION

A BTRANSPARENCY

FLUID

Similar to the characteristics of liquid, fluid transparency takes shape due to its surroundings, or variable forces. This category considers these external variables, which manipulate perceived transparency by either enhancing or altering experiences.

Fluid transparency is critical in demonstrating design’s responsiveness. It hints to foresight that is critical in implementing flexibility and adaptive qualities in architecture.

Fluid transparency is very much circumstantial and is perceived differently depending on the combination of static spatial presence and its relation to other variable forces.

H&M Seoul Store Facade >>Universal Design Studio

The sizes of perforations are determined by the light permitted through in order to produce a tonal contrast in the facade. The contrast enhances the perception and visual depth of the facade’s pleated cladding. In this example, perception is altered by the size of perforations affected by light.

LIGHTm

ore light

less light

no light

depth, form

+ =

CASE STUDYFLUID


Views shift between solid to transparent as users move

See-through Church >>by Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh

Depending on one’s perspective or approach, the see-through church appears either solid or transparent. The patterned positioning of stacked cor-ten steel is specifically to accommodate different perceptions as the user moves through space.

1 2

>>

PERCEIVED FORM


CASE STUDYFLUID

1. selective exposure2. materiality|finish

5manipulation of identity

METHODS

DESCRIPTION

A BTRANSPARENCY

ILLUSIVE

It is not what it appears to be. Illusive transparency explores the methods of deceiving identity. In a global culture, imagery and visual language is critical, but what we perceive is not always the reality. Methods described in the illusive category demonstrate spatial ability to deceptively communicate identity to a viewer.

Selective exposure to parts of a whole leaves room for interpretation due to lack of context. It is similar to ‘not knowing the whole story’ and is potentially misleading. Manipulation of identity through materiality is another tactic to note. Synthetic recreations can mimic forms existing only for visual perception.

Illusive transparency is vital to investigate, as it will inform methods of controlling security, privacy, and communication between two entities.

CASE STUDYILLUSIVE

Landskrona Townhouse by Elding Oscarson Architects >>

Derived from the philosophies of Sejima and Nishizawa, the Landskrona townhouse explores the concept of curation. In Matthew Allen’s article called “Control Yourself! Lifestyle Curation in the Work of Sejima and Nishizawa,” he writes,

“blankness calls for active projection, indeterminacy asks for participation, and the absence of spatial hierarchy

requires communal initiative.” 30

Identity construction, similar to the attraction of social media platforms, allows architecture to provoke people to care for their own lifestyle. While potentially deceiving, this tactic empowers its users, creating an altered perception of spatial influence.


CASE STUDYILLUSIVE

<< Charlie and Chocolate Factory Movie Set

Movie sets epitomize the use of materiality to construct perceived identities. What appears to be a delicious chocolate river and edible trees are in reality harmful synthetic props.

Jeff Koons Balloon Sculpture >>

The detailing and finish of this piece models the way material attributes can mimic other identities. The dog balloon appears to be light due to its glossy finish and balloon identity. However, in actuality it is heavier than its perceived image. In this sense, Koons sensationalizes the novelty of identity through different manipulated materiality.

The rendering below demonstrates that the material finish can drastically alter the perception of what the object is. These principles can be applied to spatial identities through tectonics.

>>


CASE STUDYILLUSIVE

STEP_1 Define transparencies

STEP_2 Establish strategies of transparencies

STEP_3 Identify case studies for each strategy

STEP_4 Apply transparencies to seam of identified dualities

STEP_5 Identify typology/program

STEP_6 ?

STEP_7 ?

STEP_8 ?

STEP_9 ?

NEXT STEPS

ARCHITECTURAL ORGANIZATION

culture

concentration dispersion

formal informal

public private

object field

demarcated amorphous

ephemeral adaptive

content

audience

continue to refine

NOVOCT

DECFEB

JANM

ARM

AYAPR

JUN

10.3.11

12.12.12

3.16.12

1.9.12

4.9.12

6.22.12

workingbreak

workingbreak

fall

winter

spring

to be continued...EXPERIMENTS THE_FRAMEWORK 5.0 55

SOURCESTHE_ANALYSI

S

1. Ariely, Dan. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape our Decisions. New York: Harper Perennial, 2010. Print.

2. Botsman, Rachel and Roo Rogers. What’s Mine is Yours. New York: Harper Business, 2010. Print.

3. Choi, Esther and Marrikka Trotter. Architecture at the Edge of Everything Else. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2010. Print.

