Themudo Stuart Andres

UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date:___________________

I, _________________________________________________________, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of:

in:

It is entitled:

This work and its defense approved by:

Chair: _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________

The Formal Expression of Movement

A thesis submitted to the

Graduate School

of the University of Cincinnati

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE

in the Department of Architecture and Interior Design

of the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning

by

Stuart Andrés Themudo

Bachelor of Science in Architecture,

The Ohio State University, 2002

Committee:

First Chair: Michael McInturf

Second Chair: Gordon Simmons

Abstract

Architectural form can be influenced by sequence as

used in cinematic approaches. Originating in the architecture

of the ancients and continuing to the modern era, architectural

sequences abided by a strict linearity. The linear, ceremonial

path of the Egyptian temple and the Catholic Church, was the

basis for architectural design. Upon the advent of the

Situationist International, theorists began to investigate

multiple path sequences. Borrowing from cinematic

techniques, Modern architects applied these concepts to

architectural theory and design. Specifically, Le Corbusier and

Bernard Tschumi built on the works of Sergei Eisenstein,

exploring the importance of the frame as a viewing device and

conceptual tool in sequential spaces for design. Tschumi’s

theoretical and practical work addresses the interaction

between space, movement, and event. Architectural design

must further the exploration of such concepts: accommodating

multiple path events, and use formal devices to respond to their

presence.

This thesis studies the impact of movement relative to

sequential space in architecture and proposes a methodology

generated from theoretical and built precedents. The

methodology sparks the design of a multi-modal interchange in

Las Vegas, reflecting the influence of Bernard Tschumi’s

Fireworks.

iii

A special thanks to Mom, Dad, Sofia, and Alan whose unfaltering support has helped me through this thesis process.

iv

Table of Contents

Illustration Credits v.

Introduction 1

Chapter One: Sequence and Space 7

Chapter Two: Linear progressions 13

Chapter Three: Manhattan Transcripts 22

Chapter Four: Fireworks 26

Chapter Five: The Situationist International 31

Chapter Six: Precedents 35

Chapter Seven: Project Site 43

Chapter Eight: Methodology 48

Conclusion 54

Bibliography 57

v

Illustration Credits

vi

Figure 1: Diagram by S. Themudo, 2007

Figure 2: Khons Temple (Gargus, 1994)

Figure 3: Khons Temple (Gargus, 1994)

Figure 4: Church of Santo Spirito (Gargus, 1994)

Figure 5: Church of Santo Spirito (Gargus, 1994)

Figure 6: Acropolis plan (Eisenstein, 1989)

Figure 7: Acropolis perspective (Eisenstein, 1989)





Figure 12: MT1 (Tschumi, 1994)

Figure 13: MT4 (Tschumi, 1994)

Figure 14: Villette Fireworks (Tschumi, 1994)

Figure 15: Fireworks Diagram (Tschumi, 1994)

Figure 16: Diagram of city (Zegher, 2001)

Figure 17: Le Fresnoy sketch (Tschumi, 1994)

Figure 18: Le Fresnoy stair (Tschumi, 1994)


Figure 20: Le Fresnoy (Tschumi, 1994)

Figure 21: Double-locked torus (van Berkel, 1999)

Figure 22: Mobius house diagram (van Berkel, 1999)


Figure 24: Yokohama Port Terminal (Ferré, 2002)

Figure 25: Diagram of terminal (Ferré, 2002)

Figure 26: Girder geometry Yokohama (Ferré, 2002)

Figure 27: Satellite map (Google Earth, 2007)

Figure 28: Master Plan Drawing (City of LV, 2006)

Figure 29: Light tracing, photo by S. Themudo, 2007

Figure 30: Light tracing, photo by S. Themudo, 2007

Figure 31: Model by S. Themudo, 2007



Figure 34: Drawings by S. Themudo, 2007

1

Introduction

2

Architectural form can be influenced by sequence as used in

cinematic approaches. A twentieth century architect and

theorist, Bernard Tschumi, addresses the interaction between

space, movement, and event in his works. This thesis studies

the impact of movement relative to sequential space in

architecture and proposes a methodology generated from

theoretical and built precedents. The methodology sparks the

design of a multi-modal interchange in Las Vegas, Nevada

reflecting the influence of Tschumi’s methodology for Parc de

la Villette.

The development of sequence through history provides

the genesis for understanding manifestations of sequence in

modern times. Frequently, architectural sequences were

dictated by linear progressions. However, during a radical shift

in thinking at the start of the twentieth century, influenced by

art and architecture critic Anthony Vidler, the “explosion of

space” replaced the creation of space; conveying the shift of

the paradigm to nonlinear progressions. Vidler describes the

further uses of the cinematic and architectural spaces when

reflecting upon Russian film director, Sergei Eisenstein.

Eisenstein compares film and architectural spaces through the

analysis of the approach to the Acropolis at Athens from

Auguste Choisy’s Histoire de l’architeure of 1899. Through

his exploration, Eisenstein compares the experience of walking

through the Acropolis to the traveling view of the camera. This

cinematic rendering of the “promenade architecturale,”

discovers the possibility that there is a distinct relationship

between the pace of the spectator’s movement and the rhythm

of the buildings themselves, a temporary solemnity being

provoked by the distance between buildings.1 This concept of

peripatetic camera vision, in addition to visionary renderings

3

by Piranesi, influenced the conception of space by Modern

architects.’ German-born architect, Mies van der Rohe, created

the iconic German Pavilion in Barcelona and describes it as

having “one sequence of direct vision and one for the

experience of the body.”2 The disconnect between body and

vision also influenced the Modernist Le Corbusier. His

integrated ramp design for Villa Savoye exemplifies this

concept.

