Working Bibiography

Bettum, By Johan. AN INTERVIEW WITH SANFORD KWINTER (n.d.): n. pag. Web.
     This was a short interview conducted by Johnan Bettum with Sanford Kwinter.  In the interview there are several topics discussed.  Firstly the interview was directly related to the first phase of the project "the space of communication"  the purpose of the project being, somewhat self explanatory, is an exploration of the space of communication.  In the interview they discuss the changing world of communication and calling life a social app.  It is an interesting interview and plainly shows Sanford Kwinters beliefs and ideology.

"Buckminster Fuller: Thinking Out Loud." Youtube. Zeitgeist Films, 1996. Web. 1 Oct. 2015. 
     This video was published in 1996 after the passing of Buckminster Fuller.  It was a biography of his life showing the evolution of his "theisis"  The start with the strength of the triangular structure and the progression in to the dimoxian car and home which were both objects that were created with lightweight materials and primarily used tension.  Both of these projects failed however and only prototypes exist today.  The geodesic dome was arguably the most successful of Fullers innovations and based of the principals of tensegrity.  The film also dug into the mans philosophy.

Calatrava, Santiago, and Constantin Chariot. Santiago Calatrava: Sculptectures. Bruxelles: Fonds Mercator, 2010. Print.

Calatrava, Santiago, Cecilia Lewis Kausel, and Ann Pendleton-Julian. Santiago Calatrava, Conversations with Students: The M.I.T. Lectures. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2002. Print.

 Eisenman, Peter. The Formal Basis of Modern Architecture. N.p.: L Muler, 2006. Print.

     The Formal Basis of Modern Architecture by Peter Eisenman looks primarily at the volume or form.  The idea of space while alluded to after a fashion is given a back seat role to the envelope.  It talks about how the volume is respondent to different internal and external forces that distort the shell.  This was part of my inspiration for the deformed bubble.  He seemed to believe that form could be derived from an objective approach to architecture.
 
Foster, Norman. "My Green Agenda for Architecture." Norman Foster:. TED Talks, n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2015.
     This was a speech given by Norman Foster in 2006 looking to the future of architecture and what the role of technology could be.  He examined several of his buildings pointing out the major changes that were happening at the time with technology.  H explained that in some cases he urged his clients to scale up their chasework in order to accommodate a yet unknown future.  He also looked at how technology now allows us to mass produce building components of different shape.  This is where he believes the future of architecture lies.

 Frei Otto, Bodo Rasch: Finding Form: Towards an Architecture of the Minimal:  Axel Menges, 1995. Print.

 Fuller, R. Buckminster. Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1969. Print.     This is a very difficult read.  It to me seems somewhat like a rant by Buckminster Fuller about what he thinks is wrong with the world and how he would address it.  There is a video on youtube that I have not seen yet that is a speech given by Fuller entitled "Thinking Out Loud"  It is kind of what I think this writing is getting at but in more of what I would think of as a more understandable way.  After watching the video I can now say it makes the writing somewhat easier to understand.  In many words he lays out his ideas for light construction that is cheap and mobile and why he thinks it will be important in the future.  What I get out of the writing is that Fuller was basically the first person thinking green.  However he was not thinking green in the way we think of it today with CO2 emissions.  He was thinking in terms of time and impact.  I have no doubt that he also took emissions into account but it seems somewhat secondary.  He was also somewhat of a humanitarian as he wanted to solve the worlds problems.  Because of his background his solutions were all related to light transportable habitats that could be deployed and utilized very quickly.  I believe the military also contracted Fuller as a result of these ideas.  His most interesting point to me was that the form was only beautiful because it performed.  in his mind any building that had a structure not directly related to its envelope was ugly and superfluous. 

Glancey, Johnathan. "How Soap Bubbles and Cobwebs Helped Frei Otto Win Architecture's Greatest Prize." The Lightweight Champion of the World. The Gaurdian, 04 Oct. 2004. Web. 1 Oct. 2015.
     This article was a throwback piece looking at the influence of Otto Frei on modern architecture.  It traced his works back to their core describing the influence of soap bubbles and nature in his work.  His work really was an exploration of how to span large spaces with the lightest possible materials.  At the time of course steel concrete and glass were the primary materials being used.  Frei's work dubbed membrane architecture was inspiration to the next few generations of designers including Buckminster Fuller and Norman Foster. 

