Design as an Interpretive Search Based on Associations and Limitations

8/14/2019 Design as an Interpretive Search Based on Associations and Limitations

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RYSLER

Design as an

InterpretiveSearchBased on

Associationsand

Limitations


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RYSLER

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Design as an Interpretive Search Based on Associations and Limitations

Paper presented at the Sixth Annual ACSA Technology Conerence, San Francisco, February 6th, 1998

Construction limitations have always inuenced the orm o a building and conditioned its architectural ideas. In the pastarchitectural orders and technical rules have been inter-related. Today, this is not so. The old orders and rules have lost their properrelationships and with them the rational basis to make conscious decisions were lost. Material and construction are no longer anintegral part o the conception o a building - all is thinkable, all is makable.

This did not happen overnight. Architects have slowly lost their constructive consciousness since the beginning o the 19thcentury when science crept into architecture and placed the engineer beside it. O course the introduction o steel as a visibleelement has evoked an intense discussion between leading architects. But this source o the architectural orm derived rom materialdisappears later on. As a consequence architects have become dependent on others to solve their construction problems. That waythey have given away their ability to control the interaction between the perception and the materiality o a building. No surprisethat todays buildings are alling apart in a fgurative sense.

But it seems that or those who believe in a close connection between orm and construction an occasion is coming up that mayhelp them to solve the dilemma. The graphic possibilities and the reasonable price o the new computer hardware and sotwarewill Iead to their use in the architectural design process. Computers orce us, as we have learned by using them to draw ourworking-drawings, to structure the inormation. An intelligent structure is thereby a supposition or a successul use. Since oneneeds to structure the inormation anyway, then, why should we not use an architectural structure? Surely we do it better in ourown way since it also means to structure our thinking in that way. The search or such a structure presents us a unique opportunityto think about the sense and the meaning o every single line and their afliation to others or to think about the unction odrawing in general. Rather than only perect our ability to produce powerul images, this possibility may orm the basis or a newinter-relationship on a structural level between the what o building - the power o visions and images - and the how - theexpression o technique. This will lead us to a more complete idea about architecture.

For those who design with the intention to build, a way o thinking, a design process model, is thereore proposed, which considersthe design as a process to make decisions. Addressing an isolated query in architectural design is a airly straight orward and simpleact. However, to address the inter-dependency o these queries as a dynamic whole is defnitely a difcult matter. To provide a clearand conscious structure o thinking, this design process model reduces the complexity o todays buildings to a ew inner factorsof order or structural components that are related in a logical sequence. In act they articulate both the building and the designprocess on a mental and physical level. The components: volume, enclosure, circulation and mechanical systems have beenproposed as the main issues in the making o buildings. Each one can be seen as having the imaginary power o a sel dependentthree-dimensional reality with its own spatial meaning controlled by its own set o rules and language. Their mutual dependency canimmediately be controlled by superimposing them on each others. The ollowing description o the proposed components may givean idea as to what their meaning, their language and the rules o their interaction can be.

Emil Rysler, Architect SIA

BuildingVolume

SpaceVolume

BuildingEnclosure

SpaceEnclosure

SupportingStructure

Circulation

Volume Enclosure / Support Access

MechanicalSystemsUtility

Systems

Mental Constructs

Physical Objects

ConceptsDiagramsSchemes

DrawingsSpecificationsCost EstimationsContracts


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The building volume as it exists rom outside and the space volume as it exists rom inside are two possible ways to conceivea building. Through their simultaneous existence they are inter-related. Each o them is related to a separate set o reerences, orexample the building volume is related to the outside space, the place or the city. Similar reerences to the space volumes can be aninterpretation o signifcance, specifc use, given unctions or space requirements. They may be dierentiated by such attributes asuse, circulation, equipment or service space. Their aggregation may be ormed by dialectic associations such as public/private, serve/served, extrovert/introvert, large/small, noisy/quiet. The building volume can be a result o the addition o space volumes; the spacevolume can be a result o the division o the building volume or they can have a dialectic relationship so that the space in-betweenbecomes important.