4. Chung, Judy, Jeffrey Inaba, Rem Koolhaas, and Sze Tsung Leong. The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping. Cambridge: Taschen, 2002. Print.

5. Exner, Ulrich and Dietrich Pressel. Basics: Spatial Design. New York: Birkhauser Architecture, 2009. Print.

6. Klingmann, Anna. Brandscapes: Architecture in the experience economy. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2007. Print.

7. Koolhaas, Rem. “Junkspace.” Obsolescence 100 (2002): 175-190. Print.

8. Malamed, Connie. Visual Language for Designers: Principles for creating graphics that people understand. Beverly: Rockport Publishers, 2009. Print.

9. Pine II, Joseph and James H. Gilmore. “Welcome to the experience economy.” Harvard Business Review 98407 (1998): 97-105. Print.

10. Rosa, Joseph and Zoe Ryan. Hyperlinks. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011. Print.

11. Sadler, Simon. The Situationist City. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1999. Print.

12. Saunders, William. Commodification and Spectacle in Architecture: Harvard Design magazine reader. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2005. Print.

13. Rowe, Colin and Robert Slutzky. “Transparency: Literal and Phenomenal.” Perspecta 8 (1963): 45-54. Print.

6.0

SOURCES THE_ANALYSIS 6.0 57

1. Cover Image: Monocle <http://www.etsy. com/listing/63303549/monocle-brooch>2. Page 6 Image: purchased istock photo3. See also Exner & Dietrich chapter on transparency p. 644. Page 8 Image: <http://torontoist.com/2009/08/historicist_find ing_comfort_through_hard_times/>5. <http://www.howcurio.us/sites/consume2/time.html>6. <http://www.howcurio.us/sites/consume2/time.html>7. Chung et al., p. 28-488. Page 12 Image: <http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/rb/rb205.html>9. “Experience economy” term coined by authors Joseph Pine and James Gilmore. 10. Chung et al., p. 36811. Video: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNic4wf8AYg>; 12. Page 15 Images: <http://trendland.net/jay-z-decoded-32-pages- revealed/>13. Chung et al., p. 12914. Page 18 Image: <http://akeedbokra.blogspot.com/2011/09/pile-up- vs-up-grade.html>15. Saunders, p. 3616. Chung et al., p. 24217. Botsman provides a plethora of business examples that are exploiting this trend. New markets are emerging, which call for new typologies. 18. Read about other hyper-trends in Zoe Ryan and Joseph Rosa’s book Hyperlinks (including hyperdigital, hyperfunctional, hypernarrative, hyperhardwired, hypermobile, hyperreal and hypersustainable).19. Page 26 image: <http://media.mlive.com/businessreview/western_ impact/photo/str-harvey-st-aerial-3jpg-690ac3d87978f763.jpg>

20. http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cbecs2003/introduction.html. 2003 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey—Overview of Commercial Buildings Characteristics. Energy Information Administration.21. C-Series Reports. Manufacturing and Construction Division, Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce. 1995.22. Page 28 Image: <http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fil:NYC_Times_Square_ wide_angle.jpg>23. Klingmann, p. 324. Page 35, Dunhill Image: <http://trendland. net/?s=dunhill&x=0&y=0> 25. Page 36 Image: <http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/ito> 26. Page 37 Image: <http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/ view/15095/iori-tomita-new-world-transparent-specimens.html> 27. Exner, p. 6428. <http://www.archdaily.com/165514/busan-opera-house-proposal- ayrat-khusnutdinov/3-547/>29. Malamed, p. 930. Choi et al., p. 2431. Page 45 Image: <http://variatelabs.com/> 32. Page 47 Image: <http://www.archdaily.com/84834/hm-seoul-store- universal-design-studio/> 33. Page 48-49 Image: <http://www.yatzer.com/See-through-Church-by- Gijs-Van-Vaerenbergh> 34. Page 50 Image: <http://www.dailyfundose.net/wp-content/uploads/ Transparency.jpg> 35. Image and Quote: <http://www.archdaily.com/46808/townhouse- elding-oscarson/> 36. Page 52 Image: <http://images5.fanpop.com/image/pho tos/25500000/Charlie-and-the-Chocolate-Factory-charlie-and-the- chocolate-factory-25563118-1200-807.jpg> 37. Page 53 Image: <http://www.escapeintolife.com/essays/the-place-of- fine-art-in-a-consumer-society/>

NOTES

Documents

Thesis Manual