Influential in establishing theories supporting multiple

sequences, the Situationist International explored concepts of

space and sequence as part of their agenda. The SI was a group

of international political and artistic agitators with roots in

Europe. In their activities, the Situationists created concepts:

dérive, détournement, psychogeography, and unitary

urbanism3; manifested in their writing and social experiments

influenced a generation of younger architects. The concept of

dérive, describes the activity of the Situationists aimlessly

wandering the streets of Paris awaiting any event that might

interrupt their journey. These actions explicitly influenced

architect Bernard Tschumi’s interest in event architecture and

the relationship of events to sequence and space. This device

(dérive) is exceptionally important in 21st century design. The

dérive is present in physical and visual form challenging

architects for their incorporation. Events take place

continuously and spaces must be flexible in their design to

accommodate such. Does space accommodate the ambulance,

the gurney, and the surgeon? Can form be adumbrative of the

scripted and improvisational events that happen in

architecture?-

4

The first chapter establishes a definition for sequence

and serves as a departure point for later chapters. The chapter

begins with a comparison of Barthes’ “Introduction to the

structural Analysis of Narratives” and Tschumi’s “Sequences.”

It begins to establish a connection between Barthes’ four

functional narrative units with Tschumi’s internal and external

relations. “Sequences” identifies three relations within the

architectural sequence: an internal relation, spatial relation and

programmatic relation. The second part of the chapter analyzes

The Manhattan Transcripts, Tschumi’s theoretical project, and

its logic to film and sequence. The conclusion of the chapter

investigates the Parc de La Villette in Paris and how its use of

points, lines, and planes emerges from the fireworks display

witnessed earlier that year.

The second chapter reflects upon the development of

sequence in architecture up to the Modern era. The chapter

describes history of singular, ceremonial sequences and the

way in which the sequential path can be analyzed

cinematographically. It can be as rich as other relations to the

development of architectural sequence. The description for the

Acropolis, the Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier and the Mobius

House by UN Studio serve as models for the development of

the sequence strategy in built work.

The third chapter transitions from the singular paths to

multiple path environments; architecture, in which sequences

are taken along multiple paths and furthermore, the unplanned

events. In contrast to the previous methods dictated by the

architect in the Acropolis and Villa Savoye, the Situationist

International exploits the potential for random, chance

5

occurrence sequences. Rather than a predetermined view, or

path driving the architectural sequence, chance movements

become the objects. Particular exhibits include: Parc de la

Villette and Le Fresnoy by Tschumi, McCormick Tribune

Student Center at IIT proposal by Reiser + Umemoto, and

Yokohama Port Terminal by Foreign Office Architects, which

all invite dérive, or urban wandering, holistically embraced by

the Situationists.

This thesis makes use of precedents and their role of

sequence in each project. Consequently, they are divided in

two divisions: the architect manipulates sequence for control

over the outcome of the path, view, or otherwise experience for

the user; the second embraces multiple actions along multiple

paths allowing for chance actions to occur and expands free

movement to drive the spaces.

The strict linearity dictates the path of the Egyptian

temple and Catholic churches of the quattrocento. The

architect creates space around one, singular ceremonial path.

The parti diagram (Figure 1) illustrates their organization of

space.

Figure 1

The Greek masterpiece atop the cliffs, Acropolis exemplifies

the architect’s ability to manipulate views along a sequential

path. Framed views affect the placement and orientation of the

monuments at the Acropolis. At each bend in the path, the user

is presented with a framed view of a new monument. This

6

technique is further exploited in cinematography, and uses the

lens to manipulate the user’s experience.

Tschumi exemplifies the second such method in the

Parc de la Villette (1992). The project’s organization invites

the multiple, wandering paths that could occur on the site. It

embraces human flow and the objects in the landscape act to

create eddies of space. In addition, Reiser + Umemoto express

the opportunity for flow versus object as destination in their

competition proposal for the McCormick Tribune Student

Center at IIT Student Center (1997). These examples provide a

departure point for the experimentation of multiple path design.

Reiser + Umemoto’s seductive design attempts to accept the

multiple paths on the site, by doing so; however, is merely

addressing the scripted paths. Designing for the dérive requires

fully accepting unscripted paths will be present and are

inherently, unpredictable. This improvisational performance

by the user creates unique elements in the architecture.

The relation of sequence to architectural design

provides a rich opportunity for architects. The thesis includes

drawings of three-dimensional space as well as models, both

digital and tangible. Noteworthy examples by Bernard

Tschumi, UN Studio, and Reiser + Umemoto provide

representation of sequences and add to the methodology and

the design project of the multi-modal interchange for Las

Vegas, Nevada.

1 Vidler, Anthony, “The Explosion of Space: Architecture and the Filmic Imaginary,” in Film Architecture: Set Designs from Metropolis to Blade Runner, ed. Dietrich Neumann. Munich, Germany: Prestel-Verlag, 1996. 2 Tschumi, Bernard, “Sequences,” in Architecture and Disjunction, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996. 3 Hill, Jonathan. Actions of Architecture, New York: Routledge, 2003.

7

Sequence and Space

8

Space can be experienced through the study of frames,

as in cinematography. Bernard Tschumi, in his essay

“Sequences,” published in 1996, writes about sequence as a

formal method of organization that supports his mantra: space,

event, and movement. The topic of Tschumi’s essay is reactant

to the essay by Roland Barthes, “Introduction to the Structural

Analysis of Narratives.” Barthes masterfully presents the

narrative into separate literary units and sequences. An

analysis of Tschumi’s “Sequences” and Barthes’ “Introduction

to the Structural Analysis of Narratives,” yields the true start to

the interests to sequential spaces by Tschumi. While

investigating these interests, some of the difficulties with

applying narrative techniques to architecture begin to surface.