With the building enclosure and space enclosure one changes rom the direct expression o spaces to the indirect expression odescribing them through the elements that defne them. The inter-relationships among the elements like walls, columns and ceilings

become important. One interpretation o such an inter-relationship may be seen as a superimposition o primary load bearingcolumns and non-load bearing partition walls. The space enclosure reects the mental spatial qualities o the building as well asthe physical means o the building construction. Space enclosure and supporting structure are one basis to defne the buildingenclosure. As a transition between inside and outside the building enclosure should reer to the various site conditions, the inner lieo a building or the history o architecture as a collection o experiences. The selection o a particular enclosure system inuencesthe way openings ought be placed and suraces ought be treated. The distinction between dierent attributes o materiality may beused to orm dialectic associations such as rough structure/fnished structure, dry construction/wet construction or cast in place/preabricated.

The supporting structure, as part o the enclosure system, expresses the relationship between the primary load bearing elements,such as walls, columns, ceilings and the roo. It pertains to the rough structure. The thoughts about a supporting structure arc notmerely about calculation but also about intention or the eeling o what is correct. Through relationships to geometrical orders, thesupporting structure has an expressive potential that aects many architects. Unortunately it happens too oten that the buildings

lose their strength because the fnished structure can not provide what the supporting structure promised. The supporting structuredetermines possible places and sizes o openings and is thereore an important limitation or enclosure, circulation and mechanicalsystems. The distinction between rough structure and fnished structure may serve as an attempt to solve the problem o change andmaintenance.

The circulation determines a special kind o relationship between dierent rooms as well as between dierent areas in the roomsthemselves. It leads to a hierarchical organization o the spaces and to a zoning within the building volume. Circulation producesspaces as part o a sequence as well as spaces with their own identities. Circulation controls, together with the mechanical andutility systems, the section through their vertical and horizontal connecting elements. Through its demand or exceptions, thedevelopment o a circulation system inuences strongly the design o the supporting structure.

Mechanical systems and utility systems orm separate networks within the volume, which, similar to circulation, lead to thezoning o the building volume. The superimposition o the mechanical and utility systems on the supporting structure leads to aserious limitation in the design o each. The mechanical and utility systems control the three-dimensional articulation o the ceilings

or the section o a building in general. The placement or the vertical elements orm fxed points in what may be otherwise openspace. With mechanical and utility systems the question o possible changes and maintenance becomes an evident issue.

Any one o the described actors or components can be seen as having an existence on two dierent levels o operation. On themental level one has to associate the dierent elements to one o the components. The inter-relationships among the elementsand among the components is important. One operates with concepts, diagrams and schemes. I his level oers the possibility toconvert specifc design problems into existing types o problems and typical paths to fnd solutions. It is not necessary to knowwhat the things are, but to know the rules o their interaction. An example rom the building assembly course at the ETH-Zurich may illustrate how possible relationships between supporting structure and enclosure system can be shown so that students mayunderstand the complex unity o a building through the fgurative demonstration o its disassembly. To defne the language and therules o interaction among the components and among the elements would be one o the main issues o education: so that on thephysical level, the level o production, the ragmented technical knowledge can ordered and understood in its entirety. At this levelone operates with working (drawings, specifcations, cost estimations, contracts and time constraints. The rules o the materials and

their application are important. To reach an internal coherence one has to be conscious about the initial association o each element.Too oten this relationship disappears in the proessional realm because these associations are not apparent or all participants. Thedesign process model may, through its structure, oer the architects the ability to communicate their essential thoughts, so that thebasic design ideas can he transerred to the working drawings, rather than losing some o the ideas with every new start made inanother scale on a blank sheet o paper.


