Hopefully by the end of today I will have been able to cut this beast into 4 sections to further examine.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Plaster!!!
So in an attempt to better understand my library concept I started an exploration in plaster modeling which turned out to produce a pretty interesting model. I am currently in the process of trying to figure out the best method of cutting a solid 30 lb block of plaster to reveal the voids I created with a variety of objects inside. The mold I used had text all over it, which actually transferred in a really nice way onto the exterior "shell", how fitting for a library.
Hopefully by the end of today I will have been able to cut this beast into 4 sections to further examine.
Hopefully by the end of today I will have been able to cut this beast into 4 sections to further examine.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Mid-Review Critique
After a final "all-nighter" push the results from the Mid-Review;
From what the critics had to say it seems that the project becomes much more interesting when the model is flipped open - allowing different things to occur. That the project should be less about circulation and more about the relation with the campus programmatically - the circulation is only how you move - not as important as the emphasis I have been placing on it previously. The moment when the cube is "cracked open" is beautiful.
Several ways of exploring this concept of cracking it open from a potential shift of the cube, or other moves that will make the amorphous core more visible. The core needs to be more expressive and apparent on the exterior - that it oozes out on edges, places become reading spaces, etc. (OMA project reference - blobs becomes programmatic space - also referenced Toyo Ito's Mediatheque). This expression can begin to be developed on the exterior, being a commuter campus there is a dramatic shift from day to night at UNAM and this could be greatly emphasized in the building (light up during the day in the amorphous forms - total darkness in them at night).
Decisions do need to start being made though on the vertical circulation. But, they did enjoy the way the stacks have shifts in space but that they can also start to do this in depth/density. Making gesture to the original library is good but the difference I am beginning to address here is that history becomes something with a density/volume unlike the "flat" history found in the murals.
For Tuesday, I will begin looking at the model as a cast in place entity. I have purchased some plaster of paris and will begin experimenting with creating an amorphous form with balloons/straws/etc inside a poured form and then cutting sections through it.
From what the critics had to say it seems that the project becomes much more interesting when the model is flipped open - allowing different things to occur. That the project should be less about circulation and more about the relation with the campus programmatically - the circulation is only how you move - not as important as the emphasis I have been placing on it previously. The moment when the cube is "cracked open" is beautiful.
Several ways of exploring this concept of cracking it open from a potential shift of the cube, or other moves that will make the amorphous core more visible. The core needs to be more expressive and apparent on the exterior - that it oozes out on edges, places become reading spaces, etc. (OMA project reference - blobs becomes programmatic space - also referenced Toyo Ito's Mediatheque). This expression can begin to be developed on the exterior, being a commuter campus there is a dramatic shift from day to night at UNAM and this could be greatly emphasized in the building (light up during the day in the amorphous forms - total darkness in them at night).
Decisions do need to start being made though on the vertical circulation. But, they did enjoy the way the stacks have shifts in space but that they can also start to do this in depth/density. Making gesture to the original library is good but the difference I am beginning to address here is that history becomes something with a density/volume unlike the "flat" history found in the murals.
For Tuesday, I will begin looking at the model as a cast in place entity. I have purchased some plaster of paris and will begin experimenting with creating an amorphous form with balloons/straws/etc inside a poured form and then cutting sections through it.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Memory and the Mind
The library, much like the mind is a complex system of elements integrated together to perform a unlimited possibility of tasks. These elements work fluidly despite the constant juxtaposition of thoughts and memories that "fire" in our brains each day. For the library, as of now, I think that I am moving away from an original concept of a left brain vs. right brain strategy for the library and shifting my focus on the idea of memory, specifically the aspects of encoding, storage, and retrieval. The emphasis will also be placed on the synapse, or components that connect neurons within the brain and send impulses or signals. The human component, inhabitant, of the library will be considered to be the synapse(s) of the building. Just as the previous studies of sound and their overlapping units created common space, so will the intergrated functions between the three volumes held within the library block. These amorphous volumes, as represented in the sketch below, will contain much of the programmatic elements of the library and the interstitial space will coincide with public space/circulation/etc. 
Monday, October 5, 2009
Library as Mind
Final project is underway! The final project has emphasis on focusing on the library addition through a "prescribed lens" to help/further the design. Personally, my lens has to do with the Library as Mind. So, initially, I began to research and think about what that would mean to me. Upon my research I stumbled across definitions of mind, such as the following;
According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary "the element or complex of elements in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills and especially reasons, or 2 - organized concsious and unconscious" I found this second definition particularly appealing. A library is a vault of knowledge containing ideas, thoughts, wills, beliefs, etc of men and woman of every race, creed, color, background, life, etc and the mind takes these complex elements and utilizes them for thoughts (allowing us to model the world around us) or memory (storing the information to be racalled later on).
The idea of the conscious and unconscious has been a concept I have been working with for the last project. In a sense, sound itself in modeled form is a struggle between the conscious and unconscious. The models from the previous post were inspiration for my first concept of this library. The radiating sound on the front of the model is juxtaposed with the straight vectors of sound. These are perceived aspects considering we are unable to see sound - although we do understand how it travels, etc.
The process sketches below are my first thoughts on applying the library and its program to the site adjacent (west) of the existing library. The idea is focusing on the interaction of the conscious and subconcious. In these terms (mostly seen in section) my thought process is that ortogonal shapes are the conscious and curves, bent planes, folding floor plates, etc - begin to suggest and generate forms of the subconcious (more affecting emotion than logic).
