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ARCHITECTURE DESIGN STUDIO: EARTH S01, 2016 EARTH BOOK | PHENOMENAL TO SUBLIME

Susan Boag296600

Heather Mitcheltree | Studio 06

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CONTENTS

1.0 | THREE RELATIONSHIPS

1.1 Point/Line/Plane1.2 Mass1.3 Frame & Infill

2.0 | HERRING ISLAND. SOMETHING LIKE A PAVILION 2.1 Site analysis and Conceptacle2.2 Concept and Sketch design2.3 Design Development2.4 Final Design Images2.5 Final Design Site Plan

3.0 | Reflection

4.0 | Bibliography

Opposite page, L-R:

Alexander Calder, ‘Untitled’, 1937

Dame Barbara Hepworth, ‘Model for ‘Project for Waterloo Bridge: The River’, 1947

Joan Miró, ‘Woman, Bird and Star (Homage To Picasso)’, 1966/1973

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1.0 THREE RELATIONSHIPS

Three techtonics are explored; point/line/plane, mass and frame & infill.

Each spatial system responds differently to the ground plane (the earth); point/line/plane as a part of the ground surface; mass relating to the underground or removal of earth to create a space; frame & infill sitting on or above the ground plane.

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1.1 POINT / LINE / PLANE

WHIMSICAL | EVOLVING | NARRATIVE

Peel away the ground plane; hold it up or puncture it with a line.

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GAPS FROM ABOVE

LINES AS PINS - GRAVITY OF THE PLANE

PLANE EMERGING FROM THE GROUND

GRID OF POINTS (PLAN) OR LINES (SECTION)

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PRECEDENT |Stockholm Metro stations

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1.2 MASS

STOIC | STABLE | TACTILE

Exploration of what lies beneath; dark and light, rock and dirt.

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FINAL | Charcoal & watercolour

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DECONSTRUCTING | Collage play

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PRECEDENT | Katsura Palace, Japan

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1.3 FRAME & INFILL

CONTRADICTORY | PERSISTENT | TRANSIENT

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FINAL | Model

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FINAL | Diagrammatic drawing

DECONSTRUCTING | Material and form arrays

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2.0 HERRING ISLAND. SOMETHING LIKE A PAVILION

Whilst I began thinking about secrets, I found myself dwelling on their burdensome nature, leading me to consider - what is the point of keeping or storing secrets? Why not explore a way to release secrets, to access to the comfort or relief of sharing?

Upon visiting Herring Island, I was particularly intrigued by the soundscape created by the urban surrounds, and the phenomenology of walking around the pathways - the crunch of the gravel, changes in light and dark, the experience of walking past the same visitors several times.

The edge conditions intrigued me; why batter the edges and block the water connection? Why deny the grotesque urban surrounds? Is this a form of distraction, diversion, forcing the focus inwards to reject the bleak, industrial context?

These factors lead me to exploring materiality and screening, layers of permeability for sound and light, volumes and shadows to try and create an experience of moving from the limbo (purgatory) of holding a secret to the unburdened freedom of confession, but within a secular framework rather than the traditional religious confession.

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SITE ANALYSIS | Mapping context, pathways, noise ingress, art works and topography

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2.1 SITE ANALYSIS AND CONCEPTACLE

I based my design site choice on the access to the island edge opposite the brutal Monash freeway, the amount of noise ingress and the topography. I saw an opportunity to activate the island edge and force users to acknowledge the decidedly urban setting.

My conceptacle explored my interest in creating, transferring, enhancing and withholding sounds and light using differently permeable materials.

CONCEPTACLE | Stills from short video - full video with audio is available on BLOG

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CONCEPT WORK | Images & poetryIf you place a fernunder a stonethe next day it will benearly invisibleas if the stone has swallowed it.

If you tuck the name of a loved oneunder your tongue too longwithout speaking itit becomes bloodsighthe little sucked-in breath of airhiding everywherebeneath your words.

No one seesthe fuel that feeds you.

-Naomi Shihab Nye

I am the boyThat can enjoyInvisibility

-James Joyce, Ulysses

Concepts L-R: Confessionals, Purgato-

ry, Screens, Fabric, Form & Materiality

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2.2 CONCEPT AND SKETCH DESIGN

I began thinking about the audio transference of secrets (whsipers, screams) and the way confession of secrets can lead to absolution; divulging secrets anonymously leading to a feeling of being unburdened. I sketched different arrangements of screens or moments of transference, and how different forms and materials may interact.

