SENSORY EXPERIENCE : pavilions in the urban void

Lindsey DavisMasters of Architecture

Spring 2010Thesis Advisors: William Tilson and Donna Cohen

The following is a Master’s Research Project presented to the University of Florida School of Architecture in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Architecture.

University of Florida, 2010

Lindsey Davis

First Chair: Professor William TilsonSecond Chair: Professor Donna Cohen

Critics: Professor Martin GundersonProfessor Albertus Wang

Professor John Maze

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

i would like to express my gratitude to the following people, without whom, i would not have made it to graduation

To my all my professors in undergraduate and graduate studies...

To my Thesis Committee...

Professor Tilson, Thank you for your indispensable guidance, motivation and dedication through the entire

process

Professor Cohen,Thank you for your new perspective throughout this semester

to my critics...

To Mom and Dad...Thank you for your unconditional love and support - my foundation

to my classmates...for your many critiques

SENSORY EXPERIENCE:pavilions in the urban void

[exploring the senses and memory through a pavilion][process of discovering architecture without the sense of sight or hearing]

[exploring temporary structures + permanent structures][creating a place of meditation within the urban void]

[instrument for viewing the landscape]

“I see the task of architecture as the defense of the authenticity of human experience.” -Juhani Pallasmaa

“One can say that the city itself is the collective memory of its people, and like memory, it is associated with objects and places. The city is the locus of the collective memory. This relationship between locus and citizenry then becomes the city’s predominant image, both architecture and of landscape, and as certain artifacts become part of its memory, new ones emerge...” -aldo rossi

Contents

Abstract: Sensory Experience: pavilions in the urban void

Senses and memorythe 12 senses

multi-sensory case studieshistory of the pavilion

History [location + site]:miami, gainesville, orlando

pavilion’s program:Rest/Meditation + Play + View + Work

Temporary + Permanentmaterial studies

Field Ground Conditionssite analysis

experiential zonespreliminary design studies

diagrammatic pavilion and site studies

final designConclusion

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“Every touching experience of architecture is multi-sensory, qualities of space, matter and scale are measured equally by the eye, ear, nose, skin tongue, skeleton and muscle.” -juhani pallasmaa eyes of the skin

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SENSORY EXPERIENCE:pavilions in the urban void

A catalyst is created within the urban fabric through the instrument of the pavilion for experiencing the landscape. Placed within three cities, the pavilion creates a transcendental place that forms according to the location, natural conditions, water and the people occupying the space. The project discovers the inaccessible path and activates the landscape. The nature of the site becomes one with the architecture and influences the skin, materiality and acoustical qualities. The dialogue between the edge and shoreline conditions is transformed by the pavilion. A series of sensory experiences change and evolve through the path and time, with constant variations in the ground plane and materiality.

Skin, form, color and transparency are the initial architectural experiences of the pavilion. The secondary senses: hearing, touch, and taste are stimulated through a path of varying sensory moments and experiences. The architecture has been shaped by exploring these senses as well as other issues that reflect the senses such as movement, balance, pressure, warmth, texture and rhythm. The multi-sensory pavilion creates experiences, emotions, and memories within the urban void of the city. By considering architecture through someone without the sense of sight or hearing leads to the form and skin of the pavilion.

Blurring the line between inside and outside, an innovative public space is created that serves as a place of sanctuary and serenity. The extension of the structure becomes a cultural bridge and has a memorable affect on its visitors. The functions view, play, meditation or resting place, and work become moments within the space. Traces, indentations and remnants of the pavilion will leave its presence and memory within the occupant and the city.

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Objectives:

_a pavilion located within three urban voids_exploring temporal architecture and permanent architecture

_experimenting with materials for the skin of the pavilion_viewing architecture through memory and time

_creating a sensory experience and a transcendental place

kamila szczesnathoughts/memory/graphite drawing no2

thoughts/memory no3 thoughts/memory no6

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memory of space memories of spaces we have visited often fade, but at times specific spaces become imprinted in our

minds. the spaces we inhabited before which left a trace become more securely rooted as they are visited again. we move continually from place to place and we may never inhabit the original

space again, yet it exists transformed, with traces left in our minds forever. The experience and memories by a person are personal and indescribable, with every person holding a different

perspective of the atmosphere and time.

“A moving piece of architecture relates to the people, air, noises, sound, colors, materials, textures and forms.” -Peter Zumthor, Atmospheres

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the senses and history of memory

Since Renaissance times, the five senses were understood to form a hierarchical system from the

highest sense of vision to the lowest sense of touch. The system of the senses was related to the image of the cosmic body: vision was correlated to fire and light, hearing to air, smell to vapor, taste to water and touch to earth.