Roland Barthes, a French literary critic, proposes his

own deductive model for the structural analysis of narrative at

discourse level.1 His narrative analysis compares to linguistics

by saying, “there is nothing,….. that is not to be found in the

sentence.”2 He states, narratives can be viewed as sentences

that are grouped together, forming a higher narrative unit

composition; or a lower, such as individual words or even

letters. Barthes challenges the removal of any part of the

narrative by articulating, “even the removal of a single unit, the

entire narrative is altered.”3

In the essay, Barthes establishes an important

component that derives from the narrative. The functional

covering of the “narrative necessitates an organization of relays

the basic unit of which can only be a small group of functions,

hereafter referred to as a sequence.”4 There is an

understanding of this sequence as a “logical succession of

nuclei bound together by a relation of solidarity: the sequence

opens when one of its terms has no solitary antecedent and

closes when another of its terms has no consequent.”5

9

To help illustrate this analysis, Barthes uses four

functional narrative units: cardinal functions, catalyzers,

integrational units, and informant units. Cardinal functions are

the hinge points in an essay; used to create deliberate

development. Catalyzers fill in the space that remains in

between the cardinal functions. The last two functional units,

integrational and informant, apply a layer of mood and setting,

respectively, in order to elaborate the narrative discourse. To

take a deliberately trivial example, “Having a drink,” has

different functions: order a drink, obtain it, drink it, pay for it.6

This example has defined moments that indeed fall under the

“Having a drink,” defining a starting and ending point.

However, within this closed sequence there are opportunities

for micro-sequences or alternate layers that can happen:

shaking hands with someone, lighting a cigarette, looking

around the setting. The core ideas of Barthes, are translated

into architecture by Bernard Tschumi in his persistent

presentation of space, event, and movement.

While teaching at the Architecture Association in

London, Tschumi expanded on the developments of the

Situationist International theories by combining film and

literary theory with architecture. Moreover, in “Sequences” he

expands on the definition of architectural sequence. Any

architectural sequence includes or implies at least three

relations.7 The sequence can be either an internal relation or an

external. The first, transformational sequence, can also be

described as a device, a procedure. The second, spatial, is

constant throughout history. Social and symbolic connotations

characterize the third…./programmatic sequence.8

The internal sequence, Tschumi writes, relies on the use

of devices, or rules of transformation, such as compression,

rotation, insertion, and transference. “They can also display

10

particular sets of variations, multiplications, fusions,

repetitions, inversions, substitutions, metamorphoses,

anamorphoses, dissolutions.”9 Similar to the structure of

narratives Barthes described, there are sequences of

transformation that have a closed, predictable end and open

ones, which have no closure and new elements can be added at

will.

The first, of the pair of external sequences, spatial

sequence, is a reoccurring theme throughout history. Egyptian

temples, designed to have a clear path from the entrance to the

altar are amongst the first in history to portray the sequence of

spaces organized enfilade, aligned along a common axis.

Numerous examples continuing through the churches of the

quattrocento to the present “emphasize the planned path with

fixed halting points, a family of spatial points linked by

continuous movement.”10 Luigi Moretti writes on spatial

sequences in Palladio’s Palazzo Thiene in Vicenza. “...the

volumes go from portico to hall in the order of maximum to

minimum, while the dimensions, the order is medium, least,

greatest.”11 These linear spatial sequences mentioned are

mostly within the control of the architect.

Any predetermined sequence of events can be turned

into a program, states Tschumi. Programmatic sequences can

be “rambling collections of events all strung along a collection

of spaces, frame after frame, room after room, episode after

episode.”12 Program can then literally be created from any

sequence of events. The programs that Tschumi describes can

take three forms: indifference, reciprocity or conflict. The

analogy of “the battalion marching on the fields”13 is applied to

the programmatic sequence to illustrate the three forms. If the

sequences of events and the sequences of spaces are indifferent

of each other the original analogy applies. When the sequence

11

of events and the sequence of spaces are interdependent, a

dependence upon each other’s existence, one actions directly

affecting the others; the analogy changes to “the skater skates

on the skating rink.”14 The third category of programmatic

sequence introduces the condition of conflict: when the

sequence of event and the spatial sequence are acting

obliquely. “The battalion skates on the tightrope,”15

demonstrates a strategy of conflict in which each sequence

constantly challenges the other’s internal logic. This form of

sequence is most opposite of the rigid context presented by

Barthes. It does not restrict itself to the limited linear

designation and, therefore, the unpredicted, chance actions

must be accommodated by the architect.

As the events are unanticipated, the architecture must

accommodate them. The Situationist International concept of

dérive is prevalent in this approach to the architectural

sequence. “The application of events, activities, use, incidents

are always superimposed on those fixed spatial sequences”16

liberating them from the boundaries established in narrative

sequences by Barthes. This liberty invigorates the abilities for

architecture to produce attractive and dynamic spaces.

The investigation of the sequences is crucial to

understand the paradigm from which Tschumi manifests his

experiments in space, event, and movement: S – E – M. One

such work in particular is The Manhattan Transcripts, where

studies of cinematic frames lead to architectural sequences.

This example is directly compared to other examples that take

linear path approaches from the ancient to the modern.

1 Onega, Susana and Jose Angel Garcia, Narratology: an introduction, New York: Longman 1996. 2 Barthes, Roland “Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narratives,” in Image, Music, Text. Ed. Translated Stephen Heath, New York: Hill & Wang, 1977. First published as ‘Introduction a l’analyse structurale du recit’ Communications 8 (1966): 1-27.

