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Farshid Moussavi Professor in Practice Department of Architecture |
Studio Options
| Experiments in Tessellation: Airport Terminal Airport terminals are essentially 'sheds'- large volumes of space, with long spans and no major subdivisions, to cater for the flows of people and goods that they enclose. The "shed" could be regarded as an 'abstract machine', a versatile idea that has accommodated functions as wide a range as train stations, to museums. Though a variety of structural solutions have been developed for the shed, producing a variety of forms, the shed has remained a modular system of growth, catering for repetitive organizations. The fourth generation of airport terminals are currently producing larger sheds than ever before. China alone will be building 48 new large airports in the next 5 years. These airport terminals are a continuous building site as they continue to expand to cater for larger aircrafts. Constant changes and expansion to the shed is therefore adding an unprecedented level of complexity to the shed. Meanwhile, the airport terminal is required to act as a 'landmark', making the expression of the shed as an equally important function of the shed. The new super-sized airport shed needs to be infinitely flexible and exceedingly unique. Unlike the simple repetition of modules in conventional sheds, the studio explores tessellation as a part-whole system that allows for complex repetition through an aggregation of diverse parts. The complexity of this repetition is a function of the degree of correspondence inbuilt into the part-to-whole relationship. The studio produces generative base units for the airport terminal that interrelate several components through a specific and common criteria — a plane of correspondence. This involves infusing the base unit with a particular mode of subjectivity that will, in parallel to the system of growth, breed unique traits of expression and affective qualities. Tessellation can involve variation as a consistent expressive trait to its base unit so that it generates variety and uniqueness as a consistent character of their system. We will test this at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport in China which plans to build a new terminal in two phases. The semester involves analyzing recent airport terminals as well as different large-span shed typologies that maybe applicable to the airport terminal. The studio develops base units with specific protogeometries that can direct the growth of the supershed. Primary organizational material — such as structure, circulation, natural lighting and facade systems- will be set in correspondence to produce novel configurations that can grow in a number of different ways in time. Though not a requirement, those students with knowledge of parametric modeling such as CATIA are encouraged to apply. Experiments in Tessellation:
London High Rise Cities that once hosted nations now host a rich array of 'cosmopolitans' through processes of globalization. Continually redefined by the people who occupy them and their requirements, cities are no longer singular 'wholes', but molecular compositions that are differentiated. Whereas the nation formerly provided cities with a singular ideal identity, the cosmopolitan society that inhabits the contemporary city is made up of diverse and active constellations that unite to co-habit the city in 'connected isolations'. Whereas the architecture of the city could once represent the singular nation, today it needs to embody this multiplicity. Earlier years of globalization were captured by Deconstruction through collage as a way to express this emerging difference. But we no longer need to 'express' or invent difference. Difference is everywhere. This difference, however, is mobile and shifting in time. Instead of declaring all these differences as random and un-combinable, the critical question for architecture is how to identify those differences that are singular, and give rise to new forms and possibilities across the space of the city. To do this, we need to look for connections, define systems of negotiation, and identify larger areas of consistency among these differentiated entities. Addressed to buildings, these issues question the way we relate parts to whole. The 'part-to-whole' cultural problem coincides with recent developments in the realm of production that—in place of the standardization of early industry—can cater for unlimited difference and increased complexity. CAD-CAM design devices and numerically controlled manufacturing techniques have already opened up design and production to increased levels of geometrical complexity. Architecture now has the opportunity to merge experimentation in form-making with the realm of production through a convergence of an increasingly differentiated non-technical domain with a non-standard technical domain that can cater for ever growing demands for variation. This convergence requires a 'line of consistency'—a transversal connection between technical material (such as codes, standards, developmental rules, environmental regulations) and non-technical/cultural material (such as diversity, branding, iconography, economy and lifestyle)—in order to breed a new type of material complex which is not the result of a simple addition but rather a new, hybrid materiality. The true challenge to architecture, in fact, is no longer the production of variety but the construction of these systems of correspondence across differentiated material. Various attempts have been made throughout history to construct systems of correspondence between