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The housing project St. Alban-Tal, Basle, Switzerland 4 may serve as an example to illustrate how the inter-relationships among the

dierent actors o order can be visualized and used to clariy architectural decisions. The diagram o the spatial organization in bothbuildings is similar: the bedrooms are a series o equal cells orming a layer in the back o each at and the living areas orm anotherless defned layer in the remaining space.

The supporting structure o the larger house A is constituted by two boxes; one contains the living areas and the other thebedrooms. The space between the two boxes is reserved or circulation and service areas. The space enclosure o the bedrooms isconstituted by non-load bearing partition walls which are connected to the walls o the supporting structure. The partition walls othe living areas orm, with their disconnection rom the box, an internal circulation row along the acade.

The supporting structure o the smaller house B is a skeleton. On the bedroom side columns with a square shape show their abilityto be connected with the non-load bearing enclosure walls . In the living area the columns are circular to show their independencerom the remaining enclosure 2.

Possible relationships between supporting structureand enclosure system, building assembly course,Lehrstuhl Pro. H. Ronner, ETH-Zrich

Diener & Diener Architects, BaselHousing St. Alban-Tal, Basel 1985-86

View rom the Rhine river (above)

Plan o typical level (let)

A B


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The two dierent approaches o space enclosure are reected by the way the acades and their openings are treated. From outsideone can read that the acade o the living areas is non-load bearing by the way the openings are placed and the way the acadeis disconnected rom the ground. The less specifc inside, symbolized by the ree standing columns, goes together with the reecomposition o the openings outside as a response to the existing diversity o the city which has developed over time. The acadeoriented towards the mill-pond as a concrete grid reects the stronger defnition o the spaces behind.

I the proposed structure is properly established e.g. in a CAD system, we can show how the association o the dierent buildingparts and thereore their treatment can be controlled separately, like the supporting structure or the non-load bearing elements othe space enclosure .

Diener & Diener Architects, BaselHousing St. Alban-Tal, Basel 1985-86

Space enclosure system as relationship betweensupporting structure and non-load bearing partitionwalls

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Any one o the proposed actors and any one o the Ievels may serve as a starting point or the design process. Each one mayserve as an analogy or a flter or the reality. All together, they constitute an inner structural relationship on a conceptual level - allessential inter-dependence o design and technique. Without this the idea o a building would be either incomplete, banal or chaotic.The associative systematic thinking that stands behind this design process model is analogous to the way the cognitive process isexhibited in set theory. The paintings o Carlo Aloe shows the polymorphic aspects o urban reality in dierent layers o signifcance.Similarly we have to identiy our layers o signifcance in our view o architecture. Also, we have to identiy the members o these setthat arc related in a logical way. We have to know the set and its members.

Carlo Aloe in: Esquisses de Paysage 1982

Primarschule Binningen, Switzerland

First grade assignment, introduction o set-theorie,identiying the set and its members

1987-88 Visiting Associate Proessor o Architecture, College o Architecture an Urban Studies, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA

Constructive consciousness is not related to honesty or integrity o expression in the sense o a direct way to show how a building is put together or simplyexposing the structure. Constructive consciousness means to have a more complete idea about a building and its parts. It also shows up when only a careul readingo a building brings a relationship between the acade, the supporting structure and the ground-plan to light. Le Corbusiers Villa Stein may give an example: From the

outside no part o the supporting structure is visible, but the way the ribbon windows are fnished around the corner or the balconies on the north elevation indicatesthe relation between the building enclosure and the supporting structure as well as their placement.

3 see: Ronner, Klliker, Rysler: Baustruktur, Baukonstruktion im Kontext des Architektonischen Entwerens, Birkhuser 19954 see: Assemblage Nr. 3, 1986, p. 72-107, The MIT Press

This paper is the result o a collaboration with J. Verwijnen, based on the lessons o Pro. H. Ronner, ETH Zurich. March 31, 1988


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Design as an Interpretive Search Based on Associations and Limitations

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