MASH-ARKT perceptions

Hopeful Dawn in Tel Aviv

2011-11-23T11:34:00.004-05:00

SDL has designed a new Trauma recovery center for Soldiers in Tel Aviv. The Home for the Hopeful Dawn is an extended stay in-patient, state-of-the-art treatment facility that sits over an existing single story trauma center. The form of the building is inspired by the Harp of King David, an important figure in Jewish History and the famed King of the Hebrew Bible who defeated the giant Goliath as a young shepard boy. King David was both a soldier and a musician, and the building is inspired by the healing power of music.

The facility holds private patient rooms that congregate around common living spaces and are organized around a light filled courtyard. This courtyard is a green garden space growing on the roof of the existing building and is used for patient physical and mental regeneration.

Duemilacento

2011-11-23T10:56:00.010-05:00

SDL has submitted plans for a new Museum of Contemporary Art at City Edge in Milan.

View of Exterior Galleries

Section

Ground level

Firsts level gallery

Roof plan

The project form morphs from a square in plan to a circle, recalling the famous Da Vinci drawing of the Vitruvian Man that relates to the human scale and proportion.

DR Pool House

2011-11-02T08:41:00.003-04:00

The pool and poolhouse transform an suburban backyard in the Dominican Republic into a tropical island oasis. Taking advantage of the climate and solar orientation, they are designed to be constructed with local materials and labor for a minimal cost.

Red Bull pavillion at Ambush years later

2011-10-26T11:17:00.001-04:00

House on a Hill

2010-10-31T09:40:00.006-04:00

Private residence by Studio Daniel Libeskind, Connecticut

We were privileged to visit the first private residence by Studio Daniel Libeskind on a blustery fall afternoon in the Connecticut countryside. The remarkable object fits perfectly into its place, reflecting the countryside around it from unexpected angles.

Moving around and through the house, spaces and views unfold to create a sense that is completely wide open and exposed to the surround landscape, yet at the same time comfortably private and secluded.

The appearance of the residence is continually evolving throughout the day, reacting to differing light and contextual conditions. Only by living there can the spaces and identities of its evolution truly be appreciated.

MASH-ARKT 2010

Rouse [D] exhibit boards

2010-04-25T09:30:00.003-04:00

Crescendo in Sweden

2009-12-27T18:02:00.009-05:00

Our competition proposal for a Concert Hall and Congress Center in Malmo, Sweden

Design Team:
Lead Architect: Studio Daniel Libeskind

Stefan Blach-Principle in charge, Michael Ashley-Associate, Johan Van Lierop-Associate, Thunyalux Hiransaroj, Noah Wadden, Steven Haardt

Consulting Architect: Juul Frost

Structural Engineer: Arup

Acoustical Engineer: Nagata Acoustics

Sustainiblity Engineer: Arup

Renderings: 7th Art

Models: Radii

Macao opens Science Center by Pei Partnership

2009-12-25T13:46:00.004-05:00

MASH-ARKT worked with Pei Partnership Architects producing marketing and visualization material for the newly opened Macao Science Center.

for more, follow the links below:
http://202.175.126.2/en/album.php
http://www.forgemind.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9441

Captured Impressions

2009-09-06T14:30:00.005-04:00

Cooper Union - Morphosis

Residential Tower going up by Brooklyn Bridge - Gehry

Highline Residential

Habitat 67 - Moshe Safdie

Canadian Parliament Building - Ottawa

Art Gallery of Ontario - Gehry

Royal Ontario Museum - Libeskind

Walls of Water - Niagra Falls

Frank Lloyd Wright - Fallingwater

West Side Hwy Neighbors - Nouvel & Gehry

Alice Tully Music Hall - Diller, Scofidio + Renfro

Lady Liberty - NYC Harbor

Architourism : by Mash-Arkt

rouse[D] competition winners announced

2009-08-17T18:48:00.003-04:00

Rouse [D] is an open ideas international competition for the city of Detroit. Exhibition opening will be held at 555 Gallery Studios in Detroit, Michigan on September 26, 2009 @ 7pm

1st Place:
Jason Pierce, Illinois

2nd Place:
David Wothers, Denmark

3rd Place:
Scott Long, New York

Honorable Mention:
Jessica Wilcox, Wisconsin

for more info visit:
www.rousedetroit.com

Ambush gets its pavilion

2009-07-17T07:42:00.008-04:00

The new Red Bull skate lounge in Ambush board shop creates an environment for the kids to hang out and refuel between banging out sessions on the street. Monitors are equipped with PS3 and cycle the latest skate, snow and wake DVDs, while a Red Bull vending machine provides the wings.

The aesthetic is tough and durable, recalling the construction of ramps in a skatepark. Dings and scratches add to the ambiance along with randomly placed stickers by the local patrons.
The pavilion will house Red Bull events such as "meet the pros" and contest results.

Design : MASH-ARKT
Fabrication : Associated Fabrication

www.ambushboardco.com

SDL wins in Seoul

2009-04-14T21:56:00.022-04:00

"In this day, the past, present, and future are one. Just as each drop of water is linked to a tiny spring in some mountain valley and linked to a distant, azure sea."

- 'Today' by Ku Sang

In the heart of Seoul, Korea the "Archipelago 21" is the winning proposal by Studio Daniel Libeskind for an international competition. The project includes over 3 million sqm of built area that are collected into smaller characterizations each with a distinct aesthetic and sense of place. The new international business district will attract global markets as Seoul leads the way for progression in the east.

At the center of the International Business District is a 640m tall iconic tower. The project also includes world-class shopping, residential neighborhoods, a museum, a performing arts center, a school, extended transit, and a generous amount of gardens that invite the city to a new focal point. The 15 year project has an estimated construction budget of 27trillion KRW (20bil USD).

view from Han River

The competition invited 5 world class teams. The architects leading the competing teams were Foster Partners, SOM, Asymptote, and Jerde Partnership.

Lanmark Tower elevations

landmark tower winter gardens

casual neighborhood

international business district

typical office interior

typical residential interior

luxury shopping district

master plan

master plan model view

evolution of models

final model

view from north

aerial view

Architecture / Urban Design: Studio Daniel Libeskind
Structural / MEP / Transportation: ARUP
Landscape: Martha Schwartz Partners
Renderings / Animation: Studio AMD, Tronic

For more please visit

http://www.dreamhub21.com/eng/mainReal.asp

Yongsan IBD competition animation

2009-04-14T21:47:00.006-04:00

Animation of the Yongsan International Business District competition

Produced by Studio AMD for Studio Daniel Libeskind

Monaco Competition Exhibition

2009-02-11T08:28:00.013-05:00

The following is a summary of the exhibition currently at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco showcasing 4 of the 5 competition entries for the offshore development. No winner was announced after the submission. Prince Albert of Monaco declared the competition was abandoned due "to the global economic climate".

entry by Monte Carlo Sea Land

entry for Barwa

entry by Fonciere Maritime

entry by Solidere

Monte Carlo Sea Land

2009-02-08T22:44:00.016-05:00

Cape Grace of Monaco, the proposed extension of Monaco into the sea by Monte Carlo Sea Land sets a new standard for such developments at a world scale.

Organic Relationship Offers Sustainable Future
The extension of Cape Grace is intricately interwoven with the existing city fabric. The proposed project will create a new integrated whole for Monaco with an urbanism that is respectful of the old while creating a new image and set of opportunities for Monaco’s future. This urban fabric is fully informed by the Principality’s existing urban texture, one which has evolved over centuries of organic growth, and injects a new sense of optimism with a new light and energy. The public realm comprised of parks, plazas, promenades and bicycle paths is an expansion of the landscape which together with new cultural, residential and commercial facilities significantly enhances Monaco’s urban experience. Cape Grace is a comprehensive proposal which successfully incorporates all the functional and technical objectives of the Principality and will become the model for such an extensive development demonstrating the utmost sensitivity towards its history, culture and the built and natural environments.

For more than two thousand years successive groups have identified the naturally blessed geography and climate of La Rocher and Port Hercule as an ideal place to live and establish a future. The principal objective of the Cape Grace extension is not only to enhance its beauty but to reverse the recent effects of an increased demand on energy, taxation of our natural resources and the impact of our built environment. With this project, the Principality of Monaco has the opportunity to construct for its people and visitors from the world at large an ideal living environment that is socially, culturally and economically responsible and most importantly one that is environmentally sustainable; Monaco will continue to be the envy of the world.