Grosz, Elizabeth. "Bodies-Cities." World Press (n.d.): 241-53. Selforganizedseminar. World Press. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

   This article was part of my expanding on our first assignment.  In this article Elizabeth Grosz was examining the relationship between the body and the city.  It was not so much a "parks equal lungs" argument, but a look at how the two different systems, the organic body and the inorganic city form a kind of symbiosis.  This lead me to one of my first questions of interest;  what is the full extent of a buildings influence?  In the same way Elizabeth Grosz was asking that question about the city but her focus was more at the larger scale looking inward and my idea was to look at a smaller scale outward.

Lee, Kwang Yuel. "Frei Otto, Bodo Rasch: Finding Form." Scribd. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

 

Otto, Frei, and Ludwig Glaeser. The Work of Frei Otto. New York: Museum of Modern Art; Distributed by New York Graphic Society, Greenwich, Conn., 1972. Print.
     This is a picture book primarily of Otto Frei's work.  Through the images of structures, many of which do not exist today, I thought it possible to see something of the personal beliefs of Otto Frei.  His work is focused on two things seeming.  The idea of the membrane as a mechanism for efficient space enclosing and his belief in technology to achieve a beautiful form that performs well using the lightest seeming materials available to him.  However because one of his primary materials is concrete I do have to wonder if lightness is really what he is going for of if it is just the appearance of lightness.  He was definitely limited by materials and technology but many of the forms he created would have been impressive even by the standards of today.  It is also very easy to see what effect Frei's work had on Buckminster Fuller.  Though Frei does not deal with tensegrity he does do some very interesting things with tensioning his membrane architecture.

Pawley, Martin, and Norman Foster. Norman Foster: A Global Architecture. New York: Universe, 1999. Print.
             "Thom Mayne: Inquiry Is Everything." Thom Mayne: Inquiry Is Everything. National Building Museum, n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2015.

     This was a simple article in which Thom Mayne outlined his ideas on his role in the profession as a growth driver an somewhat got into his belief that technology and materials would should be the focus of the next generation of architects.  This alluded to his personal beliefs for architecture.  Also discussed in the article was his beginning as an intern and how he thought aspiring architects should approach the profession.

"Norman Foster: Striving for Simplicity." YouTube. TEDx, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Turner, Judith, Smith-Miller, and Hawkinson Architects. Between Spaces. New York: Princton Architectural, 2000. Print.

     This book contains very little writing and is primarily a picture book for details.  It was composed by several architects that highly value detail and how it comes across in their work.  They are constantly asking the question;  How can detail be beautiful, and perhaps, how does detail inform the whole?  The images are very compelling as many show an intriguing and smooth transition from the whole of a structure to the detail and vise versa.  The idea that the same principals that work for one scale of an object can then be applied to a completely different scale and remain at heart kindred is a compelling notion.

Reiser, Jesse, and Nanako Umemoto. Atlas of Novel Tectonics. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2006. Print.
     This book or rather pamphlet, noting how short it is, was helpful in gaining a broader understanding of how tensegrity and geodesics are understood in architecture.  Also somewhat interesting is that geodesics were first used in aircraft construction.  The specific chapter on geodesics and tensegrity discusses how in this case the form of architecture inspired a closer look at natural systems which sparked ideas that could be applied to the sciences.  The section explains that the extreme redundancy of the structure of the geodesic is where it gets its shape and goes on to point out that because of this system the principals of geodesics do not have to apply to just spheres.  The structure is also in the unique place of being able to form the skin of the object.  The idea that the examples of geodesics and tensegrity are also responsible or representative of an existing condition of interdisciplinary exchange also took up a large part of the reading.  Perhaps the primary issue with geodesics as discussed in the book was its cost due to the individual nature of each member.  Though this has become much less of an issue with the advent of the computer and computer modeling according to Norman Foster.

 Zaere-Polo, Alejandro. "The Politics of the Envelope: A Political Critique of Materialism." 17 (n.d.): n. pag. Urban Landscape Lab. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.
     This article has been very influential in my wok so far.  In the article it hits on several points about the material but the most compelling points to we were the ones concerning the envelope.  In the article the point was raised that today the envelope is becoming more and more fluid in responding to internal features and also external ones.  To me the article seemed to attack the envelope that was influenced by external influences because it did not relate to the building itself.  He also discusses bubble architecture and looks at the envelope as responding not so much to external conditions but as reacting to an internal special quality as an efficient system for the utilization of the space.  This led me to wonder if there was a way to explore the situation where a exterior condition directly related to an internal one therefore having more importance with the form of the envelope.  Could this situation exist? This was almost  seeming in contradiction to Zaere- Polo's argument.