Rudolph Steiner, architect and philosopher, identified 12 senses: the primary senses known as touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing, then he acknowledged seven other senses that affect us daily and affect the design of architecture: life, movement, balance, temperature and warmth, language, concept and ego.

From the book, The Art of Memory, by Francis Yates: the classical art of memory was invented in Greece and then passed on to Rome. It was a mnemonic technique which worked through memorizing a series of places on which images were memorized. There were certain rules about what kind of memory places to choose and what kind of memory images.

The philosopher and inventor of the art of memory was Simonides, who saw poetry, painting and mnemonics, or the process and technique of improving or developing memory, in terms of intense visualization. The mnemonics method Simonides introduced involved encoding information into memory by evoking vivid mental images and then mentally placing them in familiar locations, such as in the rooms of a house or space. Simonides discovered this process when he was attending a banquet where the roof collapsed. He survived and was required to determine who was at the

banquet and where they were sitting my using his visual and spatial memory. Discovering this ordered memory process, he developed his gift for memory into the system known as mnemonics. The strong connection in the history of memory and the history of method is discussed by Francis Yates, in the many memory treatises. One for example, memory loci, which should be performed in quiet places, such as a chapel, meditation or spiritual place.

The process of this Master’s Research project began with the study of these [12] senses and

their relationship with the different kinds of memory, whether it is memory from childhood or past experiences. This diagram begins the architectural process in creating a sensory experience filling the urban void.

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SENSORY EXPERIENCE : pavilions in the urban void Rudolph Steiner, architect and philosopher, identified 12 senses: touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing, life, self movement, balance, temperature + warmth, language, concept and ego.

The Art of Memory, Francis Yates :The philosopher Simonides saw poetry, painting and mnemonics or the process and technique of improving or developing memory, in terms of intense visualization. The mnemonics method Simonides introduced involved encoding information into memory by evoking vivid mental images and then mentally placing them in familiar locations, such as in the rooms of a house or space. Discovering this ordered memory process, he developed his gift for memory into the system known as mnemonics.

Touch SoundSight Smell Taste

Perceptual Memory (right sidebrain) : ConceptualSemantic (meaning in language)EpisodicPolysensoryPhyletic sensory(Vision, Audition, Touch, Taste, Smell)

concept

Olfactory Memory : is the smell that may remind you of a person, specific place or thing

Auditory Memory : is the sound that may remind you of a specific experience, that may alarming or delightful

Visual Memory : is remembering specific paths or routes to lead you to certain destinations

Tactile Memory : is the feeling or texture of a surface that recalls past experiences

Auditory Memory : sound that may remind you of a specific experience, that may be alarming or pleasant.

Visual Memory : is remembering specific paths or routes to lead you to certain destinations.

Tactile Memory : is the feeling or texture of a surface that recalls past experiences.

Perceptual Memory (right side of brain) : conceptualsemantic (meaning in language)episodicpolysensoryphyletic sensory(vision, audition, touch, taste, smell)

Olfactory Memory : is the smell that may remind you of a specific person, place or thing.

Sight Sound Touch Smell Taste

concept

analytical diagram_senses + memory

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Movement Balance Temperature Language Life

Executive Memory (left side of brain) : ConceptualPlans ProgramsActsPhyletic motor(Action, Behavior, Language)

of

ego

Emotional Memory : is the different feelings that occur in a person at different times in the day

Kinesthetic Memory : is an action that results in the sudden memory of something else

Emotional Memory :the different feelings that occur in a person at different times of the day.

Kinesthetic Memory : is an action that results in the sudden memory of something else.

Executive Memory (left side of brain) : conceptual plans programsactsphyletic motor(action, behavior, language)

Movement Balance Temperature Language Life

ego

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Multisensory pavilionscase studies

The Blur Building, Diller and Scofidio, 2002

A case study which explores multi-sensory architecture is the Blur Building which is pavilion

architecture of atmosphere. The form is a fog mass made from natural and man-made forces. Entry to the pavilion begins by walking down a long ramp where visitors arrive on a large open air platform at the center of the fog mass where the only sound to be heard is the white noise of

the water nozzles. Visual and acoustical references are erased along the journey toward the fog leaving only an optical white out. Within the pavilion is a glass box surrounded by fog that creates a sense of physical suspension. The focus of the architects is as much about the nature of space and the experience as it is about creating spaces. A quote by Diller and Scofidio, “In this exposition pavilion there is nothing to see but our dependence on vision itself. It is an experience on de-emphasis on an environmental scale.” The senses in the pavilion are fully engaged, often by limiting vision and focusing on touch, sound and smell.