12

3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Onega, 1996. 6 Barthes, 1977. 7 Tschumi, Bernard. “Sequences,” in Architecture and Disjunction, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996. 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid.

10 Ibid. 11 Moretti, Luigi. “Structures and Sequences of Space.” In Oppositions 4, New York, Wittenborn Art Books, 1974. 12 Tschumi, “Sequences.” 13 Ibid. 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid. 16 Ibid.

13

Linear Progressions

14

Historically, the paths that were designed by architects

were primarily based on a ceremony or ritual. These paths

often took on a religious connotation. For example, Egyptian

temples, designed to have a clear path from the entrance to the

altar are amongst the first in history to portray the sequence of

spaces organized enfilade, aligned along a common axis.

Numerous examples continuing through the churches of the

quattrocento to the present “emphasize the planned path with

fixed halting points, a family of spatial points linked by

continuous movement.”1

The Khons Temple in Karnack, Egypt (Figure 2) has a

clearly defined linear sequence of spaces. The avenue of

sphinxes ends at a massive temple gateway. You are greeted

by a colossal pylon, with an opening, to serve as the first

spatial dividing device in the temple. Once you pass through

the pylons, the individual enters a hall of columns: a hypostyle

hall. This densely filled forest of columns is the second clearly

defined space in the sequence. Passing through the hall of

columns unveils another space that is on a more human scale.

The telescoping spaces continue until the

Figure 2

15

Figure 3

individual reaches the space where the altar would be for the

temple. This spatial compression in plan has its counterpart in

section (Figure 3). “Floors rise and ceilings drop down so that

the entire spaces telescopes down to a single, sacred space.”2

The axis helps define a hierarchy of spaces. The one of least

importance to the most sacred of all: the sanctuary. This

singular, linear progression of spaces does not allow for

different paths to occur. It was strictly designed for one

purposeful, ritualistic path.

Many of the churches in the quattrocento were designed

with a singular path dictating the individual’s path. The

example of the Santo Spirito by Brunelleschi has a clear

ceremonial path established (Figure 4). Dominated by the A-

2A-A module in plan (Figure 5), the church takes the shape of

a Latin cross. The transept strikes the nave two-thirds of the

way to its apse. The altar finds its way at the intersection. The

16

path in which the priest takes follows the main axis of the

basilican plan, justly placing the focus on the main axis.

Furthermore, the strong rhythm of the Corinthian columns

supports the linear focus of the main axis and ultimately, the

altar.

Figure 4

Figure 5

17

Additionally, there are other devices present in Catholic

Churches. The Stages of the Cross occur in almost all Catholic

Churches, depicting the twelve stopping places that biblical

references draw about the procession of Christ to Golgotha.

Typically inside the church on the outer ambulatory of the

nave, they depict the final stages of Jesus’ life. This

processional path takes a precise order and linearity. The

montage sequences of the stations are another way in which

spaces support the linear transformation of spaces.

The design strategies for the Khons Temple and Santo

Spirito are very architectural in nature. Their strategies are

understood by academics with similar training. Sergei

Eisenstein, a Russian film director and theorist, uses his

specialization in montage cinematography to study

architectural sequences.

Figure 6

One exemplary model is that of the Acropolis.

Eisenstein borrows from Choisy’s Histoire d’architecture

18

analysis and adds a cinematographic touch by analyzing

Figure 7

camera frames and applying them to sequence of architectural

spaces. “It is hard to imagine a montage sequence for an

architectural ensemble more subtly composed, shot by shot,

than the one that our legs create by walking among the

buildings of the Acropolis.”3

The first diagram (Figure 6) depicts the plan of the

Acropolis high atop the cliffs. The isolated summit offered a

sacred location for the temples to be built. The next image

depicts the presence of the Propylaeum (Figure 7). It is the

first view that invites the individual into the complex. The

view of the Propylaeum is framed by the two blocks on either

side “the right-hand one broader and the left-hand one less

so.”4 Choisy writes at first, the plan could not be more uneven,

however, at second glance, it is a completely balanced whole

“in which the general symmetry of the masses is accompanied

by a subtle diversity in the details… the optical symmetry is

impeccable”5 The next image is the viewers first look of the

square (Figure 8). The statue of Athene Promakhos stands tall

19

in the center of the frame. The background reveals glimpses of

the Parthenon and Erechtheion.

Figure 8

Once again, the object is situated centrally in the

cinematographer’s frame and has a clearly defined intention in

its design. Continuing along the path, the next moment in the

sequence is the view of the Parthenon (Figure 9). The building

itself is situated on an oblique angle to the viewer. The

Figure 9 ancients preferred the oblique because it was more picturesque

than the frontal view. Following the Parthenon, the

20

Erechtheion exposes itself (Figure 10). The caryatids seem to

step out from their background on the side of the Erechtheion.

It is presented at an oblique, just as the Parthenon, to further

emphasize its picturesque qualities.

Figure 10

Eisenstein continues in his essay and observers Choisy’s

summary sketches (Figure 11) of the four moments in the

sequential path mentioned previously. He uses the examples to

illustrate the clear calculation of compositional schemes in the

four sequences. The four “picturesque shots” can be described

21

Figure 11 as equal in symmetry (a & b) and at the same time, opposites of

each other in spatial extent. Shots c & d are mirror images of

each other, in symmetry and, in function, as if they were

enlargements of the first shot (Propylaeum).

The strategy for the ancients to arrange the temples on

the cliff in such a prescribed linear sequential manner serves as

a rich precedent to draw reference. Eisenstein shows his

utmost admiration for the method Choisy describes the

processional qualities through his cinematographic lens.