Extension of the City into the Sea
The development’s focus towards the sea is a reflection and an extension of the Monegasque culture. The plan opens the water’s edge to the public, significantly enhancing the city’s visual and physical connection to the sea. The waterside is reserved as a series of public spaces offering a plethora of leisure activities.

typical street view

view of ecological canal from visitor's center

view of princess grace plaza

global climate center

International Climate Center as Icon
Situated at the tip of the peninsula Le Grand Parvis that separates Port Hyllus from the open Mediterranean, the Global Climate Center is the centrepiece of the project. Eschewing the clichéd position at the project’s seaward extremity the building instead presents itself back towards the city surrounded on three sides by water and standing proudly as a gateway into the extended Port Hercule and Port Hyllus. It is a state of the art structure representing the new iconic image for the Principality of Monaco, yachts on the Mediterranean in the foreground and the densely inhabited Monegasque mountainside as its backdrop. It is the beacon of Cape Grace, an attraction for the Cote de Azure, and a symbol for the future.

view of iconic building from sea

view from one of the terraces on the iconic building

model views

The structure itself is an embodiment of sustainablility and is formed by an advanced high-tech ribbon which is high performance and environmentally responsive. This intelligent skin is articulated with an array of glass undulations which create thermal airspaces enhancing the insulation of the building’s interior. The outer surface of this ribbon is laminated with spherical solar receptor cells that capture and harvest the sun’s energy from all directions. The inner surface is a white, enamel coated reflector made of recycled aluminium due to its low life-cycle energy costs. The glazed portions in-between the ribbon are equally high performance, equipped with operable panels which open to allow fresh air to circulate through and automated shading devices to control undesirable solar exposure, the building’s envelope works in unison with its natural environment. This Global Climate Center is the new gateway to Monaco from the Sea and a new 21st Century symbol as Monaco’s leadership towards a more sustainable existence on the world’s stage.

Hyllus, son of Hercules
Named after a son of Hercules, Port Hyllus extends both the identity and capacity of the world famous Port Hercule, creating the impression of a single expansive marina for Monaco. Located at its mouth, the iconic International Climate Center is perched on Le Grand Parvis and becomes a new symbolic gateway to Monaco from the sea. Port Hyllus is not only a functional marina offering year round berths, but it is a major contributor to the maritime lifestyle of Cape Grace and extends completely through the project transforming into Le Grand Canal.

Maritime lifestyle
Multi-levelled public promenades surround the port bringing people close to the magnificent water craft and adding to the vitality of the quartier. At the water level, floating pontoons line the edges of the marina, giving access to the yachts. A 3m water gap provides the option to increase the security of the Marina during the night or in the future. Small motor vehicles can access the lowest levels of the promenade through a system of ramps, and every berth is fully equipped with the latest modern conveniences. The marina facilities include a chandlery, a crew bar and lounge, lockers and showers and parking. The marina is also surrounded by shops, cafes and restaurants making it an inclusive destination not just for sailors and yachtsman. Water taxis navigate the port and canal and carry passengers to and from Port Hercule. The marina has a capacity of 29 large yachts, and 53 smaller boats extending into the canal. Additional moorings are available during temperate seasons outside the breakwater. A dry stack storage facility with a capacity of 116 boats has direct access to the water. This storage allows for the relocation of many of the smallest boats from Port Hercule relieving space for larger, more glamorous craft.

view toward Port Hyllus

Garden City
Green spaces, both public and private are an essential part of this development making the project liveable and accessible to all. Shade trees fill the open spaces and line the streets. The majority of buildings have green roofs extending Monaco’s landscaped gardens into the sea. Balconies and terraces will also be integrated with plantings to enhance the living conditions and promote the image of the garden city. These gardens will echo the beautifully manicured gardens of Monaco and become part of the character of the entire development. From the higher vantage points in the city, Cape Grace will be perceived as a continuous green landscape; a city of gardens extending into the sea.

promenade of the dancing pines

view of northern luxury shopping promenade

Waterfront as Public Promenade
Cape Grace’s perimeter is composed of three public promenades which form a continuous network, La Promenade Précieuse to the north, La Promenade des Pins Dasans to the south and Les Quais du Grand Canal. La Promenade Précieuse is lined with commercial properties offering shopping and fine dining with a view of the Larvotto Reserve and the existing city. La Promenade Précieuse is connected with La Place Princesse Grace by a wide staircase to facilitate pedestrian circulation between the public areas and enhance public life. Les Quais du Grand Canal offers a unique maritime experience; lined with specialty shops and cafes, this promenade brings pedestrians closer to the water’s edge within the canal and Port Hyllus to view a procession of fine water crafts. La Promenade des Pins Dasans is composed of a continuous green edge that connects the Iconic International Climate Center at one end with the luxurious Monaco Mandarin Oriental hotel at the other. This seaward edge is a collection of tree covered paths which traverse a landscape of gardens and rocky terrain and contains a natural swimming pool filled with Mediterranean waters.

view of Grand Canal

Blue Holes
A sensitive connection to the existing coast line is achieved by maintaining much of its edge as a canal. This approach creates additional waterfront and protects the most vibrant marine ecosystems existing in the shallow waters nearest the coastline. The canal strategy is also employed through the centre of the project, amplifying the maritime atmosphere with additional waterfront promenades and structures. These openings in the landscape allow the project to breath natural air, give access to natural light and provide connectivity with the sea and contribute to the unique environments of Cape Grace.

the Madarin Oriental of Monaco

view of the extension with the Mandarin Oriental punctuating the tip

7 star Luxury
The super deluxe Mandarin Oriental Hotel is located at the eastern tip of the project. The building comprises of two major volumes each of which corresponds to a different function. The first is a horizontal volume that cantilevers at both ends and houses 135 hotel rooms of various sizes and typologies. The second is a vertical volume that terraces upwards reaching a level of 49.4 meters containing 13 residential apartments with an average area of 250m2. The building metaphorically takes the form of a large Cruise Ship, its grandiose volume simultaneously appearing monumental and light, giving the sense that the building floats on top of the sea’s surface.

view over Port Hercule

aerial contextual site plan

illustrative site plan

upper parking level plan

ground level plan

Connecting the Old and the New
The seamless connection between the existing city and the new development is achieved by an expansion of Monaco’s public realm. A close adjacency to the existing coastline enables growth that is sympathetic, compatible and seamless with the existing urban fabric. Pedestrian and vehicular circulation is extended and integrated with the existing network achieving enhanced clarity and accessibility to all public and private facilities as well as to the ocean front. The city’s urban patterns and density are reflected and complemented; points of high density occupy key portions of the development affording other areas to become generous gathering places with parks, plazas, waterfronts and marina. An elevated green park connects directly to the casino plaza and a pedestrian promenade connects the newly extended waterfront to Port Hercule, the historic city and the Larvotto beaches, and the Carrefour du Portier links into a new prominent plaza with cascading gardens serving as a dramatic gateway to the extension and providing open views towards the existing city.

view over monaco

view of Cape Grace extension

Design Team: Studio Daniel Libeskind, Arata Isozaki Architects, West 8, Alex Giraldi Architect, ARUP, Creocean
Renderings: Miller Hare
Models: Radii, Rossi, SDL
Client: Monte Carlo Sea Land, MCSL

Monte Carlo Sea Land animation

2009-02-08T11:45:00.028-05:00

Red Bull brings it to NYC

2009-02-05T14:28:00.002-05:00

captured impressions

2008-09-11T08:12:00.003-04:00

detail of Duomo - Milan

Riomaggiore - cinque terre, Italy

Ponte Vecchio - Florence

Meier - Rome

detail at Pantheon - Rome

UN Studio - Seoul

detail, anoymous building - Seoul

Dongdaemun Market - Seoul

Dominique Perrault - Seoul

Morphosis - Seoul

architourism by mash-arkt

Ambush skate lounge for Red Bull

2008-07-09T06:09:00.003-04:00

The Ambush skate lounge is a chill environment created as a hang out destination for skateboarders. The pavillion is CNC milled as a simple strut model with notched connections out of painted medium density fiberboard and skatelite. These materials recall a skateboard park construction aesthetic.

The pavillion is to be located inside the Ambush board shop in Atlanta.

MASH-ARKT : 2008

Urban Guerrillas : Skateboarding and the City

2008-05-25T08:32:00.012-04:00

"Skaters by their very nature are urban guerrillas: they make everyday use of the useless artifacts of the technological burden, and employ the handiwork of government/corporate structure in a thousand ways that the original architects could never dream of." - Craig Stecyck, 1976

The skateboarder in the metropolis is an urban warrior of a different kind. The perception of the city that comes from this user group is loaded with a specificity of seeking, combined with creativity, athleticism, and a rebellious counter culture. Public space in the city takes on new identities when viewed through the mind of a skater. The search for new 'spots' is endless and the ability to adapt to any environment is unrelenting. For the skater the entire city is a usable terrain. Design elements intended for sitting, landscape, changes in elevation or public safety become obstacles of opportunity for grinding, sliding and clearing that can be combined and with any array of tricks limited only by the technical skill, confidence, and will of the skater.