parts, including systems of proportion, systems of modulation, and typological systems. Of these, modulated systems (for example, as carried out in Islamic architecture) were the only ones to include an idea of growth. Islamic architecture multiplied geometrical and repetitive forms through "infinite correspondence" to cover whole surfaces in which foreground and background motifs were no longer distinguishable, removing any hierarchy between parts and wholes. The modular approach, however, had the limitation that the modules were fixed and could only aggregate into different functional organizations through simple repetition, detached from the specific domains within which they would operate. In contrast to modular systems, tessellation is an example of a part-to-whole system that can become locally specific. Through a geometric system, tessellation regulates the interrelations amongst diverse parts without predetermining the forms that they take. The "protogeometries" that control the relationships between parts in a tessellation can consolidate into infinitely varied species when applied to different sites. Tessellation is therefore an ideal tool for producing species that can grow allometrically (as in the growth of biological species), avoiding the exclusively replicative way in which types or modules grow. The capability of tessellation to proliferate forms that vary according to their circumstances of use is best represented historically by Gothic architecture. As opposed to the ideal proportional systems of the Renaissance or the fixed properties of Modernism, the Gothic approach was abstract, relating parts through a consistent topological relationship to the whole. Instead of an ideal or 'base' geometry, Gothic architecture—based on a three—dimensional structural 'module' of crossed arches extending down over a rectangular area in plan—comprised a protogeometry that, when applied to varying plan organizations, acquired specific form in each case. This possibility in tessellation—to organize flexible, complex part-to-whole relationships that are able to produce domain-specific entities, but also to be rationalized into regular geometries—is precisely what makes it an effective tool today, as it produces systems of relationships that are at once tied to the cultural and the technical domain. Case Study: High-Rise The studio pursues a research on architectural species rather than types, applied to the case of the high-rise. Species are sets of consistent morphological relations, a reproductive community that varies across time and space, and therefore present a much more effective tool to operate in an increasingly shifting cultural environment, in which buildings need to satisfy varying priorities that go beyond purely internal efficiencies. Types are fixed assemblages and proliferate across time and space through replication, and are therefore unable to accommodate the diversities that exist in contemporary cities. The architecture of the high-rise has been haunted by reductionist typological strategies to control difference and to produce a fixed or ideal state, detached from the external context. The history of tall buildings has primarily revolved around the optimization of a series of issues of a technical nature internal to the problem of vertical growth. Structural explorations aim to minimize the material needed to grow tall; circulation design aim to optimize the stair and lift layout, to minimize the floor area taken up by circulation while complying with safety regulations; planning grids aim to optimize the efficient allocation of space while satisfying criteria of light and view to each worker; floor to floor heights in section, and net to gross ratios in plan, aim to achieve the maximal leasable area for a given height and width of the high-rise; environmental design aim to maximize daylight intake while minimizing solar gain; ceiling and floor design aim to integrate services which could be distributed equally to all points in the floor plate. There is very little room for deviations from this 'ideal' system without undermining the efficiencies being targeted. Try suggesting any deviation from what the 'market' pays for—what 'flow analysis' recommends in terms of the number of stairs, lifts, etc.—and we find out that all designers do in designing cores is to play endlessly with the various elements to pinch a minuscule area away from the core, to free up the plan by millimeters. In this situation, most architects involved in the design of tall buildings can only contribute to the design of the envelopes, or, in the best-case scenario, play with the shape of the building with the aim of adding an 'image' to the high-rise. London for example, is already full of these images: the 'gherkin' by Norman Foster, the 'handset' by Rafael Vinoly, the 'shard' by Renzo Piano... These shapes are rooted within neither the traditional efficiencies of the high-rise nor the new efficiencies demanded by the context. The impact of these disconnected strategies is that the requirement for 'image' or 'variety' does not alter traditional efficiencies towards new efficiencies. Therefore, despite the novel image, the high-rise remains a disconnected entity. And yet, the local demands and constraints on the design and uses of the high-rise are considerable. Many key parameters vary from country to country, and even among different areas of a single city. For example, the choice between concrete and steel structure is context-driven: in Asia, concrete is preferred (for acoustic reasons, but also because concrete is seen as more solid while steel is considered more "fragile")—even though steel