Inference or logical reasoning in the design, representation, and dissemination of architectural ideas has followed a trajectory aligned with the three forms of inference as described by Charles Sanders Peirce. [i] Modern, Postmodern and Nonmodern methodologies are closely aligned with deductive, inductive and abductive reasoning respectively. With each of these forms of inference emerges different forms of design: the absolute, the codified, and the immanent.
Specifically, abductive reasoning, the immanent, in architecture is the negotiation of open systems consisting of visual and nonvisual information. The designer using a feedback loop of observation and experiment produces novel artifacts that are dependent but not determined by this system. Abductive architecture represents these moments when innovation is driven by needs not only inclusive of ideology. This innovation though tends to happen slowly on a large time scale. What if we as architects could take this process and shorten it to allow for more immediate innovation?
By compressing the feedback loop that is design and construction this thesis will use open thermodynamics, and specifically, fire to demonstrate what an abductive convergence of mass around an energetic flow might look like.
[i] Fann, K. T. 1970. Peirce’s Theory of Abduction. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Concrete cast model. Corbeling of the bricks in order to span the lower space results in circulation above. Photo credit: Alexander Timmer
Concrete cast model. Uncut bricks produce an ornament on opposite sides of the walls as the ceiling corbels to provide head space. Photo credit: Alexander Timmer
With the application of a construction system to the process proto-architectural form gives way to architecturally recognizable spaces. Form, structure, and space are informed through the influence of the construction system. The aggregations are cast in concrete, heated with a fire, examined and then built up again. Photo credit: Alexander Timmer
Cast concrete model. Characteristics are extracted Russian stove bed and exploited through the iterative making of thermal resonators. Photo credit: Alexander Timmer
Detailed section through the final aggregation revealing extensive organization of the cast concrete model. Photo credit: Alexander Timmer
Thermal section through the final aggregation revealing intensive organization of energy throughout the cast concrete model. Photo credit: Alexander Timmer
The rendering reveals an overlay of visual and nonvisual information as it relates to the experience of that space. Photo credit: Alexander Timmer