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Swiss Pavilion, Peter Zumthor, 2000

This pavilion focuses on multi-sensory and

metaphysics of architecture. Metaphysics is made of physical materials, but it also produces experiences that go beyond the tangible world or beyond the physical nature. Many parts of the human existence can be considered to be metaphysical such as thoughts, feelings, memories, dreams, or ideas. The pavilion is a container of memory, thoughts and dreams

through its materiality, structure and form. The structure consisted of timber that was cut and had not been dried. During the expo the timber was drying and the sounds of creaking were heard as it dried. The wood material is permeable yet is solid and directive. The building was almost entirely open to the elements allowing rain and natural light to enhance the sensory quality of the place. The materiality, texture and natural winds lead you through the spaces. There are five main elements that interact with one another to create a complete metaphysical

experience: nature, materials, light, the human body, and memory.

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Transient PavilionsCase Studies

IBM Travelling Pavilion, Renzo Piano, 1985

Renzo Piano’s IBM Travelling Pavilion uses

nature as the most important element. He thought of a travelling exhibition on informatics, or computer science, as one that can be easily set up everywhere in existing parks using a pavilion

that could readily be disassembled and transported from town to town. One of the IBM Pavilion’s precedents was the contemporary and demountable exhibition pavilion, Crystal Palace. Many of the components in Renzo Piano’s IBM Travelling Pavilion were of sculptured biomorphic forms and some of these carved in wood. This suggested a particularly intimate relationship between the pavilion and the foliage it nestled in, which also provided sun shading to the exhibition. Arranging for the computers to be seen against a natural landscape was a basic intention of the exhibition, which was to present computers to young people.

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Travelling Nomadic Museum, Shigeru Ban, 2005

Shigeru Ban’s Travelling Nomadic Museum

is a temporary museum that travelled around the world to different cities including Los Angeles, Beijing and Paris. It started in Manhattan in 2005 on Pier 54. The museum is

composed of recyclable and reusable materials and houses the Ashes and Snow exhibit by photographer Gregory Colbert. Shigeru Ban used shipping containers for the walls and paper tubing for the roof and columns, demonstrating sustainable practices and an innovative architectural approach. The museum provides a transitory environment that evokes the journey of the exhibition. The perimeter of the Nomadic Museum was composed of 148 steel cargo containers, which are stacked and secured in a checkerboard pattern to create rigid walls. Ban’s techniques always aim to minimize the amount of material used in construction, whether it is a temporary or permanent structure.

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The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion series is the world’s first architectural program of its kind. Designed by some of the world’s foremost architects, the annual installation houses a program of events and remains

on site for only three months. There is six months from the architects invitation to completion of the pavilion. The Serpentine Gallery is located in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, central London. The pavilion is for outdoor events, gatherings and picnics. There has been nine pavilions, starting in 2000. The pavilions make use of acoustical, tactile and visual qualities. all of the designs of the pavilions have changed, yet the Serpentine pavilions share five common qualities:

[1] natural ventilation

[2] response to nature

[3] natural light

[4] easily deconstructed + reusable materials

[5] construction methods + time

2009Kazuyo Sejima & Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA

an exposition of temporary pavilionsmemory erased

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2002Toyo Ito

2001 Daniel Libeskind

2007 Zaha Hadid

Traditional Japanese Pavilions are centered around japanese landscaping and gardens. Stone, Water and plants combine to produce a pure, simple environment in which every element in the garden is imbued with symbolism. The Pavilions are designed to celebrate the beauty of nature, which the japanese have profound respect. The cultural pavilion typically holds art work of the history and culture of the japanese. The pavilion also holds a tea ritual, which is the focal point of the pavilion.

the history of pavilionsjapanese and chinese cultures

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Traditional Chinese Pavilions are covered structures without surrounding walls and are a traditional part of Chinese architecture. While often found within

temples, pavilions are not exclusively religious structures. Many Chinese parks

and gardens feature pavilions to provide shade and a place to rest.

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the disappearance of the Barcelona Pavilion mies van der rohe, 1928-29

the barcelona pavilion was built for the german authorities who would receive the King and was

disassembled immediately after the close of the exhibition. Many of the original pieces of the pavilion were lost during world war II. In 1983, 50 years past the original date of construction,

the decision was made to reconstruct the pavilion on its original site. the pavilion was the same as in 1928, without a specific program or function and the pavilion was ultimately the object to be viewed.

The barcelona Pavilion became an image/picture relationship. Image is a physical likeness or representation of a person, animal, or thing, photographed, painted, sculptured, or otherwise made visible. picture is a visual representation of a person, object or scene, as a painting, drawing, or photograph. Few pictures of the original pavilion were taken and many people did not have the opportunity to experience it. The image and memory of the pavilion was limited to the small group of people who attended the exposition. The memory of the pavilion was not what the picture represents, the plan looks extensive and the section looks compressed, the pavilion gives the impression of neither. the true appreciation for the pavilion came many years later when it was reconstructed.