The stair, for example, is a very necessary and basic element of architecture. In urban design, it is historically used to represent a sense of monumental grandeur, it functionally connects areas of different elevation bringing people from one place to another, and in design it offers a scale and flexibility to the designer that can adapt to any situation. The pedestrian uses the stair for access or seating and within a public plaza can offer a place of hesitation to observe the interchange of the community. But the skateboarder sees the stair in a whole new light as a challenge to experience, an opportunity to practice, and a place to express creativity. A simple set of stairs with a good landing and runway can tempt skaters to push the boundaries of their own existence and inspire a creative act that transcends typical movements of the body through space. Add a rail, a curb or a ledge and the potential for the application and combination of tricks becomes limitless increasing the possibility of new perceptions through space. Every element in every corner of the city offers a potential arena for the sport multiplied thousands of times throughout an urban fabric.

The movement of skateboarding changes the parallax of the city. The ability to roll at speed alters the viewpoint continuously. The skater is not bound by the separation of car and pedestrian, but can roll seamlessly between street and sidewalk. The fluid and dynamic motion of skateboarding propels the body through space. The loud rumble of urethane wheels, and the distinct 'clack' of the ollie announces the presence of a skateboard from a distance and turns the heads of unsuspecting pedestrians. This audible presence also influences the perception of the skater causing a reaction of indifference to the surrounding social context. In this sense, the skateboarder like the architect, exists outside the constructs of society and is free to experiment and explore. But unlike the architect, the skater exists free to reinterpret the function and use of spatial sequences for their own expression and enjoyment.

Skateboarding is an individual activity expressed as an extension of self. It is a creative act that is as specific and unique as each skater's persona and style. As an art form, it can be elegant, smooth, effortless and beautiful... yet at the same time it can be aggressive, intense, bold, and in your face. As a sport, the physical body is pushed to a level of coordination and conditioning as real as the concrete, stone and asphalt surfaces that break and bruise the body which fails to roll away after attempting a maneuver. The adrenaline of each attempt and the reward of rolling away pushes each skater to pursue the act, focus the mind and succeed. Unlike organized sport, there is no winner or loser in skateboarding, it is the process that counts, not the result. Skating is an individual sport and its style is an act of self expression, but it is fueled through the social interaction and competition driven camaraderie that a group dynamic provides. Skaters roll in packs, pushing each other through performance and praise to break new boundaries and experience the urban criteria through a new interface of exchange. This social construct becomes a representation of a new type of family unit, providing support and validation for a user group that is often seen as problematic through the eyes of a corporate, capitalist society.
The skateboarding culture emerged during the mid 1970s in southern California as an extension of a surf culture, but quickly took on a lifestyle of it's own. It represented an energy and urban radicalism that has classified skateboarding as an alternative to the mainstream. Within the context of the city, the skateboarder can still be regarded as a public nuisance by property owners, patrons and pedestrians being ushered away by security guards and harassed by the law. The pursuit of skateboarding and its attitude directed against the grain leaves a clear mark on the architecture of the city. The tracks of skate spots can be seen on waxed curbs, walls, ledges and rails left to be revisited at another time. Seen by some as vandals, skaters leave behind hints of the alternative uses provided by urban spaces that enrich the fabric of the urban jungle. Conditioned to appear at moments when there is the least resistance, skateboarders are urban guerrillas seeking an environment in which to practice their medium.

One of the many things that architecture and urbanism can learn from this integral user group is the flexibility and adaptability of using sequences of prescribed space. Another is the understanding of alternate perceptions through experimentation. These ideas can be utilized to create changes that may introduce completely new trajectories of architectural thinking.

MASH-ARKT : 2008

links:
Skateboarding: Space, City, Architecture, Body

www.loudpapermag.com/

Interview with L'Uomo

2008-05-14T07:42:00.007-04:00

The following was conducted for a profile in the April issue of L'Uomo Vogue, Italia...

What made you want to become an architect?
As a kid, I always played with blocks and legos, and enjoyed putting things together. Growing up I built countless tree forts with my friends, and then I got into skateboard ramps. Some of the ramps we built would qualify as large construction projects 3 meters high and covering 300 square meters. Skateboarding was a great forum for creativity. It’s precise and fluid movements offered a freedom, while demanding practice and discipline. I also loved to draw and paint…spray paint. I wanted to be an artist for a time, but it was my dad that suggested architecture as a profession. There are fewer starving architects out there, though sometimes we get pretty hungry. Architecture is a discipline that offers the potential to create possibility.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?
I know it sounds cliché, but pretty much everywhere and anywhere. I like to walk around the city. I like to feel the spaces of the streets, to look at the facades, to watch the people interact with the buildings and with each other. I like to visit other cities, and look at good buildings…I’m somewhat of an archi tourist, if you know what I mean. I listen to music a lot, I’m partial to the old punk rock scene from Nor Cal…heavy doses of Rancid and NOFX. I also like to listen to classical piano from Chopin, Bartok and Prokofiev. I was raised on the classical piano and trained for 14 years. But the best inspiration comes from nature and the natural world. There’s nothing more inspiring than sitting at the top of a mountain, strapping into your board, and taking in the vista of distant peaks, forests and lakes. I am especially intrigued with water. It can be calm and serene, or brutal. It is so flexible through its different states and is always beautiful. I am intrigued by people’s attraction to water…it is a life source.

In which way your work influence your everyday's life?
Honestly, I’m always tired from working late and my wife is often jipped out of evenings together. But that’s part of the practice. As an architect I see things differently. Sometimes I play the role of the observer, standing outside of society in order better understand its patterns. I think about projects as small interjections that make a difference in behaviors. I also play the role of the critic, looking at designs or places and thinking of how they can be improved, how people’s lives are hindered by thoughtless construction. I like to think my work best serves as an outlet for expression. It gives a focus to direct my energy toward a positive end. It helps me appreciate leisure time as well.

What are your upcoming projects?
Currently at SDL (Studio Daniel Libeskind) I am finishing up a very detailed 14 month competition proposal for a new offshore development in Monaco. I am also involved in a proposal for a controlled sustainable environment in Dubai, and just submitted a competition entry for a new Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in Vilnius, Lithuania. These projects have been pretty intense during the past several months, so I haven’t had a lot of time for my own practice, MASH-ARKT. This summer I have a single family home in California to design, and I have some ideas I want to explore in furniture and interiors. I have some ongoing research and experimenting I would like to continue. As I stated earlier, I am interested in water…not only the aesthetics of water, but the physical properties of two small molecules joining with a large one in an ever-changing fluid relation. How amazing will it be when a building can change from a solid to a liquid state, adjusting to the behavioral patterns of its users?

What's your professional wish for the future?
I have been fortunate enough to work with some really great people on some amazing projects in the past and present. I feed off there energies and ideas, and really appreciate the collaborative nature of our profession. My ambition is to continue doing interesting work with interesting people. At the end of it all, I would like to make a contribution to the discipline…be it through work, or ideas. Architects make things, and most of the time these things, once they exist, have a life of there own outside the knowledge or will of their maker. If these things that I make can spark someone’s curiosity, or alter someone’s perception enhancing a life, then I’m happy. Other than that, I’d like to move to a tropical island and design things remotely from a sunny beach.

http://www.mash-arkt.com/object.html

L'Uomo Vogue
Piazza Cadorna 5/7
20121 Milan
Italy

Libeskind in Vilnius - The People's choice

2008-04-13T10:11:00.016-04:00

NEXUS - The Guggenheim Hermitage Museum, Vilnius

Vilnius is a city with an enormous historical significance. Before the devastations of WWII, the Holocaust and the subsequent imposition of communism, it was the “Jerusalem of the North” – a city who’s cultural life was an inspiration to people as diverse as the Gaon of Vilna, Marc Chagall, Romain Gary and Jonas Mekas.

aerial view from north with old city in background

The dramatic transformations of the late 20th Century have put Vilnius right back into the living current of the world and its diverse arts. The Hermitage Guggenheim museum is therefore the Nexus connecting Vilnius to its tradition by building a future institution which will reshape public space and build an expressive civic building. This Nexus is articulated in a structure whose wide and sweeping arcs embrace the historical and the new, old vistas and new skyscrapers, the city and the Nevis.

model view

The dynamic double movement harmonizes a series of spaces that unfold the landscape and gesture toward the sky. This tension between landscape becoming building and building becoming landscape creates an unprecedented opportunity to make the entire sculptural form publicly accessible. The building becomes the emblem of memory, sustained by the ground yet pointing towards multiple and unexpected horizons. The topographical fusion of building and landscape mirrors the internal functional distribution of galleries, theaters, education, Litvak Center with its symbolic skylights, store, cafe and restaurant. The compact footprint at the terminus of the White Bridge takes advantage of the site while promoting connectivity through a network of public piazzas and gardens.