would speed up construction and concrete reduces efficiency due to larger column sizes. Developer doubts are responsible for the use of less than the most efficient elevator systems; minimum service regulations are often not used as tenants are willing to pay for more luxurious bathrooms. Planning grids vary from country to country (1.5 m for offices in the UK; 1.2 m in Spain but now changing to 1.5 m to align with European standards; undefined in Korea...); dimensions of false ceilings and raised floors vary due to tenants (hence floor to ceiling heights vary); calculations of net-to-gross area that determine floor layouts vary across functions (in office-tels in Korea the balcony does not count as net area, whereas in residential towers the balcony is counted); typical sizes of floor plates are context-driven (2000 m2 minimum for office space in London; smaller in Spain due to smaller tenants); desired environmental conditions vary across functions (in residential towers 50% transparency and direct sunlight is desired, in offices less transparency and no direct sunlight); building regulations are not standardized (In Korea, goods lifts can be used as emergency lifts, but this is not possible in the UK)... All of these differences point towards a great potential for alternative models of efficiency, developed through the interaction of internal systems with their contexts. The aim of the studio is to develop high-rise species using tessellated systems that can construct systems of correspondence between internal microsystems that are able to become locally varied to meet the needs of local and specific processes. We engage inflections, gradients and self-consistencies to explore anisotropy in the design of the high-rise, allowing the module to produce variation—to differentiate based on specific priorities beyond global efficiencies—rather than simply repeating. Examples of anisotropy could include parts of a high-rise that are darker than others, some that have fewer ventilation grilles, some that have different floor plate orientations from others, different floor to ceiling heights, different layouts, different depths, different relations of core to floor plate, different floor plate shapes, and different depths. A taxonomy of different tessellations and their behaviors allows us to select the right tessellation for different architectural problems, affiliating the behaviors of specific tessellations to the necessary performance of particular systems. We will use London as our field of investigation. London presents a unique case of a historical city radically transforming itself through the construction of a number of ultra-tall high-rise projects. These developments are already transforming the London landscape, raising questions regarding tall buildings and their context. Tessellation is a powerful tool to relate the urban and the architectural. Experiments with
blank typologies: London Olympics, Lea Valley Contemporary building technologies and the
need for totally controlled environments have generated a growth
in size and number of typologies that require an essentially "blank" envelope,
distinct from those of the building interior. Other large scale
buildings, such as auditoriums, museums, sport halls and storage
buildings, present a similar degree of "blankness," though they
involve a greater contact between the interior and exterior.
As the traditional justification for a façade is diminishing
and the border between the exterior and interior is increasingly
indeterminate in these large blank buildings, the building envelope
has become an opportunity to expand the performances of the envelope
to deal with extrinsic as well as intrinsic functions. The building
envelope can explore an expanded materiality that includes not
only wood, steel and glass but also time, organization, economy,
schedules, functions and desires, which can be combined together
to produce new images and effects. Structured Ornament,
Experiments With Blank Typologies
The studio explored ornament as an operative device to organize buildings and to integrate them within the urban realm. We explored ornamentation as a core behavior of architecture that includes buildings as functions and buildings as representation. We aimed to destabilize simple hierarchies of core/surface, essence/accident, deep/superficial, structure/ ornament. Contemporary building technologies and the need for a totally controlled environment, together with an increasing trend to densify city centers, are contributing to a growth in size and number of the blank envelope typologies- shopping centre's, department stores, cinemas, museums, libraries, concert halls,...- that populate our cities. Their scale is incongruous with the existing urban fabrics, and this poses certain question about the capacity of architecture to integrate them effectively.
In this context a relevant investigation can be the introduction of ornamentation and décor in the architecture of these blank buildings as an organizing device associated simultaneously to the cultural and urban realm as well as to the internal structure, function and cladding. This is something that can be framed within history: from Roman poché space to the Baroque search for variety and theatrical effects beyond the building functions, to the debate between Semper and Loos on the ornament, to Venturi and Rem Koolhaas. History provides an exciting backdrop to this very contemporary debate. We used a real commercial development in Leeds, UK, as our field of research, focusing on one of the functional programs of this development (a cinema, department store, a galleria or car park). |