Concurrently, I looked at the idea of purgatory before absolution, with particular reference to purgatory as a process, rather than a space. Creating a processional spatial series that mimics parts of purgatory, that is in an introspective state, examining oneself and potentially confessing, while having a phenomenology that is somehow placeless and ambiguous.

CONCEPT WORK | Sketching

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DESIGN DEVELOPMENT |Sketch designs

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2.3 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

At this stage, I was trying to find a way create a processional form to lead people through the different phenomenological zones - some fabric bound and ethereal, others subterranean and isolating - to a sublime end point in the arrangement. I knew by this stage I wanted the end shelter to face the Monash freeway, forcing the users to see what lies only a few metres away.

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT| Compositional free form drawing

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FINAL WORK | Vignettes

FINAL WORK | Section CC

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2.4 FINAL DESIGN IMAGES

My final design explored free form screens leading the users to a large canopied end pavilion. The different materials - tilted and perforated concrete, polyurethane, fabric - and formal interplays between the screens allows sound, light and volume changes, the procession being analogous for the process of purgatory. The journey ends at an open, sublime space that frames the grotesque freeway, an idea taken from Artistotles’s The Poetics, while also relating to the postmodern ideal of confession - laying everything bare, exposing the warts and all - in the vein of Sylvia Plath and others.

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FINAL WORK | Site Plan

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FINAL WORK |Section AA

FINAL WORK |Section BB

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2.5 FINAL DESIGN SITE PLAN

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3 .0 REFLECTION

Overall, while I feel I had some strong concepts and many ideas I wanted to incorporate into my final scheme, I feel I was unable to bind them together in any succinct and fulfilling way. I focussed too much on trying to combine the three techtonics in a large scale, without thinking of how effective a smaller series of interventions could be - perhaps a series of follies, small meeting points, acting as modern, secular confessional booths. The grand endpoint could be significantly cut down, instead pared back to an abrupt and harsh platform which frames the ugly urban tableau of the freeway better.

That being said, learning to think about spatial creation in three different modes - point/line/plane, mass and frame & infill - produced some really novel results for myself and my peers. It has changed my perspective on how spatial systems can be viewed and related to one another, in terms of visual communication - models, drawings, collage, paintings - and the phenomenology and metaphysical qualities of the studied techtonics. My formal design lexicon has been expanded and my approach to researching and starting design has improved greatly. I have particularly enjoyed times when I have been able to explore the redundancy of elements, or ways in which architecture can make puns or visual jokes.

Having now put together this book, I feel I need to focus on documenting my design process and sketching out more ideas, as my thinking and working has been somewhat lacking in some weeks. I will also examine my model making skills, as I believe models are incredibly valuable to explain spatiality as they take advantage of the inherent hand-eye link most people have.

What is also clear to me is that while I enjoy the theory and concepts behind design - researching lateral precedents in art, reading philosophical or poetic works such as Aristotle and Plath, or researching the concepts of confessional and purgatory - I need to develop my skills in translating these to form, and loosen up in my approach... make it a little messier, delve into collaging, charcoal works, painting, rather than starting with a boring plan or technical sketches. I think this as what I really enjoyed the most was the rough, messy in class work - making models on the fly in five minutes, tearing up photocopied work to create a collage or working with rough charcoal on cheap paper - and what I gained the most ideas and satisfaction from.

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4.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY

PAGES 6-7Alexander Calder, ‘Untitled’, 1937, viewed 5th June 2016, <http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/calder-untitled-t07920>Dame Barbara Hepworth, ‘Model for ‘Project for Waterloo Bridge: The River’, 1947, viewed 5th June 2016, <http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hepworth-model-for-project-for-waterloo-bridge-the-river-t07941>Joan Miró, ‘Woman, Bird and Star (Homage To Picasso)’, 1966/1973, viewed 5th June 2016, <http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/exhibitions/miro>

PAGES 8-9Heatherwick Studio, Urban Square (Newcastle Upon Tyne), 2002 ,viewed 5th June 2016, <http://www.architectural-review.com/archive/2002-april-urban-square-by-heatherwick-studio-newcastle-upon-tyne-uk/8618643.fullarticle>

PAGES 12-13Photographs of Stockholm subway stations, N.D, viewed 6th June 2016, <http://inhabitat.com/stockholms-subway-system-is-the-worlds-largest-underground-art-museum/>

PAGE 24All images from Pinterest, viewed 6th June 2016, <https://au.pinterest.com/soozboag/research-secrets/>

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We dance round in a ring and suppose,

But the Secret sits in the middle and knows.

-Robert Frost