model view

view from Neris River

By harnessing state-of-the-art technologies and building flexible spaces both intimate and grand, a new relationship between museum and nature emerges. This marriage between art and technology radically reduces energy consumption while energizing the imagination of the public. The Nexus is indeed a renewed connection between the Vilnius of the “golden tradition” in a city poised to regain its rightful place at the cultural heart of Europe.

view of entry plaza

The project proposal is designed with integrated sustainable practices that address issues such as lowering energy use, natural day lighting and solar heating, recycling and waste management, site water collection and reuse, and pedestrian and community activity. We believe sustainable design is a process that needs to be pursued throughout all stages in the design development and must be allowed evolve and adapt to new technologies, client needs and budgetary constraints.

exhibition panels

exhibition in Jonas Mekas Center, Vilnius

The building is situated on the site and formed as an emerging part of the landscape to create synergy between architecture and its environment. It is sited on axis with the White bridge, which links the historic city fabric and the new city center. The building reconnects the site, making it continuous in the east-west direction, while creating an attractive experience along the north-south axis. The museum becomes another destination on the axial route and encourages the public to interact in open plazas and the green park spaces along the Neris River. The project fills the void between the two city fabrics creating a draw to the new commercial center.

site plan

The main segment of the White bridge, spanning over the Neris River, remains intact and is made more prominent as it is aligned with the front façade and main entrance of the museum. Throughout the proposed park will be extensive plantings and groves trees that will increase biodiversity. Circulation paths meander across the site and encourage recreational uses such running, walking and bicycling. Several pools across the site are also proposed across this landscape to both enhance the environment and act as water retention areas. These collection pools can provide additional irrigation for the park and function as natural filters for the surface runoff before it is discharged into the Neris River. This extended site proposals, beyond the confines of the museum proper, is conceptual at this stage and will be further studied with the client and city authorities alike.

ground level plan

first level plan

second level plan

third level plan

The site is made fully accessible to pedestrians, bicyclist and wheel chairs thereby reducing the visitors’ dependency on motorized vehicles. There is no additional parking provided on the site. Existing parking fields are to be shared and street parking is utilized. Loading and services are located below grade allowing the green of the landscape to be continuous at the pedestrian level.

north-south sections

east-west sections

A green roof system is utilized over a large percentage of the roof structure. This green roof will increase the thermal insulation quality of the overall roofing section. Irrigation and rainwater is collected into a storage container for reuse. Grey water reuse reduces the demand on potable water and the city’s storm water system.

park view from west

east and west elevations

north and south elevations

Energy use in the building is reduced through the implementation of a holistic approach. A combination of heat exchange strategies are proposed such as using the Neris River and/or geo thermal piles as heat exchange agents. Skylights bring controlled natural light into the interior spaces and provide opportunities for natural ventilation which can also be used to reject heat naturally at night. All of the glass clad facades make use of high performance and reflective coatings, thermal insulation, and automated solar shading devices. The western façade and the façade around the Litvak Centre have limited transparency, approximately 25%, to be responsive to the uses beyond and limit energy use. The south facing glass façade allows for low angle winter sun to light and warm the interiors. The main air distribution is through raised floor plenums with a low velocity system. This allows the mechanically controlled air to be supplied at the point of use rather than forcing the air down form above. Light control sensors are coordinated with day light to provide optimal light conditions and reduce electrical loads.

interior view of lobby

interior view of galleries with lobby below

Natural materials will be from renewable and local sources. Manufactured materials are will be from local sources and will be specified to be green. During construction, a recycling and waste management program will be implemented. These strategies reduce the consumption of raw materials and energy use in production and transportation.

park view from east

evening winter view from park

The project was a proposal for the new Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in Vilnius Lithuania in an invited architectural competition including Studio Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid Architects and Massimiliano Fuksas. Zaha Hadid was pronounced the winner on April 9, 2008. Popular vote selected Daniel Libeskind.

Project Team: Studio Daniel Libeskind
Lead Design: Daniel Libeskind
Principal in charge: Yama Karim
Project Architect: Michael Ashley
Design Team: Sascha Manteufel, Jared Olmstead, Kristian Foshalt, Alvin Sewe, Matthew Young, Injune Kim

Structural and MEP: ARUP

Renderings and Animation: Studio AMD

Vilnius Animation

2008-04-13T08:34:00.011-04:00

The people's choice.

Intelligence at MOMA

2008-03-18T14:59:00.003-04:00

Design for the Elastic Mind is on exhibition at New York's MOMA showing how computation and algorithms can potentially shape our future. The show is an interesting display that reaches the general public...1000s of visitors introduced, some for perhaps the first time, to the power and seduction of the physical manefestations of scripting, generative design, and digital representation.

Long has the discourse of algorithmic design been presented in academic circles with the pursuit of unlocking the secrets of a post human era. This exhibit showcases some of the latest research and ambitions. The question is, whether this trajectory is leading toward a better possibilty, or is it a search for form utilizing new tools and techniques. If computation and generative modelling is only a search for form leading toward a new era in architectural history, then it is a positive leap toward an interesting end. But can it also have a greater possibility?Can the ambition be to build a new and better world through automated fabrication? Can CAM production be modified to reduce waste and reuse material? Can energy used in machining be generated by the process of machining? Can we as designers truly create a natural and symbiotic system of relationships using computational processes between people and the natural world?

visit the exhibition site

http://moma.org/exhibitions/2008/elasticmind/

Bela Bartok Center for Music: Budapest

2008-02-06T08:56:00.001-05:00

Sound is to Music as Light is to Architecture...

The Project begins with "Allegro Barbaro", a piano piece by the Hungarian composer Bela Bartok (audio). The music was analyzed and coded into form creating the center for Music.

captured impressions 03:

2007-12-30T14:11:00.000-05:00

Recent Archi-tourism...

cloud gate: Anish Kapoor

bond street apartments: Herzog & deMeuron

contemporary jewish museum expansion: Daniel Libeskind

federal courthouse: Morphosis

MIT stata center: Frank Gehry

MIT dormatories: Steven Holl

new contemporary art museum: Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA

de young museum: Herzog & deMeuron

institute of contemporary art: Diller, Scofidio + Renfro

jay pritzker pavillion: Frank Gehry

impressions percieved...MA

Escape as Destination

2007-11-25T14:09:00.000-05:00

Hilbert's Infinite Hotel:

student project with Karl Chu, 2005

coral reef as model for recursive system

At a very basic level, a hotel is an establishment that offers lodging to paying customers. In addition, a hotel will often provide a variety of amenities ranging from restaurants and shops to day spas or concert halls. Visitors to a hotel may not only be guests with a room, but may come for the shopping, performances, food, or other events. Thus, the hotel is an establishment with offerings for all the activities of daily life. It is a small piece of relocated city condensed into a single facility.

Having said this, what is not a hotel? In terms of function, is it simply when the establishment can no longer offer lodging? This may occur when the hotel is full, and indirectly recalls Hilbert’s concept of a Grand Hotel. But to further conceptualize when a hotel is not a hotel, I will introduce the dual concepts of direction and divergence. This idea is a set of opposites that are kept in balance. Each is dependent and interdependent upon the other to fully enhance its realization. Without a direction, there could be no divergence. What would you be diverging from? Without divergence, direction would be left untested and wanting.

The direction of ‘hotel-ness’ as described previously suggests a commonly excepted paradigm. Diverging from this direction reveals the negative side of a positive description, or the absence of ‘hotelness’. For example, if the simple purpose of a hotel is to attract guests by offering rooms, amenities and hospitality, then the negative would be to repel guests and stand vacant. Or in another case, the negative could be revealed through a divergence between the hotel’s program and the architectural form. Guests could shower in the gift shops, keep their luggage in the restaurant, and swim in the guestrooms. This project explores a balance between both the positive and negative, the threshold between ‘hotelness’ and the absence of ‘hotelness’, privileging neither and both at the same time in search of a richer architectural experience through awareness of the other.

Genotypic and Phenotypic

The hotel is modeled after the recursive qualities of coral reefs and emerges from the water as if it is an outgrowth from the reef below. The basic animal organisms of coral are called polyps which generate asexually through a process called budding. Each generated organism shares the DNA of the parent organism. These polyps and their generated clones combine in colonies that act as one organism, growing and sharing nutrients through a single skeletal structure. It is these colonies that form the architecture of the reef. Like the hotel, the reef creates the landscape for a complete ecosystem, providing housing and food for all species of marine life.

The architecture of the hotel is generated in a similar way. Substitution systems are used as genetic codes, applied in multiple layers and at multiple scales. These systems are based on designed sets of rules and constraints that are consistent and unique to each system. A simple geometric ‘root atom’ is aggregated into basic molecules. These molecules are propagated into form through a translation extracted from subscribed generations of abstract matrix systems. This subsystem (bone) is nested in a metasystem that organizes the hotel genotype. Other subsystems (skin and circulation) are also nested within the metasystem each with their own intrinsic logic and consistent set of axioms and operations.

