Space as Spacegenerator pt. 3: Generating Shapes

Generating Shapes

The two concepts were transformed from theorethical thoughts to physical shapes through a series of model experiments.

 
Light intake (2D)

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The first model was an attempt to look at the possibilities of sending light into a structure. The model shows the section of two adjacent building volumes. By varying the vertical position of the floor, this height difference between the volumes can be used to place openings that send light deep into the structure. This gives the two volumes access to light from two sides, creating depth in rooms that normally would be lit naturally from only one side.

 
Light intake (3D)

The next step was to investigate the consequences and possibilites this juxtaposition of volumes would bring when taking the concept from two dimensions to three. By making a grid of rooms, displacing their height position and rotating them 180 degrees relative to each other makes it possible to send light sideways as well.

 
Network of Volumes

Further investigations were made to work out a set of rules that would regulate the organisation of volumes and light intakes, in a way that would allow for flexibility and variation when used, unlike the monotonous grid of the previous model.

The spiral movement of the original room in Qingdao and the diagrams of the organic hubs were the main inspiration, to create a network of volumes that were connected horisontally and vertically.

By connecting a number of volumes in each floor to form a spiral, one can vary the height and size of the every single volume as long as the one round of the spiral equals an elevation increase of (height of volume+height of light intake).

 
A Freer Interpretation

The previous models were very systematic, almost diagram-like in the way that it dealt with form. They were reduced down to the most basic configuration to look into the structural possibilities and consequences that appear by creating these light openings, without commenting on the esthetics of the physical spaces that were created.

With the final generated space in mind, a set of models were made to look into the esthetic variations that could be generated from these light intakes. Walls were folded in angles to take in and redirect light; define and enclose space.

 

Space as Spacegenerator pt. 2: The Generator

The Generator

The effort of translating the features and qualities of this space in Qingdao into a generator of new spaces went in two parallel directions:
Investigating the physical/formal possibilites of a spacegenerator and looking into how space and functions are organised.

 
1. Experiencing Light

Seeing all the diagrams of prisms, where light is bounced around in a complex network of inner reflections, made me think about how this could be incorporated into architecture. One often thinks about the instantaneous nature of light, the speed of light being instant, but seeing those pictures made me realize that light doesn’t necessarily have to travel the shortest way. It made me think about how daylight could be transported and redirected. The way buildings are shaped is very dependent on light, or the lack of light, but if one could deflect and send light as one pleased, it could impact the creations of new spaces.

 
2. The Organisation of Spaces

Aside from the mere physical experience of space, there is also the organisation of spaces/function. It was inspired by a physical model that was originally meant to be only a visual experiment on light.

The model consisted of a translucent box with only two openings, and glass strips that travelled between these openings in different angles and turns, so that they would shift from being transparent to reflective. Making the model, and realising how many glass strips I could put into this limited space without them ever intersecting each other, made me think of the model in a more diagrammatic way.
Different spaces/functions could be made to go from A to B without interfering with each other.

They could be connected at crucial points, hubs, and be made completely free and chaotic between the hubs.

The hubs wouldn’t have to be connected in a linear and two-dimensional way. This could allow a freeform, organic circulation.

 

Space as Spacegenerator pt. 1: The Space

I’m currently sitting in a cabin at Gålå with my parents. Not much happening around here after the ski lifts close, so I thought I would use the free time to finally upload my semester project at school..

The Space

This space, or sequence of space, was experienced in the city of Qingdao, a coastal city in northern China. The city was once a German colony. It’s known for its unique combination of hilly terrain, long sand beaches and organic infrastructure coupled with Western-influenced architecture. The urban and industrial development and population increase in the last decades has in many ways changed the city, and its once so idyllic image.

It was on a walk in one of the residential areas of the city, on the hills where the city lies upon, that the space was encountered. We followed a road which cut through the irregular network of smaller roads and eventually descended down to the shore.

Suddenly, the road ended in a square, surrounded on three sides by large buildings. The building that blocked the road had a shape of a solid rectangular volume, with few windows. A smaller rectangular volume was subtracted from this massive block. No billboards or signs marked that this was the entrance, but it felt like the only way out from this uninviting deadend space, so we decided to walk into it.

The building turned out to be a market, and the plan was arranged in a simple manner: escalators in the middle of the room surrounded by small shops in a circle around it. We took the escalators all the way down to the bottom floor. Following the exit sign we, to our big surprise, walked out of the building on street level again.

Turning around and looking at the façade of the building, we could see nothing of the terrain behind it, it was like the drop in elevation had never happened.

Instead of placing the building with the direction of the terrain, or shaping the terrain to harmonize with it, the architects decided to confront the terrain, and then adapt the building to fit in an as direct manner as possible. I find this pragmatic approach interesting, and refreshing.

The sequence of spaces, from the street on the one side, through the spiraling movement down the escalators and then out in street again, was such a fluid movement. The sequence felt like a continuation of the street, uninfluenced by the height differences. The absence of doors or obstacles in the entrances to the building gave the impression that the space inside the building was part of the outside, and it was only when you entered one of the small shops that this space stopped.

 
Flowing Space

The flow of this space reminded me of the Archimedean Screw, an ancient invention used for elevating water. Moving a fluid through a mechanical object that is static(the screw only revolves around its own axis) is quite fascinating.

 
Redirecting Space

The massive character of the facades of the building, together the with small window openings which you can’t see when you are inside the building unless you walk into one the shops, give the impression of a closed volume when you observe it from both the outside and the inside. At the same time this is contrasted by the sequence of spaces that cuts through the entire volume. It’s not unlike periscopes that, with the help of configurations of mirrors, send light through closed objects without light loss or any alterations to the light. Glass prisms are even more complex, where the object is reflecting and encapsulating light at the same time. By varying the shape of the prisms, light is refracted, inverted and rotated in different angles.

 

Ichigeki vs. Ichigeki

so…. fast..
crazy style..
intricate footwork..

And for being from the same crew, they look pretty pissed at each other..

had to watch the clip 4 times in a row the first time I saw it.

Ball and Chain

Gives me the chills every time..