                  

                       

                       

                  

                       

Assignment 1

This was a project to find examples of other thesis projects.  One I found was looking at tension, bio mimicry, and form.  While the other looked at redeveloping the anchor store typology.

University of Bologna

(Iso)communication

                Tensional integrities and intensive connections between spaces were the two driving forces of this students thesis.  The site was a park in the city of Bologna.  Iso is a combining form meaning equal.  The student was addressing the problem of deactivated spaces and how they might be solved through this idea of hyper connectivity.  More specifically equal hyper connectivity where it one space or form becomes deactivated the others are engaged.  Several techniques were employed by this student in the process of this thesis.  There was an extensive research of the context of the site mapping many of the buildings and their uses as well as bus stops and tram lines.  These were combined with the potential users of the site to create a form.  The information was compiled in many different ways which led to fluctuations in the form.  Additionally the student looked at connecting the various context of the area to the site itself which led to the idea of hyper connectivity and tensional integrities.  The next step was to integrate tensional integrity with the users.  In order to do this the student looked at the structure of the skeletal frame.  With that in mind they started on a series of sketch model that incorporated both the tensile structure of a skeletal frame and the forms of hyper connectivity generated in the first part of the project.  The student also with the idea of creating structural surfaces took the models and gave them a structural skin that could smoothly incorporate the main ideas of their thesis.  Then the goal was to create them to respond to paths and creating new ones through the park.  This causes the user to interact with the sculpture in a way that enhances the parks connection with the rest of the surrounding city.

 

 

University of Massachusetts

From Vacant to Vibrant: Proposing a New Approach to the Anchor Store Typology

                Reusing abandoned anchor stores to enhance the surrounding community.  The idea of reprogramming rather than replacing and to celebrate the mundane.  This students thesis consisted of a large paper that accompanied her project.  Her particular approach was to use the abandoned anchor store to enhance the community by way of connecting it with its context.  The site in this project is in many ways irrelevant as the student intended the principals of community and connection to be applicable across the US.  The first step in this student's process was to examine the typology of the anchor store.  This led to several ideas of form that were prevalent throughout the thesis.  Of course there was a specific site for this project so along with mapping of site context they also looked at the importance and effect the local community had and was having on the site.  They also examined both the positive and negative qualities of the anchor store typology.  Several case studies were also performed for the project.  Specifically spaces that were designed to include many different cultures.  Also mapping how the buildings map the spaces in a way to be emulated later.  In the proposal of the solution the student looked at an abandoned Borders bookstore.  The terminology used was to make the existing space into a "business incubator".  This meant there would be both physical laws that needed to be obeyed as well as ideological ones that would create a dynamic space where once there was stagnation.  The student examined the positive affects an incubator could have on the community and how this particular location could be improved through her solution to create a flexible space that celebrates the reuse of the mundane.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assignment 2

This assignment was to read a section of Architecture in the 21st century and develop a thesis question that could be developed.  Also required was to supplement the reading with other texts.  I looked at three possible thesis and looked into each one.

 

 

Can built space be developed through detail?

This question is derived from a question posed by Laurie Hawkinson that is, " Is it possible that an architectural detail can reveal more than just the resolution of materials?"  In her essay Hawkinson defines identity in architecture as an individualism and detail as a subordinate part of a building.  She seems to be asking if it is possible for the detail to inform the whole of a project.  In her book she also examines this question primarily through images.  Also important to the detail or the subordinate architecture is the human scale and how the detail responds to the user.  Thomas Mayne has been studying the importance of detail to the whole through the use of growling lamps or the his and hers shower.  The detail is a crucial aspect of architecture that can help or hinder the communication of an architectural goal or philosophy.

                This project would start by studying a reasonably complicated detail for a building or structure.  Deriving from the selected detail ideas about perhaps how it is spatially significant, or how the materials are joined together and with what joiners or perhaps the vertical or horizontal nature of the detail.  How could these principles be applied to the human scale?  These observations would then be used to create a building or structure that would be built in essence from the detail out.