At the phenotypic level are the programmatic requirements for the hotel. This influences the recursive generating systems through transcription factors; operations such as adaptive deformation, material substitution, extrusion and deletion. The generated form is mutated and adapts according to the functional requirements of the program. However, on occasion the generative system resists mutation causing the program to adapt. Event and form merge together to create the spatial elements of the hotel appearing seamless in its evolution.

Absence and Infinity

The hotel is organized around a common spine. It is a skeletal infrastructure that circulates inhabitants as well as supplies to all parts of the hotel. One end of the spine connects the hotel to land, the realm of terrestrial beings, the other to the ocean and a submarine world full of mystery. Each end of the circulation spine is a threshold of entrance and exit, to and from the hotel and the contextual worlds it is situated between.

The connective spine also represents a segment of a continuous line, a line that could conceptually extend to infinity. The linear direction points toward the horizon, another threshold between the realms of sea and sky, inspiring ideas for the infinite possibilities of each new day. The slope of the spine diverges from this direction submerging into (or emerging from) the oceanic realm and a finite distinction acknowledging the absence of infinity.

Absence is an infinite concept. Although not a quantitative concept, it is a concept of the negative, a state of not being present. In terms of matter, the presence of matter gives form; the absence of matter gives space. Regardless of the quantity, any matter that is not present is absent, to infinity. In programmatic terms, the absence of inhabitants does not imply the absence of function. Without habitation, a hotel can still be considered a hotel. The architecture is left to its own experience and its own conception of environment.

Spr0ing shortlisted

2007-10-13T10:15:00.000-04:00

Presenting 'spr0ing' by MASH-ARKT.

The chair is one of 150 shortlisted projects in the PREMIO VICO MAGIRSTRETTI international design competition "living simplicity in furniture design".

spr0ing by MASH-ARKT is a lightweight and versatile sitting device for one or two. It is composed of a single helical element that encompasses the circular process of design while maintaining simplicity in form and playfulness with its presence. The chair is crafted from rolled recycled aluminum and finished with a colorful lacquer. The flexibility in the seat relaxes for the comfort of the sitter and the slightly curved underside allows a subtle rocking movement. The sculptural piece changes the mood of any environment as a single object, or as a collection.

it has been chosen from the works of more than 5400 participants, from 98 countries.

Philly gets coded

2007-09-09T11:53:00.000-04:00

The exhibition 'Scripted by Purpose' opened Friday, Sept. 7th with a huge response. Digital exhibitors presented their research and experiments to a crowd of eager hipsters and curious patrons. Intended to showcase the potential of scripting in architecture, the exhibition promotes techniques that can steer the future of our environments and environ-nets.

The power of computational automation in design is an undeniable reality. And the ability for designers to manipulate and modify open source software offers creative advantages and opens new form-finding potentials. But scripting doesn't solve the architectural problem. In fact, the exhibition reveals that this trajectory of architecture is still in its infancy and is more useful to academic circles. and self-serving experimenation, rather than changing the course of architecture, society and culture. The work is both interesting and beatiful. It is highly sophisticated and injected with a lethal dose of tech. But the presentation stops at a level of visual aesthetic and fails to communicate the potency of translating digital fetishes into important spatial dimensions that force a tacile relation beyond the eye.

The exhibition isn't completely void of physical manifestation. There are several prototype including carbon fiber branching nodes by David Pigram, and wonderful translucent corian leaves by 4-pli. Flexible tubes infest the entire gallery as traced digital lines sparking a playful desire to duck and flow between the curves. Installations that cause the viewer to duck and shift, to change the vantage point and adjust the parallax are much more effective as communicating devices.

As scripting in digital architecture continues to mature in academic circles and experimental practices, graduates will be better and better equipped to meet the demands of a changing world. As global society continues toward a digital future, and manufacturing mass customization becomes more cost available, scripting by purpose will fulfill its destiny to manifest physical terrain, not only as interiors or pavillions, but as homes, offices, shops, neighborhoods, cities, countries, planets....and beyond.

http://scriptedbypurpose.net

captured impressions from Toronto

2007-08-20T22:33:00.000-04:00

Addition to the Royal Ontario Museum by Studio Daniel Libeskind

ROM opening night

ROM interior

Will Alsop - sharp center for design

Plaza scapes

Graduate House by Morphosis

Calatrava - BCE Place

2007-07-30T20:39:00.000-04:00

Creative Crossroads

2007-07-01T12:09:00.000-04:00

The CREATIVE CROSSROADS is where artistic disciplines intersect resulting in the emergence of new forms of art and expression.

THE CROSSROADS

The new Center for Creative and Performing Arts building designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind and proposed for the Univeristy of Chicago, is a composition of four volumes that cluster together into a single bundle of architectural possibility. The volumes are pure, orthagonal boxes in Chicago's architectural tradition, however these boxes have been rotated and tilted off the ground plane and obvious perpendicular axes. The result is a new architecture that alters the perceptions of ordinary spatial representation, and allows a freedom and influence for artistic innovation.

GROUND LEVEL PLAN

SECTION

SECOND LEVEL PLAN

THIRD LEVEL PLAN

Each bar represents a general artistic discipline: The Visual Arts, (including painting and sculpting) the Performing Arts, (dance, acting and theater) Music, and Exhibition. This fourth exhibition bar represents the product of the arts and includes multi-function spaces for exhibiting the student and faculty work, and rehearsal and performance space. It is a transparent volume of glass that exhibits the activity of the entire center to the larger campus and the community.

EXHIBITION BAR

At the intersection of these bars, large atrium voids are carved out creating unique social spaces for chance encounters between the disciplines. The voids are naturally lit from above and views from different levels and circulatory paths open onto them bringing an interesting mix of life and vibrancy. Two main concourses of circulation between the four bars and leading from each side of the building, mingle within these atrium spaces. It is here, at the crossroads, where the center has its soul, and the expression of art and its value to humanity is refreshed, explored and discovered.

ENTRANCE TO ATRIUMS

THEATER ATRIUM

THE CREATIVE CROSSROADS

Blue to Green

2007-04-22T10:48:00.000-04:00

"Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money." -Cree Indian Proverb

We see the signs in weather patterns. Catastrophic storms, rising ocean levels, melting polar ice caps, shrinking forests, all are effects of global warming. The term 'sustainability' has become a heroic catch phrase within the discipline of architecture...and rightfully so.

But can 'green design' be more than just the latest trend that corporate architecture paints onto its facade to promote business? What can architecture do as a social catalyst that changes the living patterns of the human race? Building construction and the growth of cities is one of the leading producers of waste, greenhouse gases and energy consumption. Can emerging digital processes and manufacturing technologies push architecture and construction practices away from the tradition of consumption and into a future of healthy stewardship of planet earth?

The automobile industry has moved in this direction with the development of hybrid and electrical vehicles. The recently completed ford factory has made a statement in green building techniques and production. Architecture is following, but there needs to be more than simply using recycled materials, reclaiming water, and planting an array of photo-voltaic panels on the roof.

Prefabrication of architectural components that are implanted with data intelligence can be designed to reduce on site construction waste. Factories themselves can become smaller and more mobile, producing and assembling these components through robotic computation. Architecture can become more fluid in flexible in how it is constructed leaving less of an ecological impact on the blue planet.

H [two] O

2007-02-12T12:13:00.000-05:00

The underlying attraction of the movement of water...is biological. If we look more deeply we can see it as the basis of an abstract idea linking ourselves with the limitless mechanics of the universe.

- Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe

Water...one of the most fundamental elements of life on this planet. It has the ability to transform states between liquid, solid and gas. It has the potential to form and shape earth and stone with complex beauty. It has the capability to cleanse or destroy, to sustain life or drown it. It has a magical effect on the mind and spirit. It has inspired architects for millenia.

Humanity, like all life, flocks to water. Civilizations have risen or declined due to its availability. Coastal cities have grown through the centuries due to maritime ports. Beaches and lakes draw visitors from dry land seeking an oasis. Vacationers flock to island seas, or snow-capped mountains for recreation. Water has an amazing draw, it is essential to our life and lifestyle.

75% of our planet is covered by the odorless, tasteless and colorless element, of that 97.5% is salty. 40% of the earth's atmosphere falls to the surface through precipitation each day. This feeds the plant life, which feeds the animal life, and makes its way into lakes, rivers, ice caps, groundwater etc. before eventually draining to the oceans. As the sun heats the ocean surface, water evaporates again replenishing the atmosphere. The earth's continuous water cycle, through flows in the sky and currents in the sea is what sustains life.

70% of a tree is made of water, 80% of corn, 90% of a tomato, 70% of a chicken, and 70% of an average human. All from a simple combination of two small hydrogen atoms bonded to one large atom of oxygen. The hydrogen bonds that connect the atoms into water molecules forms an unequal distribution of electric charges which allows the electrostatic shifting of electrons. Each hydrogen atom is thus attracted to the oxygen atom of a neighboring molecule and bonds to it with the tenacity greater than the molecules of some metals. The hydrogen atoms form an infinite string that is configured as a structural lattice that constantly shifts from one configuration to the next every fraction of a second.