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[the few photographs taken of the original barcelona pavilion]

barcelona pavilion_mies van der rohe

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[previous pavilion design studies]

Urban Acupuncture:St. Augustine Pavilion

In earlier research and design projects, I looked at the idea of urban acupuncture. The process began by analyzing and documenting three precise locations on a historic and arterial street in St. Augustine, Cordova Street. The street lacked moments of pause, rejuvenation and circulation. The pavilion evokes remembrance of the history, culture and the Rosario Line, which is the historic wall of the city, that no longer exists. The Rosario Line Wall once existed on the present Cordova Street. The Inscribed moments within the pavilion’s walls reveal the history of the Rosario Line. The pavilions create urban acupuncture which connects people, creates nodes and improved circulation. The pavilion occupies a small footprint, yet proposes a new profound ideology for the city.

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renders of st. augustine pavilion

water

sections_st augustine pavilion

site locations for the pavilion

Gainesville

Orlando

Miami

Locations for pavilion

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Location [florida] Landscape [focus] sensory [transcendental]

what do these sites have in common or how are they different?

[Gainesville] : university + Transient Population + cultural downtown Gainesville’s site is located adjacent to the hippodrome state theatre, in the heart of downtown Gainesville. The site was chosen because of the strong cultural arts area and also the lack of pause or rest within the city. The pavilion creates a transcendental place, for occupants to rest or meditate.

[Orlando] : Tourism + Location + Cultural corridorThe Cultural Corridor is established by the City of Orlando to enhance the cultural arts and particularly the work of Florida artists. Orange and Magnolia Avenue are the main spines of the corridor, linking Loch Haven Park to a future location of the performing arts and education center. The pavilion is located near the cultural corridor, on Orlando’s Lake Eola, in the center of downtown. The pavilion responds to the street edge, pedestrians and the lake.

[Miami] : Culture + Diverse Community + International Arts Center + museum parkMuseum Park was chosen for the revitalization of an urban void. The park contains un-activated landscape and has long periods without use. The pavilion acknowledges and respects the lack of green space in miami, and works to create a place where people can view the landscape, water, and city. This site was the main area of focus for the pavilion, yet the pavilion can be placed in any location.

site history and culture

1940downtown gainesville

2006Orlando creative

village

1913opening of collins

bridge in miami

1896historical meeting place to incorporate miami as

a city

1953university of florida

1911orlando’s lake eola

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2010present downtown gainesville_hippo-

student life

2009performing arts

center

2010new orlando arena

1996Miami museum of contemporary

art

2010arsht performing

arts museum

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environmental and functional variables for design of the pavilion

seasons

spring

summer

fall

winter

environmental factors

sunlight

precipitation

wind

temperature

location

humidity

spaces

outside play

inside play

eating

bathrooms

public

quiet

orientation

acoustics

subjects

art

music

movement

performance

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water

materials

vegetation

paper

copper

permeable

porous

perforated

water

floating

hovering

submerged

elevated

isolated

polycarbonate

adaptive

demand

climate

people

pavilion

permanent

temporary

transient

temporal

programmatic elements of the pavilion

Nature

play + imagination + creative mentality

rest + meditation

visual arts, music and movement

visual arts, music +

movement

play +imagination +

creative thinking

rest +meditation

nature

play + imagination + creative mentality

“the material world, surrounding humankind and existing independently of human activities.”

“to exercise or employ oneself in diversion, amusement, or recreation.”

“to engage in thought or contemplation; reflect”

“an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.”

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“Architecture is a spatial art, but it is also a temporal art.” -peter zumthor

The pavilion is an instrument for viewing the landscape and nature, it is also a place to play, rest or meditate, have informal work meetings, or gatherings with people. While trying to establish the programmatic elements, I began by referring back to Rudolph Steiner, who acknowledged the 12 senses and also established the waldorff schools. he categorized his theory of learning into categories. They acknowledge times for play, imagination and creative thinking and times for music, movement and performance. He then acknowledged rest and meditation as important elements and with nature as a reoccurring theme. These categories were beneficial in determining the use of the pavilion.

miami shoreline conditions 1928 1959miami river 1930miami shoreline conditions1928

Miami river1930

Bicentennial park site 1959

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miami bicentennial park_history of site now cultural park

Bicentennial Park is a 30-acre public, urban park in Downtown Miami, Florida. The park opened in 1976 on the site of an old yacht basin. It was named “Bicentennial Park” to celebrate the bicentennial of the United States in that same year. The park is bordered on the north by I-395, Metromover, and the Miami Herald headquarters, on the south by the American Airlines Arena and Bayside Marketplace, on the west by Biscayne Boulevard and on the east by Biscayne Bay. Bicentennial Park hosts many large scale events, and can hold around 45,000 people. Some of these events include Ultra Music Festival, a large, two-day music event, and many other concerts.