 

Can architecture transform the bodies and objects that inhabit it into useful appendages?

According to Grosz "bodies are prosthetic"; they use objects by incorporating them and using them as if they were bodily organs or extensions of ourselves.  Can this affect be achieved through the built form?  What is required of a building in order for it to perform as a "body"?  This project examines what is necessary in a structure for it to function and what can be acquired by the "body" through its inhabitants or through object introduced into the system.  What could be the extent of this prosthetic reach?  This project also looking at the importance of architecture through the lens of the body.  What becomes of architecture when this approach is taken?

                This project would be to examine the organization and body of an existing building and understand its relationship with its users.  Then to strip the building to its essential core whatever that may be and to reimaging it treating the building like a body and its inhabitants and objects like appendages for that body.  How could the building change and where could its influence expand to as its appendages are in constant flux?

 

 

 

Can adaptive reuse of typology be used to create an original understanding of that typology?

                In Alejandro Zaera-Polo's paper "Breeding Architecture" he discusses how his firm began their approach to typology by dismissing it.  Until sometime later they came to understand that their work was very much so a study in the process of developing typologies.  The objection raised by Zaera-Polo and his colleagues against typology was that often it is used in order to repeat the same forms and relationships between forms that have been used before and become derivative.  In his paper "The Politics of the Envelope"  he discusses the emersion of the idea of "the space of flows" where architecture is now looking beyond the envelope and using flow to inform the envelope and the building.  He also looks to the Eden project in what he calls "Bubble Architecture". 

                This project would be to understand the typology of bubble architecture to create a building in an urban environment such as the center of a city or large town and at the scale of a small building.  It is important when studying a typology o not only look at the physical but also to understand what ideas are implied by the physical.  through this lens it may be possible to adapt a typology or form in order to create a unique experience.  Because in many cases bubble architecture is used when dealing with large spaces such as the London City Hall, or the Beijing Olympic stadium.  This project would look at the possibility of adaptively reusing the typology of bubble architecture at a much smaller scale or to possibly use it as a mechanism for channeling flow.

 

 

Assignment 3

 

This assignment was to create an esquise or a sketch model of our concept thesis.  I decided to look into a hybrid of two of my thesis questions the detail and adapting a form to make it work in a new situation.  My model was a series of "bubbles" that were reacting to a rigid system that was tensional in nature.  The two areas I was looking into were tension and adapting Bubble Architecture. 

 

 

 

 

Assignment 4

 

This was to look a bit closer at our models and develop something that would take a closer look at what we were exploring last week.  I built two more models, one a spiral out of sheet metal and wire that is completely in tension and is somewhat adjustable so it can change its form as required,  The other is a bubble held in place by a beam held in tension by two wires.  The bubble is in compression while the beam is in tension somewhat inverted from the normal.

10/1/15

Over the last week I have been looking into tension and compression.  I have looked into the works of Norman Foster and his prefabricated shells using the computer to develop forms that we have never been able to before.  His idea on shells and form seem to be derived from a different agenda than that of Buckminster fuller for example.  They both are looking to reduce the need for construction and materials, they both are interested in economic forms(spheres) and they both claim to be working towards the future.  Where they differ somewhat is in materials and on the issue of tensegrity.  Where it obviously comes into play with Norman Foster it is not the driving force.  Foster the architect is also concerned with the aesthetic.  Buckminster Fuller on the other hand is purely interested in the practicality of the structure.  To his mind if the object functions and is cheap and light it is beautiful.  I am still interested in radiating all tension members from a single point in an imperfect object and how that might affect the spaces produced.  The idea of taking a relatively simple system and applying an external force to create a new space that has adapted to this new condition also intrigues me.  Can the principals of tensegrity and membrane architecture be applied to a structure with an external force that changes the condition of the space?  I have made a couple of models that I hope further my ideas.  One is derived from the form of my last model.  I cast the tensioned bubble and created a form out of strait members that is held together by glue at the basswood members and string in tension that radiates from a central point.  I hope to show how an imperfect system can still be held in tension.  Also I have a model of a simple tensegrity structure.  I want to be able to illustrate o myself how the idea of tensegrity works.  The simplest form of tensegrity seems to indicate an adaptive quality that is still somewhat ridged.