In architecture, water is often used as another material, collected in pools or fountains. It has directed site design and planning, orienting a view, collected for sustainability, or utilized for power generation. It has ever had an incredible influence on the human psyche, mesmerizing the eyes and ears with its soothing undulation and refreshing acoustics. These are valuable uses for this fundamental element of life, but is there something more that we, as architects, can learn from this amazing molecule? Can we learn to build in a life-sustaining way, that offers unending fluidity and flexibility through deploying a simple 'molecular' unit? Is it possible to achieve the emotional, physical and structural attributes of water in architecture? Can we build liquid architecture? The future is wide open...

*sources:

H20 The Beauty and Mystery of Water. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. New York, 2001.

Wikipedia: water. http://www.answers.com/topic/water website access 02/2007

Pacific Institute. http://www.worldwater.org/ website accessed 02/2007

nature's in[form]ation

2006-12-03T10:34:00.000-05:00

The expansion of the historic library in Stockholm begins with the notion of bringing nature back into the city's grid. A brief history of the city begins 750 years ago where an important trade destination is founded in a fishing port in the Baltic sea. The city center spans a collection of 14 islands permanently connecting it to the waterways and earning it the name "Venice of the North". High ridges rising from the icy waters were organizing geographies informing the original city planning. With no heavy industry, the city is a high cultural seat of learning having museums, universities and an opera house.

In 1928, the Stockholm Public Library was built by the Swedish architect Gunnar Asplund and with its primary form, has become one of the most recognizable buildings in the city. It was built at the base of an island ridge where two patterns of urban grid collide. Sitting above the city fabric, separated by the steep slope of the ridge is an historic observatory oriented towards cardinal north. The original library building is on axis with the observatory, and the intersecting diagonals of the two competing grids, yet it is rotated away from any of these lines denying any hierarchy and offering a pivot point in the city tissue.

The observatory hill, as it has come to be known, is a bright green spot in the density of the city, but its height separates it from the city on the library side. The new library addition is an opportunity to reconnect the natural landmark with daily city life and transform the historic piece of landscape into a cultural destination.

The addition becomes an extension of the hill. The three LibraryAnnex buildings which were added later during the 20th c, are pulled into the natural growth of the landform connecting all the existing parts of the Library with a single organic form. This expansion is a glazed volume that provides necessary space for auditoriums, teaching rooms, learning centers, and the library's extensive book collection. A continuous sloping floor system ramps up the height of the ridge containing the library stacks and connects the inside of the library to the to of observatory hill. An expanded visitor and historic cultural center is located inside the original Asplund building, administration is in the existing annex building, and the depository, sorting and media management are located in the basement with loading from a side street to the west.

The addition presents itself to the city as a natural backdrop to the existing buildings and is entered from a large plaza between the original library and the annexes. The addition also wraps around the hill forming an exterior amphitheatre and raised terrace overlooking the Asplund designed reflecting pool. The garden terrace blends into the ridge and is connected at several points by a flowing continuous ramp. Across the terrace from the library is a restaurant that activates the plaza space on two levels. The small retail shops the previously fronted the original library building along the street intersection are relocated under the terrace and no longer separate the library from the community. Instead, a sculpted plaza sets the historic building up as a monument to the history of Swedish architecture.

The new library expansion, as an extension of the natural geography, as a connection between the separate elements of the existing library, as a reminder of the city's past and a push into the city's future, will house our collective knowledge and information for generations to come.

DAM in the mountains

2006-10-13T07:36:00.001-04:00

Upon first approach to Libeskind's new art museum expansion, you immediately see its triangular titanium-clad forms set against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains which are ever present to the Denver skyline. The museum is the latest addition to a collection of buildings in Denver's cultural center that represent a range of different architectural eras and ideas. Set against Michael Grave's public Library of post modern forms, the museum challenges the notions of platonic form, orthagonal grid, and gravity. One of it's most prominent moments is its 145 ft prow-like cantilever that reaches over the street and the parts if the original art museum, a fortress-like structure by the Italian architect Gio Ponti, clad in shimmering tiles that gleam in the setting Colorado sun.

The main entrance to the museum is through a pedestrian plaza converted from a closed city street that is on axis with the civic plaza, a grand display of classical organization and traditional gardens flanked by the city hall and capital buildings...and also a site for another controversial Libeskind renovation. The museum's plaza is shaped from the other side by a parking structure that is wrapped with high-end Libeskind designed condominium units. This building is a bit disappointing from the exterior with a common 'mondrian' glass wall interrupted by seemingly arbitrary angular forms. However, the unit interiors are suprisingly interesting, relating nothing to their skin except at unexpected moments when angular windows slash the view from interior rooms.

The most interesting part of the museum expansion is the central atrium. It is a 5-story volume that allows space to leak from the auditorium level below grade up to the unreachable skylit peak high above the 4th floor. This orienting space is so powerful that it can be dis-orienting for the feint hearted when trying to view its entirety. Circulation leads your body through the space in a continuous upward spiral, sometimes exposing the full view of the atrium at balcony overlooks, and sometimes masking the view behind sloping walls that offer only a peak of the journey beyond.

Once conceived with an all-glass ceiling, the atrium now limits light to seep in from the edges. This move, though driven by economics, makes the void more successful by controlling the light and view internalizing the nature of the space to its own character, rather than opening it up to the sky. The idea of interlocking folds (inspired by Michelangelo's "Touch of God") is less apparent without the glass-to-solid relation, but the forms are strong without the glass and the space is better inside.

Like all architecture that is manifest into physical building, there are minor things in the details that can be improved upon, like the placement of access ladders, and snow-load gates, but these things don't detract from the appreciation of the work. The anticipated opening was a huge success. Artists and architects from all over the country flocked to the museum's doors which were open with free admission for 35 hours straight in honor of the museum's 35 anniversary. The building is a sculptural object in the city fabric. A fine setting for the creative works displayed within.

thoughts on contextualism

2006-10-01T10:23:00.001-04:00

When speaking of context architecturally, it is referring to the surrounding character of buildings, landmarks, street patterns, or geography such as land forms, topography or bodies of water. In an urban condition, it is considered by some to be "good design" when a newly planned project relates to adjacent or nearby buildings with similar materials, fenestration patterns, height datum lines, etc. that exist in the area. Planning zones and guidelines are typical to control these situations and ensure some sense of "contextualism" when new buildings are being introduced. This idea of "fitting in" with what already exists, seems to be the very thing that holds architecture to a slow rate of progression.

If architecture is to be a catalyst for the advancement of human culture, then new buildings should not continually relate to the old and banal fabric of existing conditions. Architects must resist the socially accepted practices of blending in...or disappearing without changing anything, when making proposals for a better tomorrow. If we continue to build for the same old today, and often times yesterday, then how can we expect to adopt new ways of thinking and new methods of action through new patterns of behavior? This notion doesn't suggest that every building be different merely for the sake of being different. But operating within similar boundaries of rules, architects can create environments that challenge the notion of context.

If one thing is certain, that is change is inevitable. This includes change in terms of context. At the scale of the individual, context becomes a continuous flow of sensory information. The shifting of bodies and vehicles on the city street, the sounds of machinery operating or ambient music in a storefront, the smells of a restaurant or the garbage bin in the alley, all are contextual at this scale. Context can be considered the furniture one is surrounded with, the objects on that furniture, the electrical pulses that command the light and the dark, the invisible waves of information that beam conversation to the cell phone and data to the laptop, even the white noise coming from the earbuds of someone's ipod sitting next to you on the subway. Context is never static. But when making an envelope to contain these contextual events, the architect (many times) offers a static box that relates to other static boxes. Can these static proposals that contain an untold variety of different scalar contexts be considered "good design". Is there some other way to shelter the activities of society that represents the complexity and continual change that occurs behind the blank facade? Can the very idea of context become a fractal operation of self-similar parts between the individual (micro) and the building (macro)?

This is the challenge for the architect of tomorrow.

morphocreative

2006-09-14T09:12:00.002-04:00

As the discourse and exploration into computation as architectural design continues, more insight is being offered into the potentials of tomorrow's digitally charged world. New techniques for form generation and fitness criteria in which to test these forms are developing at a remarkable pace. Architects are becoming part biologist and part computer scientist, studying the natural world in order to implement biological growth strategies into digitally simulated environments to achieve a complexity that is unpredictable and beyond the individual will of the designer. Virtual agents are programmed with behavioral information that can be translated into formal patterns, populations, and structural systems. Evolutionary techniques propagate agents through mating and mutation breeding an offspring that contains a mix of its parent agents creating a sort of 'genetic vitality' that is then subject to the fitness criteria of the environment being designed. These reproduced generations can take on any number of attributes. Architecturally, they can be volumes of space that represent rooms, they can be panelized shapes that create a surfacing system, they can be structural members that form a mesh... Whatever the interpretation is the will of the designer.