The Park often fills with the homeless when events are not taking place. Therefore, the city is

currently undergoing a renovation to be renamed Museum or Cultural Park. the construction of the new Miami Art Museum, by Herzog and De Meuron, will soon begin and will be completed in 2013. The location of the museum is in the northern third of the cultural park.

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Herzog and De Meuron’s Miami Art Museum International Arts Destination

Located within the new Cultural Park, also known as Bicentennial Park, Herzog and De Meuron have designed the Miami Art Museum, which will open in 2013. Sensitive to the city’s need for green space the new Miami Art Museum building is designed to extend the park into the museum site by means of a shaded outdoor terrace accessible to all visitors, not just those who continue into the museum itself. The museum is an open air structure of precisely arranged columns supporting a broad, shading roof. Wide stairs connect the platform to the sea. The

pavilion interacts with this large park and the museum creating a new revitalized edge condition on the south end of the park. The museum shades the immediate area surrounding its perimeter, and the pavilion allows people, whether attending the museum or not to experience the landscape

further, including a more connected relationship with the water.

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“Herzog & de Meuron’s design concept for the new Miami Art Museum has extraordinary potential that will only be fully explored over time as the architects continue to work at its development. Its integration with the park, its sustainable energy program and green features, its soaring canopy and the welcoming environment it creates, will certainly be elements that make the new MAM a true symbol of Miami in the 21st century.” -Terence Riley

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Consideration of site

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pavilion

sensory pavilion locationwaters edge

miami art museum

the process of analyzing key moments

within the city of miami, has led to the decision of the cultural park as a site for the pavilion. the intent is to choose a site which brings up many architectural points of views and where architecture may bring a solution to the issues. Acknowledging the city’s need for green space and the need for use of this sometimes unoccupied park, brings the idea of the pavilion on the water’s edge. multiple schemes were produced to determine the pavilion’s interaction with the new miami art museum, the water and the pedestrian access. The analysis begins with scale and location.

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museum p

ark e

ntrance

metromover

hig

hway 1

arsht p

erformin

g a

rts

ten m

useum p

ark :

housin

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commercia

l

commercia

l

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nd a

venue

metromover

1o58’1216’

Miami_Museum Park west-east elevation

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mia

mi art m

useum : h

erzog a

nd d

e m

euron

pavil

ion l

ocatio

n

I-3

95

bis

cayne b

ay

o’

4o’

22’

0’

585’

the m

iami herald b

uil

din

g

metromover

I-3

95

mia

mi art m

useum

1286’

Miami_Museum Park north-south elevation

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pavil

ion l

ocatio

n

bis

cayne b

ay

americ

an a

irlin

es a

rena

70’60’50’

[orlando]

[miami]

[gainesville]

[orlando]

[miami]

[gainesville]

[orlando]

[miami]

[gainesville]

[miami]

pavilion proposed locations

[gainesville]

[orlando]

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[orlando]

[miami]

[gainesville]

[orlando]

[gainesville]

[miami]

analytical site diagram_miami florida

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“Place is space which has historical meanings, where some things have happened which are now remembered and which provide continuity and identity across generations. Place is space in which important words have been spoken which have established identity, defined vocation and envisioned destiny. Place is space in which vows have been exchanged, promises have been made and demands have been issued. Place is indeed a protest against on unpromising pursuit of space. It is a

declaration that our humanness cannot be found in escape, detachment, absence of commitment, and undefined freedom.”

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How can I create a pavilion of sound and touch?

The sound measures space and makes its scale comprehensible. Sound gives the sense of the

materials used and their qualities. Interiors are like large instruments, collecting sound, amplifying it, distributing it elsewhere. This has to do with the shape of each room and with the surfaces of the materials they contain, and the way those materials have been applied. Sound and memory of a place are intrinsically related.

“architecture of our time is turning into the retinal art of the eye and architecture at large has become an art of the printed image fixed by the hurried eye of the camera.” Touch, known as the lowest of the five senses, is the unconscious of our vision. The door handle is the handshake of a building and the textures are important to the understanding of the building and how it was made.

All experience implies the acts of recollecting, remembering and Reviewing. The embodied memory has a essential role as the basis of remembering a space or place.