1 Tschumi, Bernard. “Sequences,” in Architecture and Disjunction, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996. 2 Gargus, Jacqueline. Ideas of Order: A Formal Approach to Architecture,

Dubuque, IA: Kendall/ Hunt Publishing, 1994. 3 Eisenstein, Sergei M. “Montage and Architecture,” in Assemblage, No. 10, Dec. 1989. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid.

22

The Manhattan Transcripts

23

The study of sequences is evident in The Manhattan

Transcripts by Bernard Tschumi. It is comprised of four

theoretical exercises created in 1978. The Transcripts are a

collection of four blocks which depict different events. The

author translates the cinematic frames into “an architectural

interpretation of reality.”1 The Transcripts relies on the use of

sequence. The tripartite mode of notation is a composite

succession of frames that depicts an event using architectural

devices. Each contains the elements of space, event, and

movement heralded by the author. The framing devices, as

Tschumi explains, are “square, healthy, predictable,”2 whereas,

the framed material “distorts, compresses, displaces.” The first

frame of the three is a still from a film: program. The second

depicts space and the third movement. Focusing on MT1 and

MT4, developments of sequence become prevalent.

MT1, The Park, depicts a series of events around

Central Park in New York City (Figure 12). The chapter starts

with a short narrative of the scenario in which the frames

depict. The frames are linear in their organization surround the

setting for a program of murder, manhunt, and capture. The

theme here represents the unprogrammed events and

movements that happen in architecture. The entire

composition of MT1 consists of three rows of three frames per

page arranged horizontally and centered on the page, both

vertically and horizontally. The rows form a linear sequence

as well as the columns. The first column of the tripartite on

each page forms a linear sequence vertically; resembling a

filmstrip. MT1 starts out with two-dimensional diagrams and

progresses into three-dimensional axonometrics near the end.

The spaces are created by the movement paths carving away

spaces, creating voids.

24

Figure 12 In contrast to MT1, the fourth chapter, MT4 (Figure 12),

The Block, is heavily dependent on the original movements

then diverts and becomes its own entity. The sequence

becomes a montage of events layered upon each other. There

is an obvious departure from the linear sequence in MT1. The

frames begin to mix and eventually, completely dissolve in the

last frame of the Transcripts at its most complex form (Figure

13).

Figure 13 The progression of linear to montage sequences in The

Manhattan Transcripts yields potential for architectural

sequences. The essay shows the development of sequences in

a diagrammatic fashion. Ultimately, the sequence can be

created by a series of frames or the montage can be dissected

into series of frames. Tschumi’s strategy in the Transcripts is

25

that of assemblage into montage. This strategy is also

implemented in the strategy for the Parc at La Villette.

1 Tschumi, Bernard. The Manhattan Transcripts, London: Academy Editions, 1994. 2 Ibid.

26

Fireworks

27

Figure 14

28

Figure 15 Tschumi’s interest in the dynamics of action in space in

time is quite evident in the early works of Transcripts.

Furthermore, the generative concept behind the Parc de La

Villette, shows the dynamic methodology of the architect.

The fireworks at Parc de la Villette in Paris in June

1992 expanded architect’s manifesto for architecture (Figure

14). Tschumi is surrounded with the constant changing events

happening at the fireworks display. “The gratuitous

consumption of pleasure,”1 as Tschumi describes is in its purest

form at Villette. The dark sky serves as the backdrop for the

ever-changing light display above over one hundred thousand

29

people. The rockets, light bursts, sound, and smoke contribute

multiple layers to the performance in the sky.

Tschumi diagramed the performance by using elements

of light, sound, and movement as a concept for deriving the

design for the Park competition in Paris. Using the lens of the

film-maker, Tschumi documented the entire thirty minute

performance in a series of frames—one frame every seven

seconds (Figure 15). “The fireworks served as a three-

dimensional version of the organizational principle: the

superimposition of systems of points, lines, and surfaces.”2

The series of eighty frames are created as an architectural

interpretation of the fireworks. The frames are created every

seven seconds and illustrate five layers of information: sound

intensity, color, elevation, plan, and perspective from the

ground (Figure 14). The organization of the frames is rigid like

MT1 of Transcripts, yet doesn’t emerge from its frame as MT4

does. The linearity of the sequence is dominating in the

fireworks exercise. The design for the park, however, takes on

a powerful montage that determines the organizational strategy

for the points, lines, and surfaces.

Tschumi views the fireworks as a pleasurable event.

He states, “Good architecture must be conceived, erected and

burned in vain. The greatest architecture of all is the

fireworkers’: it perfectly shows the gratuitous consumption of

pleasure.”3 His positive reference to the uselessness of

architecture recalls Barthes’ equally positive description of the

uselessness of the text.4 By uselessness, Tschumi means use

without purpose. He argues that the most extreme misuse

negates the form that society expects of it.5 Tschumi implies

that parks and fireworks are pleasurable. The production and

consumption at the site of the park is of social behavior rather

than objects.6

30

1 Tschumi, Bernard. Event Cities: Praxis, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 Hill, Jonathan. Actions of Architecture, New York: Routledge, 2003. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid.

31

The Situationist International

32

Founded in 1957 and dissolved in 1972, the Situationist

International explored concepts of space and sequence as part

of their agenda. The founder, Guy Debord, a French

philosopher, led the group of international political and artistic

agitators with roots in Europe. In their activities, the

Situationists created concepts: dérive: urban wandering,

détournement: the diversion or misappropriation of spaces,

psychogeography: the study of the effects of environment on

behavior, unitary urbanism: city based on the construction of

participatory situations1; manifested in their writing and social

experiments influenced a generation of younger architects.