The power of these evolutionary computing tools are undeniably potent, and the result of a well constructed system is visually amazing. Yet the seduction of the presented product may be misleading, the concept of 'hands-off' design / bio-mimetic evolutionary processes has a fundamental flaw, and the research of generative morphogenetic design often overlooks the one of the most basic reasons for architecture to exist in the first place.

Thousands of years ago, at the beginning of mankind's recorded history, architecture was created out of necessity for shelter from the natural world. Throughout the centuries, it has represented many monumental ideals of man's philosophy; the immortality of the pyramid, the grandeur of the palace, the might of the fortress, the divinity of the cathedral... It has provided solitude for the individual, comfort for the family, kinship for the community, commerce for the city, and headquaters for the nation. Architecture has throughout history served mankind for specific purposes and offered a reading of human culture that invigorates the health of societal networks. Unfortunately, it has also represented man's conquest over nature rather than our symbiosm with it. And nature continues to prove that it is more powerful, more beautiful, more intelligent, and through increased capability and investigation, we discover its designs are more amazingly complex and fascinating.

What can we learn from nature in order to better understand how to deploy natural systems into architectural design? Evolutionary processes in nature are contained within species and environment. Small genetic alterations are presented through mating and mixing of the gene pool, but this is always done within a species, kind with kind and type with type. Mutations in biological organisms do not enhance the organism or its performance, but rather contaminate it. Sometimes, these mutations can be passed on devitalizing the genealogy through each successive generation. When introduced to a fitness function such as the environment, natural selection demands the survival of the strongest and best equipped for the environment, allowing them to mate and pass on the fittest genes into the next generation gene pool. The mutations die out and do not survive.

Evolution through adaptation is evident within species who adapt to their habitat, strengthening their genetic chances for survival to the next generation. However, no scientific evidence shows evolution between species at a genetic level. In order to be tested by the fitness criteria, a complete phenotypic model must be presented. From the entire organism to the individual systems within the organism, a completed phenotype must be tested. The test cannot occur at any level lower than the completed whole, due to the fact that the complex systems are more than the sum of the individual parts that compose them. The skeletal system, the muscular system, circulatory system, must all be complete in order to test against the fitness criteria and ensure they are strong enough to survive and be passed on. Each organ in the biological body must be complete to perform its function. An organism could not survive without complete lungs to breathe, or with a complete heart to pump...the organism would not live while small mutations to an incomplete lung were being tested to see if it could provide for the respiratory needs of the body. How would it pass on genetic information if it does not survive? A single bone does not perform its function apart from the adjacent bones of the skeletal system, and this compressive structure needs the muscular system to operate it. The muscle needs blood from the circulatory system, which carries oxygen from the respiratory system...and so on. Every complex system at every level within the natural world is more than the sum of its parts and critical to the phenotype's condition of survival and genetic continuation. Where do the specific phenotypes come from? They must be designed.

How does this inform the architectural trajectory? Design is inevitable. There are always fitness criteria in which to test and measure the performance of every generation, but at every level, it is up to the designer to impose their design judgment upon the work. Just as in the complexity of the natural design is undeniable, so too in the search for generative techniques in architecture. In the sight of architecture's potential and the proliferation of seducing forms being produced in today's academic arenas, the architect must not overlook the consideration of its human users. This does not imply that architecture cannot exist without people...it can. Nor does this imply that architecture cannot strive beyond the reach of this planet's current physical reality, including gravity, solar and atmospheric conditions, and time. What it does imply, that the human race is an existing species, expected to adapt and survive and not expected to evolve into another species. Architecture will continue to be designed by humans and for humans, creating a better tomorrow and ensuring the genetic vitality of our cultures.

The quest to mimic the natural environment through architectural research and development is noble. It is inevitably the path toward a future where man-made architecture becomes more like biological organisms co-existing with nature rather than attempting to control it. Through this partnership the world will be enhanced with a human / nature symbiosis rich with architectural complexity, variation, interest and fascination.

captured impressions : 02

2006-09-11T08:36:00.000-04:00

Remember : 9/11 - 5 years later.
Cesar Pelli - World Financial Center

Joe MacDonald - Bone Wall

Asymptote - Alessi store

Thomas Heatherwick - Longchamp store

Frank Gehry - Diller offices

Foster and Partners - Hearst Building

Rem Koolhaas - Prada, Soho

Steven Holl - Storefront for Art and Architecture

Nightlife at Washington Square, NYC
arch by Mckim, Mead and White, 1889

skyscraper in Central Park, natural complexity

Hernan Diaz-Alonso - PS1 Moma courtyard installation, 2005

Impressions from a city...MA

thoughts on complexity

2006-09-05T08:54:00.001-04:00

The observation of nature, both living and inanimate systems, reveals a beautiful complexity that operates at every scale from macro to micro. To touch on how the philosopher Whitehead put it, patterns of activity are constantly interacting with each other producing organizations of relating systems that are in constant flux, change and adaptation to each other. In every case, behaviors are present that are irreducible in their parts and revealed only in the top level hierarchy of thier development when all the participating agents are present and active. This can occur in many overlapping layers with each level of relationships creating a more complex organization than the preceding level. At any level, the organization of the wholistic system is more than the individual components that form it. The more sophisticated systems are present only when upper levels are complete, and are untracable and unpredictable at lower levels of component groupings.

This phenomenon is around us in the natural world everywhere, the patterns on the surface of a body of water, the bark and branching of trees, the way the leaves react when the wind influences them. Complexity is found in dynamic manmade environments, such as the walking patterns on a crowded city sidewalk, or a packed freeway. When the manmade world blends with the natural, the potential for more and more complexity and unpredicability is presented.

Searching for complexity in working systems of the built environment offers a sophistication that can push architecture beyond the presence of form or function. It has the potentional to create a living organism that can be in a symbiotic harmony with its natural environment and its biological hosts. And with this comes a changing, unpredictable architecture that offers new perception through life.

Machine or Nature

2006-08-17T09:27:00.001-04:00

"Those who look for the laws of Nature as a support for their new works collaborate with the Creator."
- Antonio Gaudi

During a period of industrial revolution and mechanization, there remained a thread of discourse that was interested in biological systems. Roughly 100 years ago, modernism was emerging in architecture through implementation of the then current technological innovations. New methods of mass production and new high-strength, light-weight materials were deployed to shape a modern world of tomorrow fitted with the latest conveniences for modern life. Advocates of the movement were inspired by the efficient technology of the machine. Transportation vehicles such as the airplane, automobile, and ocean liner enabled man to travel great distances, which previously took days or weeks on horseback, in a relatively short time. Production and manufacturing had achieved massive efficiency. Science had taken the place of philosophy in terms of logic and thinking. Architect's searched for ways to build with the same functionality, creating "machines", as Le Corbusier put it, "for living in."

We know all too well the history of European modernism that rose from a post-war environment of necessity, and then immigrated to America to first become a symbol of capitalism, then corporate power in the skyscraper, then mutated with classicism for 'aesthetic' purposes, and ultimately classified into 'styles' referred to as 'functionalism', 'minimalism', or 'international style'...etc. It is becoming more and more prevalent and widely used by designers who reject notions of ornamentation and classical architecture, often called 'traditional'. These are not new ideas, in fact they are quite old, and the canon of 'modern architecture', using platonic solids and pure geometrical forms has replaced the renaissance as the 'traditional'.

Just as the modernists of last century were inspired by the technology of their day, so are the architects of the 21st century. Over the past decade or two, advances in computation and software development has given new tools to designers, resulting in a proliferation of form generation with increasing geometrical complexity. Advances in the fields of robotics, genetic research, and artificial intelligence inspire architects to design and ultimately build with the sophistication of intelligent organisms. Natural systems are researched bringing a bio-mimetic generation to form-giving and architectural design. As early as 1968, computational systems such as the Lindenmayer system (after the Hungarian biologist, Aristid Lindenmayer), were developed to simulate natural growth and branching through a recursive process. Today, computational software enables architects to deploy and manipulate similar logics to building design.

