EXP 2 - THE SPACE BETWEEN

What is Landform?

Superstudio, 1971.

Shell Petroleum Headquarters Rueil-Malmaison, France. Designed by Kathryn Gustafson, 1989-1991.

When we discuss the idea and the historiography of Landform, we are, regardless the ahistorical tendency of the abundant imaginary forms projected onto the "Land", confronting the notion of Artifice as "the art of the multiple diversifying reality"(1); and the notion of Artifact as "the glory of man (or human kind) brought forth by the builders"(2).
The Imaginary and the Real, the constant players of the ultimate "shaping" of Landform, should guide you through Exp 2.

(1)-Christine Buci-Glucksmann, 2000.
(2)-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel

1- The Tower of Babel, the Imaginary;by Pieter Brueghel the Elder(1563).

2- Grand Canyon, the Real;


3- The Grand Canyon Skywalk, The Real mixed with the Imaginary;




4- Back To the Real;


The Dream of the Architectby Thomas Cole, 1840.

The Continuous Monument, An Architectural Model For Total Urbanisation,By Superstudio, 1969.

Built Form as Landform
Swimming Pool, Leça de Palmeira, Oporto, by Alvaro Siza (1966).

Stair/Built Form as Landform

One of the most photographed houses, Casa Malaparte is that perfect example when building becomes part of the landscape.

After the Quake - Sendai Mediatheque, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan, by Toyo Ito.

And why does it survive the quake? (click on to read THE STRUCTURE OF SENDAI MEDIATHEQUE)

Courtesy of Jody Verser via Archdaily

Need For A Strong + Beautiful Building

Sendai Mediatheque, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan, by Toyo Ito.

"Earthquake-wracked Sendai is home to Toyo Ito's 2001 Mediatheque building, a multipurpose cultural center and one of Japan's -- and the world's -- most significant pieces of contemporary architecture. This video appears to have been shot by someone taking shelter from the quake under a desk inside the building.

Two things are extraordinary here: The sheer length of the shaking and the way the building seems to sway violently without buckling."
Los Angeles Times

This is a building you will study time and time again in the future. With the enormity in destruction and the lost of life unfolding in the coastal towns of Honshū, architecture is humbled. it is comforting to know that Toyo Ito's Sendai Mediatheque in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture is still standing. One can't defy Nature but architect can build strong enduring buildings.

WK2's Collective SketchUp Model

Before I had a chance to save the model, the laptop malfunctioned. We were left with one frontal view of the model and one "special effect" of the model caused by the malfunctioning screen.

Under a normal situation, once the model is saved, we'll have the option to take different views of the spatial effect around, within and through this model.

However, even with these two "digital renderings" of the same model, lesson can still be learned:

1 - Different "textures" of the same surface connote different material, compositional, volumetric and spatial possibilities for the design development of the model. For example, if we compare the two cone shape upright objects in the left: the top rendering alludes to 2 strong metallic/smooth/inert objects, and one wants to further develop the strong "objecthood" in them; the bottom rendering caused by a malfunctioning screen takes us back to section again, and those seemingly "layering/slicing" spectrum of colors allude to a kind of spatial development that's been bifurcated and complicated.

2 - In the process of design development, cause-and-effect kind of lineal logic doesn't take one to the finished project. Instead, a series of circular and often accidental "findings" take us closer to "that" final model for submission on 27/03. Of course this has all been stipulated in the Brief for EXP1.

3 - The underground studio space remains "buried"! How can we effectively visualize a model that's been stipulated as having a 3 parts spatial sequence: above, on and below ground; and the parts are connected by stairs? We will start our WK 3 studio by discussing this via your new uploads.

Leo, Joshua, Hugo, Linqing, Chawakorn and Kirsty:

Please send me your blog addresses asap!