Experiencing architecture without vision seems almost impossible. Imagining what kind of experience architecture offers to someone without sight is only possible by speaking to someone who has no vision. Rebecca Maxwell, a writer and former teacher, lost her sight at the age of three and talks about her experiences of architecture. When she is asked how to describe a building, she explains that she begins with discovering a sense of the floor plan. She explains that to familiarize herself with any building she creates her own internal map. She would begin by determining the skeleton of the building by touching the structural elements, then get a sense of the scale of the room and also determine where there are places that let in air and daylight. Within a space with low ceilings, she may feel compression or a disproportion of the space and then have an idea to what the space may look like. She also mentions that she believes there are more

than just the five senses, she includes sense of pressure, balance, rhythm, movement, life, warmth and even a sense of self. When asked about the sense of balance she mentions that she has a fear of heights, and it isn’t visual, yet it feels to her like gravity or the earth is pulling her down. She can easily recognize when she is on a balcony many feet above the ground.

“Temperature in this sense, is physical, but presumably psychological too. It’s in what I see, what I feel, what I touch, even with my

feet.” -Peter Zumthor

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prayer_studio tamassociati

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a place to rest_think_meditate

what is a sacred place? An architecture that is “at once the expression[s] and the source[s] of the transcendent; an architecture that “arise[s] as human creations, but persist[s] as transforming, life-altering environments.”

The body of architecture is the material presence of architecture, ultimately its frame.

Materials have endless qualities that can be manipulated and used to create a multi-sensory architecture. Shown in the previous case studies, building materials can have a large impact on the feeling and emotions evoked when encountering a building. Wood materials in architecture

create a sense of warmth and feeling of comfort and other materials such as concrete and stone

can create a feeling of melancholy and somberness. The goal is to create a pavilion with an atmosphere that has a transcendent quality, which surpasses the ordinary range of perception.

The pavilion will test different membranes and skins that may have a interactive and adaptive

quality. The temperature is another important aspect within the pavilion. Temperature in this sense is physical, but psychological too. Every building has a certain temperature according to its feeling and actual temperature pertaining to the materiality. It is well known that materials more or less extract the warmth from our bodies. In addition, researching measure and proportion precedents, such as Vitruvius, in which he used the body as the dimensioning and proportioning system of his constructions. Therefore, an architectural experience is not simply a series of retinal images, a building is encountered it is approached, confronted, encountered related to

one’s body and movement.

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“Projects are born out of an idea, and in my case this idea is always accompanied by a material. I can't imagine a method of design in which the architect first decides on the form, and then on the materials". -Adolf Loos on Peter Zumthor’s Swiss Pavilion

"It was the permeability of the screens. Not just in terms of light, but how they allowed the smells, sounds and views to permeate through. I was in contact with so many things at the same time that

it made me wonder." 29

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thoughts/memory pierced drawing no1_Kamila Szczesna

thoughts/memory light box no 1 detaildrawing thoughts 2008 drawing thoughts 2008_Kami-la Szczesna

thoughts/memory pierced drawing no1_kamila Szc-zesna

drawing thoughts_kamila Szczesna thoughts/memory light box no 1 detail

Skin and materiality of the pavilion The function of ornament or more specifically detailing of a skin should be designed on the basis of acknowledging the senses and not merely for aesthetic value. How does the skin and materiality of a building affect how we feel about a building? Are the emotions that occur outside

the building the same as the emotions that occur when inside the building?

The private senses which vary according to the person are classified as smell, taste and touch.

The strongest memory is evoked by smell, when creating a meditation or recollection place this may be one of the most important elements. Smell is also the mute sense, we cannot remember the names of the smell, but we tend to describe how they make us feel. Childhood memories are often brought back with the sense of smell. Often construction materials, such as wood which is unfinished, can have a sense of smell. Touch is known as the lowest sense, yet has the ability to become the most important and memorable sense. “Our skin is what stands between us and the world.” Our skin makes contact with something not the mind. Perhaps we should think of touch as the unconscious of our vision. Maurice Merleau-Ponty states, “The visible is what is seized upon with the eyes, the sensible is what is seized on by the senses”

“In memorable experiences of architecture, space matter and time fuse into one single dimension, into the basic substance of being, that penetrates the consciousness. We identify ourselves with this space, this place, this moment and these dimensions as they become ingredientsof very existence. Architecture is the art of meditation and reconciliation.” -juhani pallasmaa

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screening:

shade texture sound

smell

vegetation water stone/gravel

vegetation as screen

folding/collapsing screen

transparent/nontransparent screen

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preliminary skin study of pavilion

vegetationfabricscreeningpolycarbonate35 36 37 38

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39

material studies_skin of pavilion

fritted glassgravel mist water 40 41 42

field/ground condition studies

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Preliminary design studies of the sensory pavilion

Studying Light, Material and ground conditions, three diagrams represent the possibilities of the pavilion. The color represents the transparency of the skin and the moments where people can move through. The beginning design experiments with creating shifts in the ground plane, and the roof becoming part of the ground/ramp, where people can walk on. The studies also show the possibility of the pavilion extending over the water. The color on the drawing experiments with different skin materials, such as natural vegetation or water/mist as skin. Water collection becomes an event within the pavilion and can be completed by the sloping roof of the pavilion.