Some may discard this trajectory as unimportant, reacting only to a visual impulse. Many morphological productions and explorations have been classified as 'blobs', and regarded to as unbuildable, digital art. The research is still relatively experimental and considered an infant, though manufacturing capabilities are rapidly being developed to realize the designs. CAM techniques using computer numeric controlled (CNC) milling, water or laser cutting is enabling the work to translate from a cyber environment into a physical one. Just as the pioneers of the modern movement made proposals for a new tomorrow, so are many of today's architects foreseeing a possible world of intelligent cities and -literally- 'smart growth' for the next century. Throughout architectural history, advances in world technology as inspired thinkers to imagine other possible worlds. Inspired by the complexity of growth systems and behavioral patterns of mother nature, rather than man-made machines, the ambition of the discipline is placed beyond the existing creations of man, and after the designs of the Master Creator.

captured impressions : 01

2006-08-09T09:23:00.000-04:00

Will Bruder - Nevade Art Museum

United Architects - WTC proposal

Steven Holl - Loisium Wine Center

Soleri - Arcosanti

Mies - Seagram Building

Zaha Hadid - Cincinnati Art Museum

Le Corbusier - Ronchamp

Morphosis - CalTrans Headquarters

Calatrava - Milwakee Art Museum

Frank Gehry - Disney Concert Hall

Will Bruder - Phoenix Library

Raphael Moneo - Cathedral of the Lady of Angels

Richard Meier - Federal Courthouse

Perception enhanced through "architourism"

structural tessellations

2006-07-26T08:53:00.001-04:00

The realization of the table is a manifestation of a larger exploration of technique regarding architectural skin and envelope. The premise for this model was to use a single planar material as a structural load-bearing element. In this case, 1/8” thick steel plate was selected for its thinness, malleability, strength and availability. The challenge was to support the weight of a 24”x60”x3/4” piece of glass that weighs over 100 pounds, and to do this without the use of welds or mechanical fasteners. Folding is a natural approach that yields interest through its potentially infinite variety and possibility of creating 3 dimensional form out of a 2 dimensional material. The act of folding reveals a non-orthogonal geometry and an inherent rigidness in the plate steel.

The subdivision of the plates is performance based. By subtracting the material and creating a mesh, the pieces become lighter and more visually stimulating. At an architectural scale, the openings in the envelope would allow for light and air penetration into the space. By triangulating the planes, the structural integrity remains which merges the skin and load-bearing structure into one element. The algorithm used for the tessellation begins with the constraints of the original material and the geometry of the folds. Points are chosen within a particular range along the periphery and then connected with lines in the computer. These lines are offset, modified, reduced, increased, or deleted according to the density and overall look of the mesh, and the performance of the machining technique. The mesh is then cut from the steel plate using a waterjet. Originally, the table base was conceived as a single piece of material the folded to support the glass, but was divided into two pieces due to the constraints of the waterjet’s fabrication capability.

See more images of 'tessellation mesh table' study at
www.mash-arkt.com/object.html

The body in space

2006-07-20T15:12:00.005-04:00

If we are looking at perception, and perception is an understanding of the world...how does the physical body and its placement in reality affect perception? How does the body relate to the perception of architecture? How is architecture defined in relation to the body?

Every outcome depends on initial input...That is to say, one's perception can only be formed by one's experience in life. This sounds simple enough. In addition to this, architecture exists with or without the body.

Every experience that someone has throughout an entire lifetime is the sum of what they know. This includes every person they ever spoke to, or every place they ever went (real or fantasy), everything they ever read, topic they researched, discipline they studied, music they heard, food they ate...etc, you get the point. It is impossible for someone to know what they have never been exposed to in one form or another. These experiences are the initial inputs of data that shape and influence one's life. They are stored, combined and multiplied, imagined and realized in the mind, where perception takes place.

The body is the container, the physical vehicle for the mind. It is equipped with sensory inputs for seeing, touching, hearing, tasting and smelling, continuously gathering data; adding information to the confluence of perception. It also provides mobility to take the mind to arenas of new experience and understanding. The body experiences as it moves through space allowing the mind to engage and interpret the input data. Perception is the deciphering of the data and validation of the combined experiences presented to the body and mind. Architecture then, is the space the body moves within. It is the source of the input data and can be qualified as everything outside the body. Every space the body inhabits...every sound in that space...every sight of that space...

Does this suggest that every room is architecture in relation to the body inside the room? Is every street considered architecture as the body moves within it? Are cars, trees and furniture part of the ideological sense of architecture? Are other people outside your own body considered architecture? Is the computer screen you are staring at right now architecture?

Or is architecture just buildings and the making of them?

Or is architecture a discipline of thinking and designing space...in relation to the body?

I think it is a matter of perception....

one of the questions of form:

2006-07-07T17:20:00.001-04:00

Curvilinear or straight…is it a matter of preference? Is it the stylistic will of the architect who imposes their desired form upon society? Why is it that architecture traditionally tends to be manifested in straight lines, rectilinear massing and 90 degree angles? If a curve is introduced, then it is typically an arc, circle, or sphere derived from rudimentary platonic solids. If there is an angle to disrupt the perfect 90 degree box, it is seen as a roof or derived from some quality in the site. Why are windows and doors square, walls vertical, and floor slabs horizontal? Is it a direct consequence of the construction industry, mass producing straight pieces that are later assembled into the buildings of yesterday? Is it performance based following the laws of gravity in terms of vertical loads? Is it because people need flat horizontal surfaces to exist upon? Is it because we are used to seeing buildings in straight and rectilinear arrangements which give us a sense of familiar comfort stemming from cities of the past.

Other industrial realizations of mankind are not restricted to this prescribed ruleset. Taking a look at transportation; cars and boats, are designed for performance and style, being mass produced and continually evolving. Planes and trains are designed for aerodynamics and efficiency. Small objects such as electronics and media devices are sculpted and shaped based on functional and aesthetic requirements, but not restricted to the bulk of assembly found in buildings and construction materials. Why is architecture so far behind in terms of form?

When an interesting architectural proposal is conceived with irregular curvilinear form, or a complex network of smooth surfaces and natural shapes, why is it seen by the layperson as ‘something out of a science fiction movie’? Why is there such resistance to receive architecture that escapes traditional methods of conception and representation?

Taking a look at nature and natural systems, straight lines and box-like forms are no where to be found…except at the horizon, a distant and infinitely unattainable threshold. No matter how far you travel toward the horizon, you will not reach it, until you escape the confines of the planet and see the straight line is really a curve. Does the straight line represent order and man’s dominance over nature? Does it recall the power of an industrially advanced civilization? What about a digitally advanced one? Can form-generation escape a designer’s prescribed realization? Can there be an architecture that conceives its own form? Even with advanced digital methods of generating form, there may be unforeseen outcomes, but there is still the matter of preference and decision. The manifestation is restricted to the logic and constraints of the designer’s will. Even if the object itself is not designed, the code that generates the form is. Ultimately, all formed objects are formed…by a designer. So, is it a matter of preference?...

What is reality...What is real?

2006-06-29T11:03:00.000-04:00

That's an interesting question. In today's technological world of information flow, more and more people are spending a large majority of their conscious hours are spent in so-called cyber-space. The images and words on screen fill the mind, the interactivity of the interface becomes an actual extension of the body. Does this virtual arena hold a real place in time and space?

Prior to the complexity of the internet, visual media has entertained and informed people of situations apart from their own. Television has for decades been a window to the world, flashing documentation and fantasy from its portal to viewers in millions of households. This past century has seen the TV set replace the hearth as the center of family gatherings. Film and motion pictures have transported viewers from their (home)theater seat to fantastic worlds imagined in the future, past or present. Video games have reached a level of sophistication that encompasses all the senses of the gamer drawing them into realms that challenge the mental skill as well as physical coordination. Children, very early in life, are training through problem-solving interactions and fine-tuning motor skills.

The network of personal computers has connected the entire globe to communicate within fractions of seconds. Business transactions, shopping, chatting, education, and entertainment can all flow directly from servers anywhere in the unknown world directly into your living and ultimately into your mind. The information is real enough. The impressions upon the mind have real and lasting effects on the persona. Is this reality?

The subject of perception comes into play here. How one perceives the world, interacts with it, remembers it and imagines it, shapes what one thinks, how one behaves, and ultimately who one is. How is architecture involved with this level of perception? Physical space, buildings and landscapes, directly affects the perception and action of the user. But what of the places that are seen through pictures? If one has never been to Rome, for example, one might still gain a real understanding of Rome through study, images, maps, texts, etc. One understands Rome as a real place, though never actually having to be there. What about a place that doesn't exist physically, but only through images, and words? For example, a scene in movie or picture in a magazine, is this place real? Images of photographed physical architecture often portray a brand new building, brilliant in it's pose, without stain or weather. Is this real? Is this reality?

I would like to submit that it is real. It leaves a real impression upon the mind that causes a real effect in the people that make-up the fabric of our communities. Architecture, in this sense, can be just as potent within a virtual realm, as it can in a physical. The ideas manifested in the reality of the image are transferred to viewers of the image giving them an understanding of the spatial quality of the architecture. Perhaps this definition of real is too general, and there are different intensities of so-called reality. So the question then is not what is real or not...but what is architecture?

welcome

2006-06-29T09:56:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the MASH-ARKT perceptions!
We are interested in continuing a fresh discourse of contemporary architecture and design...