The concept of dérive, describes the activity of the Situationists

aimlessly wandering the streets of Paris awaiting any event that

might interrupt their journey. These actions, explicitly

influenced architect Bernard Tschumi’s interest in event

architecture and the relationship of events to sequence and

space.

Guy Debord explains that the concept of dérive is based

on a performance of a group, not the individual. Quoting

Debord, Sadler writes:

The drift entailed the sort of ‘playful-constructive

behavior’ that had always distinguished Situationist

activities from mere pastimes. The drift should not be

confused, then, with ‘classical notions of the journey or

stroll’ drifters weren’t like tadpoles in a tank, ‘stripped of

intelligence, sociability and sexuality,’ but were people

alert to ‘the attractions of the terrain and the encounters

they find there,’ capable as a group of agreeing upon

distinct, spontaneous preferences for routes through the

city.2

Furthermore, Debord does not reject the role of design, but he

argues that the creation of forms must be in response to the

creation of situations or unplanned events. He writes:

33

Our central idea is the construction of situations...

Architecture must advance by taking emotionally

moving situations, rather than emotionally moving

forms, as the material it works with. And the

experiments with this material will lead to unknown

forms. Psychogeographical research … takes on a

double meaning: active observation of present-day

urban agglomerations and development of

hypotheses on the structure of a Situationist city.

The progress of psychogeography depends to a great

extent on the statistical extension of its methods of

observation, but above all on the experimentation by

means of concrete interventions in urbanism.3

Debord made considerable contributions to the Situation

International whose entire early program could be expressed in this

brief statement, “it founds their varied practices of urban wandering

(the dérive), of montage aesthetics (détournement), and of the

construction of situations, and it is at the heart as well of Constant’s

contribution to the group’s practice.”4

The Situationists were intrigued with the cinematic

techniques of montage. The interest to generate three-dimensional

space from cinematic sequences was highly intriguing. Russian film

director, Sergei Eisenstein warned the limitations of architectural

montage and thus the ideas never materialized from theory.

The practice of dérive, however, has been the genesis for

many three dimensional spaces. Dérive, from the French, meaning

drift, describes the action of wandering through a city and

“unforeseeable accidents of its surface.”5 “No less than the see, the

city contains ‘constant currents, fixed points, and eddies which

render approach and exit of certain zones very difficult.”6 The

definition for the urban drift at the level of the city exposes an

understanding that there is a multitude of unplanned events that

occur, all absorbed by the city. Debord’s representation of this idea

led to the creation of a map in The Naked City of the neighborhoods

of Paris, 1957 (Figure 15). The map illustrates the different push and

34

pull effects the neighborhoods have on the urban explorer (Figure

16).

Figure 16

The geographic representation of the détournement by

Debord was effective in translating the ideas of the Situationist

International into architectural representation. The architect

Constant furthered the Situationist International thinking.

New Babylon was the design for a futuristic city by

Constant. The basis of the utopian city was characterized by

freedom of movement for people. New Babylon creates social

spaces where the inhabitants of the city mingle and interact.

The design was suspended high above the earth’s surface,

accommodating humanity’s nomadic wanderers.7 New

Babylon provides a translation of dérive into architecture. The

structure does not represent a path toward a single goal, but

rather it offers an interconnected web for unplanned paths and

events.

1 Hill, Jonathan. Actions of Architecture, New York: Routledge, 2003. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 McDonough, Thomas. “Fluid Spaces: Constant and the Situationist

International” in The Activist Drawing, Retracing Situationist Architecture from Constant’s New Babylon to Beyond, ed. Catherine de Zegher and Mark Wigley, New York: The Drawing Center, 2001.

5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 7

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Precedents

36

Le Fresnoy (Bernard Tschumi, 1997)

Strategy of the ‘in between.’ Conceptually, the project

is a succession of boxes inside a box. The outer box is the

rectangular, ultra-technological solid of modernity, whose

north side is closed. The other sides remain open and provide a

view of the old and new buildings./ The roof, or large screen-

umbrella, is the common denominator that is sought to

accelerate the probability of chance-events by combining

diverse elements: juxtaposing great roof, school/ research

laboratory, and the old Fresnoy, place of spectacle./ The

projects speaks of “architecture-event” rather than

“architecture-object. The interstitial space between the new and

old roofs becomes a place of fantasies and experiments

(filming and other exploratory works on space and time.)1

Figure 17

37

Figure 18

Figure 19

Figure 20

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Mobius House (UN Studio, 1998)

The diagram of the double-locked torus conveys the

organization of two intertwining paths, which trace how two

people can live together, yet apart, meeting at certain points,

which become shared spaces (Figure 21). The idea of two

entities running their own trajectories but sharing certain

moments, possibly also reversing roles at certain points, is

extended to include the materialization of the building and its

construction.2

UN Studio made several studies of living and working

cycles throughout the day of two people (Figure 22). Where

their paths intersected and where they continued singularly.

This array of data was then applied to the double-locked torus

concept. The data driven design approach used in this project

is echoed in the investigation for the design of the multi-modal

transit station. Mobius house applies the specific actions of the

two people and stops. If it were to further explore the

intensities of the movements for the two persons, would the

result be different?

Figure 21

Figure 22

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IIT Student Center (Reiser + Umemoto, 1997)

The project acts as an infrastructural system enlisting

service, circulation, and landscape to rationalize the Miesian

order of the core campus. New construction kneads into the

areas of streets and parking lots, feeding the existing pattern of

discrete buildings on a Cartesian plane. The project becomes a

highly programmed bridge over State St. deploying permeable

edges to manage flows of activity, redressing the split between

the east and west areas of IIT. Flow-based organization,

interlacing "fingers" of space, and new terrains inside and out

provide multiplied opportunities for uses and adjacencies.