“The design is as much about the nature of space as it is about creating spaces.” -Diller and Scofidio on the blur building

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field/ground condition studies

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the section diagrams show the relationship of downtown Miami to the pavilion. Again, there are three series of field and ground studies of the pavilion. The diagrams play with the idea of color and skin. This process of diagramming became

the generator for the way people move through the pavilion.

path

path

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ppa

thpa

thpa

th

[1] [2]

analytical diagrams of miami site

path

path

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ththpa

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path path path path path path path path

light_mem

ory box

water_solitude

pray_meditate

[3]In this diagram I am focusing on the edge condition of the site and the history of Miami’s shorelines. The history of the site as a old yacht basin, is one of the forces in the linear direction and form of the pavilion. The site was previously broken into numerous horizontal strips that were eventually filled in with land. The pavilion’s place is investigated by being located on the edge, in the middle, and completely on the waters edge. The diagrams explore access from the pedestrian walkways and the main highway cradling the site. The pavilion explores this man-made edge and reinvents the way the occupant interacts with the landscape, water, and city.

path path path path path path path path

light

_mem

ory

box

water_solitude

pray_meditate

gram

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diagram of pavilion

The studies of the diagrams resulted in choosing to occupy the south edge of the cultural park. The diagram studies the relationship between the urban city, pedestrian paths, water and the new Miami Art Museum. The pavilion fills an area of the urban void and encourages a dialogue between the museum and landscape. Moments of pause within the pavilion, allow for the occupants interaction with the building and the skin. The occupants of the pavilion leave their trace and imprint within the place they visited.

path

path path path path

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ory box water_solitude

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analytical diagram_gainesville site

the gainesville site occupies the street edge and is located directly next to the Hippodrome State Theatre in downtown gainesville. The pavilion provides rest in the fast paced urban environment and relief from the stresses of work and school. the pavilion provides a link between the university of florida and downtown gainesville. Gainesville is proposing a new means of transporation, called the RTS, rapid transit system to link the university students and faculty to downtown gainesville as well as other areas within the city.

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path

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analytical diagram_orlando site

the orlando site occupies another edge condition with the street as its primary generator. the pavilion has a relationship with Lake Eola, which is one of the largest and most central lakes in downtown orlando. the pavilion is designed to adjust and adapt to its location. the size and scale may vary according to the location, the overall form and functions of the pavilion remain constant.

SOUND, TOUCH, SMELL

SIGHT, TOUCH

SIGHT, SOUND, SMELL TOUCH, SOUND

N

Scale 1/32” = 1’

81series of experiential zones

a place to play

plan diagramfield and programmatic spaces

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a place to meditate

water collection a place to rest

a pl

ace

to s

ee

preliminary rendersmiami site

The preliminary renders are gestural drawings to understand the scale of the large park with the relationship to the towers in downtown miami. The study renders also discover what the project entails, including the length of the pavilion. In these early images, the pavilion is on the edge of becoming a promenade. The overall design and the renders change further in the project.

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path

glass tubes

structure

structural system and roof

exterior skin

grass on roof/ramp

grass surrounding pavilion

site conditions

87water collection

ramp

green rest areas on pavilion roof

pavilion

8989

west-east elevation

East-West SectionScale 1/16”=1’

east-west section

east-west section

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west-east elevation

Scale 1:100Site Plan

Nsite plan

9393

1

2

3 3

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4

5

[1] Miami art museum - herzog and de meuron

[2] Airlines arena

[3] arsht performing arts center

[4] mixed used buildings

[5] miami herald

pavilion

N

Scale 1/32” = 1’

plan

n

95

[view looking south_without structural system]

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east-west elevation

[view looking south_with structural system]

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[night elevation]

Where is the next place for the pavilion?

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materials

place

function

play

new york

fern

meditate/exercise gathering

chicago

lavender

california

rosemary

What’s the next step for the pavilion?