According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary "the element or complex of elements in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills and especially reasons, or 2 - organized concsious and unconscious" I found this second definition particularly appealing. A library is a vault of knowledge containing ideas, thoughts, wills, beliefs, etc of men and woman of every race, creed, color, background, life, etc and the mind takes these complex elements and utilizes them for thoughts (allowing us to model the world around us) or memory (storing the information to be racalled later on).
The idea of the conscious and unconscious has been a concept I have been working with for the last project. In a sense, sound itself in modeled form is a struggle between the conscious and unconscious. The models from the previous post were inspiration for my first concept of this library. The radiating sound on the front of the model is juxtaposed with the straight vectors of sound. These are perceived aspects considering we are unable to see sound - although we do understand how it travels, etc.
The process sketches below are my first thoughts on applying the library and its program to the site adjacent (west) of the existing library. The idea is focusing on the interaction of the conscious and subconcious. In these terms (mostly seen in section) my thought process is that ortogonal shapes are the conscious and curves, bent planes, folding floor plates, etc - begin to suggest and generate forms of the subconcious (more affecting emotion than logic).
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Site as Text - Critique
The assignment for Wednesday's review was to "map" the site with particular emphasis on the transitional spaces that occur between zones (city and campus limits, streets vs. campus, buildings vs. landscape etc). 2 of the maps were to focus on a topic that we ourselves wanted to map in relation to the transitions and 1 map was to revert back to our Boite-en-Valise project.
For the first two maps I decided to focus on sound intensities and their interactions with buildings on the campus. Choosing the area shown below in the previous post, I began to chart (through a series of circles) intensities that would occur along the length of this "corridor" from the highway(far left of map) to the library (far right of map). Intensities could be driven by a bus stop, a parking lot, car accelerations on the highway, a large group of students congregating on the quad, a car without a muffler, etc. These intensities begin very strongly towards the left of the map and begin to dissipate through areas of trees, deflect off building facades, and even dissolve altogether over distance. Within the drawing/model ("drodel") when sounds overlapped it produced an intensity of overlap (emphasized through the model being cut through to signify such zones). Along the back of the model (since it was to be 2-dimensional) were the simplified vector lines of the path(s) that these sounds were taking within the campus.
The second map, an axonometric, represented sound as 3-dimensional triangulated volumes that intersected one another and wrapped building facades (although never entering). Although difficult to tell from the photograph line weights and dotted lines were used to demonstrate the source (darkest) and the "target" (farthest reach).
The third map on the other hand, was completely unlike the first too. If you remember from earlier the Boite-en-Valise project I focused on the idea that books inside the library are creating an intensity/power that would cause the floor plates of the building to fold and manipulate in relation to that tectonic source. Here, I mapped shadows of the buildings form (my interior form) across the site at 3 different moments of time. These shadows were then cut and folded to
create levels of intensity (where multiple shadows overlap one another).
The critique created a very interesting discussion about our projects and the idea that these are subconscious design intentions that each one of us develops to solve a problem. The resulting information/direction that followed after my review was that;
- like the idea of books having this energy
- found Boite-en-Valise project to be formally beautiful (although difficult to construct the relationship between that model and the third map)
- when shadows are cast a distortion takes place, that potential is yet to be explored
- can definitely see 3 different moments (shadows), one can see how elongation could start to blend these moments together
- both maps 1 and 2 work well and were successful in their representation
- all maps respond to a point of generation (how some pre-existing condition can generate through overlapping to create form)
- in relation to the topic of sound - what you name as a sound source comes from your imagination and it doesn't necessarily need the realities of the constraint - clearer rules
- realistic vs. imaginary
Things to think about.
For the first two maps I decided to focus on sound intensities and their interactions with buildings on the campus. Choosing the area shown below in the previous post, I began to chart (through a series of circles) intensities that would occur along the length of this "corridor" from the highway(far left of map) to the library (far right of map). Intensities could be driven by a bus stop, a parking lot, car accelerations on the highway, a large group of students congregating on the quad, a car without a muffler, etc. These intensities begin very strongly towards the left of the map and begin to dissipate through areas of trees, deflect off building facades, and even dissolve altogether over distance. Within the drawing/model ("drodel") when sounds overlapped it produced an intensity of overlap (emphasized through the model being cut through to signify such zones). Along the back of the model (since it was to be 2-dimensional) were the simplified vector lines of the path(s) that these sounds were taking within the campus.
The second map, an axonometric, represented sound as 3-dimensional triangulated volumes that intersected one another and wrapped building facades (although never entering). Although difficult to tell from the photograph line weights and dotted lines were used to demonstrate the source (darkest) and the "target" (farthest reach).
The third map on the other hand, was completely unlike the first too. If you remember from earlier the Boite-en-Valise project I focused on the idea that books inside the library are creating an intensity/power that would cause the floor plates of the building to fold and manipulate in relation to that tectonic source. Here, I mapped shadows of the buildings form (my interior form) across the site at 3 different moments of time. These shadows were then cut and folded to
create levels of intensity (where multiple shadows overlap one another).
The critique created a very interesting discussion about our projects and the idea that these are subconscious design intentions that each one of us develops to solve a problem. The resulting information/direction that followed after my review was that;
- like the idea of books having this energy
- found Boite-en-Valise project to be formally beautiful (although difficult to construct the relationship between that model and the third map)
- when shadows are cast a distortion takes place, that potential is yet to be explored
- can definitely see 3 different moments (shadows), one can see how elongation could start to blend these moments together
- both maps 1 and 2 work well and were successful in their representation
- all maps respond to a point of generation (how some pre-existing condition can generate through overlapping to create form)
- in relation to the topic of sound - what you name as a sound source comes from your imagination and it doesn't necessarily need the realities of the constraint - clearer rules
- realistic vs. imaginary
Things to think about.
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