The pre-stressed steel structure shell was to extend 150

meters allowing the modalities of subways, cars and

pedestrians to interact effortlessly in a manner which provoked

the illusion of flow. The choreography of the different

modalities, directs opportunities of flow versus terminating

paths at an object.3

Figure 23 The integrative strategy used by RUR is exquisitely

nestled into the core of the strict, orthogonal grid. Its entire

concept fuels the idea of the Situationists. It accommodates the

40

multitude of flows on the site and allows each path to take its

course, not conditioning its outcome. It designs conditions for

which the events to happen, integrating into the campus’ core.

41

Yokohama Port Terminal (FOA, 2002)

Extending 1,411 feet into the Yokohama Bay, the new

design by Foreign Office Architects extends almost seamlessly

from the existing pier. The building rises from two boardwalks

that ascend gradually from the ground to become the rooftop,

where a promenade offers 360-degree views of the city and the

sea. At grade, the terminal’s keyhole-shaped traffic plaza

culminates at the glazed main entrance. This entry flows into a

waiting area for local international travelers, and then into

customs, immigration, and quarantine plaza. Serving as a

passenger-processing area for international cruise ships twenty-

five times per year, the plaza is available for public events on

other days. At the terminal’s tip, a multipurpose hall with

floor-to-ceiling glazing overlooks the water. Flanking these

spaces are ramps leading up to the roof or down to service

areas and parking for four-hundred cars. Ship boarding occurs

along exterior decks at the building’s perimeter.4

Figure 24

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Figure 25

Figure 26

1 Tschumi, Bernard. Event Cities: Praxis, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,

1991. 2 Van Berkel, Ben and Caroline Bos. Move, Amsterdam: UN Studio &

Goose Press, 1999. 3 Reiser, Jesse and Nanako Umemoto. http://www.reiser-umemoto.com,

February 20, 2007. 4 Pollock, Naomi. Yokohama Port Terminal, in Architectural Record,

November 2002.

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Project Site

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Las Vegas, located in Clark County, NV is a city

experiencing surging growth. Clark County is one of the

fastest growing counties in the United States. The county

population increased over 81 percent between 1990 and 2000

and another 29 percent from 2000-2005. The population in

Clark County is projected to increase another 72 percent from

the present population of approximately 1.8 million to 2.5

million people by 2024.1 The City of Las Vegas is growing

rapidly from being 63rd largest in the United States in 1990 to

the 32nd largest in 2000.2 This project addresses the need for

an expanded intermodal transportation station established by

the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada

(RTC). The RTC, in conjunction with the Federal Transit

Administration (FTA), proposes to construct and operate the

Central City Intermodal Transportation Terminal (CCITT) in

the downtown area. The purpose for relocating the Downtown

Transportation Center (DTC) facility and its operations is to

accommodate the City of Las Vegas' planned development in

that area.3

The site for the project will be located at Main and

Bonneville, west of the Downtown District (Figure 27). The

proposed project folds into the plan for the Union Park Plan.4

Union Park is the name given to the land parcel (61 acres) that

remains undeveloped. A San Diego based developer has

proposed (Figure 28) an arts and entertainment district

complete with entertainment venues, residential towers, and

commercial towers. The transit facility will serve as a

destination for people arriving at these attractions as well as

offer an alternative to air travel for regional visitors.

1 Central City Intermodal Transportation Terminal Draft Environmental Assessment, Regional Transportation Commission, August 2006.

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2 Ibid. 3 Ibid.

4 City of Las Vegas, Union Park Business Plan, April 2006.

46

Figure 27

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Figure 28

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Methodology

49

The thesis applies the research of concepts of sequence

and movement in a design for a multi-modal interchange in Las

Vegas, NV. The concepts of dérive are readily implemented as

a result of the entertainment node of the city. Guests of the

various resorts explore the local attractions and follow no

prescribed paths. They are mystified by the eccentric

collection of buildings and thirst for more breathtaking

encounters at each stop along the journey. The unscripted

wandering of the pedestrian on the strip references the

theoretical understandings of the Situationist International.

Borrowing from Fireworks, the thesis explores light as

an exercise in generation of form. Fireworks is a diagrammatic

response to a scripted event. The diagrams were reactions to

the activity that was planned, scripted, and executed. The

exercises presented in this thesis are unscripted. A framework

was established for the starting and ending point. The

Figure 29

Figure 30

50

performance created streaks of light across the contrasting dark

canvas. In an effort to trace the movement of dual points on

the body of the dancer, the intention evolved into creating a

light path that is both beautiful and suggestive—an artistic

object in its own right.1 The performances were documented

with a camera using slow shutter speed to record the light path

on photographic film. The traces created from the performer

dancing freely, created sensual curving strokes on the film.

The suggestive light forms, created by the performer, illustrate

the unscripted. This light tracing exercise demonstrates the

wide range of results possible when considering the concept of

dérive as a design tool. (Figure 29, 30)

Similar to the brush of the artist, the light path reveals

the speed of movement: as the hand moves fast, the line is

thin; and when it slows, the line thickens. A dot created by an

instant of hesitation becomes a stain of light. The light tracings

capture not only the candid gestures, but also emotion of the

performer.

The light tracing frames inspired three dimensional

models. The translation of the two-dimensional into three-

dimensional form was created using physical modeling

materials. (Figure 31, 32, 33)

Figure 31

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Figure 32

Figure 33 1 Bonnemaison, Sarah. Traces: The Architecture of

Remembering, in Transportable Environments 3, Kronenburg, Robert, and Filiz Klassen. London: Taylor & Francis Group. 2006.