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This Masters Research Project is just the first step in a series of investigations in the ideas of the Sensory Experience, filling the urban void. The pavilion is designed to adapt to any place in the world. The scale, materials and relationships with landscape may vary in different places, yet the overall form and function remain constant. The pavilion provides a place of rest and human interaction with the building. The pavilion has the possibility of filling urban voids throughout the world, and stands out by the multi-sensory approach. This is the end of the book, however the project has many more steps it needs and can take. The sensory experience can continue to be expanded on in further detail. The studies with natural vegetation as skin can go further to increase the sense of smell. The sense of touch can be extended further by allowing the occupant within the building to have a part in changing the architecture, or leaving their trace or memory at the place. The memory of the pavilion is left in the minds of the traveller but then also left in the pavilion.

IMAGES CITED

1 dillerscofidio.com

2 otto-otto.com

3 vestaldesign.com

4 structuremag.org

5 burohappold.com

6 ibid

7 panoguide.com

8 skyscrapercity.com

9 home.howstuffworks.com

10 popgive.com

11 biad-Lighting.com

12 china.org.cn

13 aar.ucr.edu

14 gardenvisit.com

15 Josep Quetglas, Fear of glass: Mies van der rohe’s pavilion in barcelona, Basel; Boston : Birkhäuser-Publishers for Architecture, 2001.

16 ibid

17 soils.ifas.ufl.edu

18 ibid

19 flickr.com

10520 clearwisdom.net

21 insideflorida.com

22 explorationorlando.com

23 orlandopac.org

24 orlandopinstripedpost.com

25 floridamemory.com

26 ibid

27 blackbookmag.com

28 arshtcenter.org

29 floridamemory.com

30 ibid

31 ibid

32 arcspace.com/architects/herzog_meuron/mam/mam.html

33 clubzone.com

34 arcspace.com/architects/herzog_meuron/mam/mam.html

35 gardenvisit.com

36 directindustry.com

37 global-b2b-network.com

38 anbg.gov.au

39 commons.wikimedia.org

ENDNOTES

1 Yates, Francis. the Art of Memory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966. Print.

2 ibid

3 ibid

4 “Memory Expansion Channel.” 1996. Web. <www.brainchannels.com/Memory/history.html>.

5 ibid

6 ibid

7 ibid

8 ibid

9 ibid

10 ibid

11 ibid

12 Diller, Elizabeth, and Ricardo Scofidio. Web. 2010. <www.dillerscofidio.com>

13 “Achieving the Metaphysics of Architecture: The Architecture of Peter Zumthor.” 2010. Web. <www.quirpa.com/docs/achieving_the_metaphysics_of_architecture__peter_zumthor.html>

14 Department of Architecture, University of Hong Kong. “IBM Travelling Pavilion by Renzo Piano.”Web. <http://courses.arch.hku.hk/precedent/1996/ibm/html/concept.htm>.

15 “Shigeru Ban Creates the Nomadic Museum from Shipping Containers to Transform Historic West Side Pier.” October 8 2004.Web. <http://www.allbusiness.com/finance-insurance-real-estate/real-estate/4409175-1.html>.

16 “Serpentine Gallery Pavilion” <serpentinegallery.org>

17 “Golden Pavilion.” 2010. Web. <www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/travel/golden_pavilion.html

10718 “Chinese Pavilions” <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_pavilion>

19 Evans, Robin. Translations from Drawing to Building. London: Architectural Association Publishers, 1997. Print.

20 “The Barcelona Pavilion.” 2008.Web. <www.designboom.com/portrait/mies/barcelona.html>.

21 “Bicentennial Park Miami, Florida” <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicentennial_Park_%28Miami%29>

22 “Miami Art Museum” <http://www.arcspace.com/architects/herzog_meuron/mam/mam.html>

23 Brueggeman, Walter, The Land: Place as Gift, Promise and Challenge in Biblical Faith. philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1977. 5.

24 Holl, Steven, Juhani Pallasmaa, and Alberto Perez-Gomez. Questions of Perception Phenomenology of Architecture. San Francisco: William Stout, 2007. Print.

25 Ackerman, Diane. A Natural History of the Senses. New York: Random House, 1990. Print.

26 Saunders, Alan. “Beyond Appearances, Architecture and the Senses.” November 2004. Web. <www.ebility.com/articles/beyondappearances.php>

27 Ibid

28 Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. Phenomenology of Perception. New York: London, Routledge & K. Paul, 1962. Print.

29 Peter Zumthor’s Swiss Pavilion. 2010. Web. <http://www.quirpa.com/docs/achieving_the_metaphysics_of_architecture__peter_zumthor.html>

30 Jones, Lindsay. The Hermeneutics of Sacred Architecture. Cambridge: harvard University press, 2000, 22.

31 Pallasmaa, Juhani. The Thinking Hand: Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Architecture. United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2009. Print.

32 Yates, Francis. Renaissance and Reform. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983. Print.

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