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Figure 34

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In Las Vegas, the prolific amount of activity is present

twenty-four hours a day. Researching the city, by its amount

of movement is paramount to understand it. Studying the

activity of the city was done by creating schematic sections at

different areas. Different systems of movement were

documented based on the intensities along the Las Vegas Blvd.

aka “The Strip.”

Intensity readings were taken, based on site surveys, for

pedestrian and automobile activity. The resulting data was

plotted to reveal the hotspots for movement in the city. Once

the activity levels were established, conceptual sections were

taken through the city (Figure 34, colored lines). The

wavelength graphs are constructed using sine wave. The

wavelengths change in both frequency and amplitude. Area

that incur high surges of activities over a short duration, take

on large amplitude, small frequency. Areas that have a

constant medium-level over the entire twenty-four hour period

take a more regular wavelength.

As an exercise to experiment with form, the resultant

Bezier curves from the movement data was extracted and

lofted to generate a surface (Figure 34, right column). This

surface represents the movement along the strip during a

twenty-four hour period.

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Conclusion

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The ability for writers and filmmakers to manipulate the

sequence adds to their art. For example, Barthes,’

“Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narratives” and

Choisy’s Histoire d’architecture analyzed by Eisenstein,

reflect upon the sequences for different media types. Barthes is

keen on establishing the boundary from which the narrative is

formed. He furthers the discussion by citing examples how

one can deviate from the boundaries. Similarly, Eisenstein

establishes the path in the Acropolis and uses the filmmaker’s

lens to articulate the deliberate framing techniques that affect

the experience of moving through the monuments. These

particular sequences presented in literature and cinema are

significant precedents for architect Tschumi and his theoretical

research. Furthermore, architectural form can be realized

through processes similar to Eisenstein analysis of the

progression of sequences through the acropolis. Architectural

sequences incorporate literary and cinematic prerequisites as

departure points. The adaptation of cinematic techniques in

Manhattan Transcripts and Fireworks, among other projects

reviewed in this thesis, offers the opportunity for dynamic

interaction of space and person.

Different from the linear progression of sequences,

Tschumi reached for the Situationists’ concept of dérive to

solve architectural problems. This method changed the object

of focus from the space and redirected the spotlight on the

meandering path. Embracing the condition of multiple paths,

allows for a different approach to the design of experiential

space. The design no longer adhered to the strict linearity of

the ceremonial path, but rather embraces the drifting condition.

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Borrowing from the avant-garde group, the Situationist

International, the design project looks to the freedom of

movement as the primary focus. “Designing conditions, before

conditioning design,” Tschumi writes, drives the design of the

multi-modal transit facility. The strict linearity of the vehicles

serves as the base layer; however, the paths of the users should

offer freedom for meandering. The accommodation of the

vehicle’s path changes with each modality. Each modality has

its limitations: turning radius, outside dimensions of the

vehicle, and sloped travel. The most rigid in its path, rail,

allows for the least deviation from the path. The least

restrictive in their path, pedestrians, are able to meander,

explore and deviate from the path that could potentially be

physically or visually direct. These carefree, wandering

conditions allow for the architecture to flourish.

In conclusion, the reviewed methods of sequential

space from linear to multiple serve as the framework for this

thesis. Techniques from the filmmaker and literary critic

provide insight to the evolution of the sequence. The infinite

iterations that incorporate blending multiple path sequences

and the linear sequences, offer limitless chance events to take

place in architecture.

.

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Bibliography

58

Barthes, Roland. “Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narratives,” in Image, Music, Text. Ed. Translated Stephen Heath, New York: Hill & Wang, 1977. First published as ‘Introduction a l’analyse structurale du recit’ Communications 8 (1966): 1-27.

Eisenstein, Sergei M. “Montage and Architecture,” in Assemblage, No. 10, Dec. 1989. Ferré, Albert, Tomoko Sakamoto, and Michael Kubo, The Yokohama Project, Barcelona, Spain: Actar, 2002. Ford, Simon. The Situationist International: A User’s Guide, London: Black Dog Publishing Limited, 2005. Gargus, Jacqueline. Ideas of Order: A Formal Approach to Architecture, Dubuque, IA: Kendall/ Hunt Publishing, 1994. Hill, Jonathan. Actions of Architecture, New York: Routledge, 2003. Kronenburg, Robert, and Filiz Klassen. Transportable Environments 3. London : Taylor & Francis Group. 2006. Moretti, Luigi. “Structures and Sequences of Space.” In Oppositions 4, New York, Wittenborn Art Books, 1974. Onega, Susana and Jose Angel Garcia. Narratology: an introduction, New York: Longman 1996. Tschumi, Bernard. “Sequences,” in Architecture and Disjunction, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996. Tschumi, Bernard. The Manhattan Transcripts, London: Academy Editions, 1994. Tschumi, Bernard. Event Cities: Praxis, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994. Tschumi, Bernard. Event Cities 2, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000. Tschumi, Bernard. Event Cities 3, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001. Sadler, Simon. The Situationist City, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998.

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Vidler, Anthony. “The Explosion of Space: Architecture and the Filmic Imaginary,” in Film Architecture: Set Designs from Metropolis to Blade Runner, ed. Dietrich Neumann. Munich, Germany: Prestel-Verlag, 1996.

Van Berkel, Ben and Bos, Catherine. Move, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Goose Press: 1999. Zegher, Catherine and Mark Wigley. The Activist Drawing, Retracing Situationist Architectures from Constant’s New Babylon to

Beyond, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001.

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