Sol Ok, Jenny Rong, Girolamo Carollo, Abraham Dreazen
Showing posts with label models. Show all posts
Showing posts with label models. Show all posts
110512 - braided landscapes
Examples of the braided landscapes. Go here for a slideshow of more models and here for the handout that introduced this exercise.
Sol Ok, Jenny Rong, Girolamo Carollo, Abraham Dreazen
Sol Ok, Jenny Rong, Girolamo Carollo, Abraham Dreazen
110512 - final models
110411 - conditioning
A dynamic conception of architecture, which overcomes the traditional notion of buildings as a still, tectonic construct, allows us to think of space as practice. This involves incorporating the inhabitant of the space (or its intruder) into architecture, not simply marking and reproducing but reinventing, as film does, his or her various trajectories through space—that is, charting the narrative these navigations create.
- Giuliana Bruno
Atlas of Emotion, Journeys in Art, Architecture, and Film
In an athletic pursuit, repetitive conditioning tunes the body to work exceptionally well within a specific set of performance parameters. In this process, the body gains certain abilities at the expense of others (i.e. a sumo wrestler does not make a good basketball player). A similar type of repetitive conditioning must now occur in systems for building the intervention into the landscape. So far, these systems have been driven by internal relational and transformative logics, now they must be conditioned in response to external demands of program.
As described above, program will be a ‘dynamic conception’ rather than a ‘still, tectonic construct.’ It will be based on a series of converging and diverging trajectories through space, not discreet, static compartments.
PROGRAM
Text sequences from the exquisite corpse writing exercise will conceptualize a program consisting of an itinerary of converging and diverging movement trajectories. Scan all exquisite corpse work, and then with Photoshop, isolate three intertwining strands of text (7-10 words minimum) from the final iteration. Use these sequences of text to imagine and describe three potential movement trajectories of an inhabitant through the landscape / intervention. The inhabitant must move through a series of qualitatively different spatial conditions. Different spatial conditions should be produced by: filtering sunlight in different ways, producing surfaces and enclosures in different ways, and dealing with notions of ground in different ways. Program will not be composed of a single narrative but multiple potential micro-narratives.
MODEL
Build a new version of the intervention in the landscape. It may be in bristol board, basswood or a combination of the two. Condition this model in response to program. Modify and augment rules of its construction and relationship to the landscape so that it begins to support the movement sequences described in the program. Following the example above from Thompson, modify modular systems by stretching and re-orienting components rather than breaking or tearing them. Refine the craft of the model. Increase precision of attachments to the landscape.
SECTIONS
Two 1/4” scale sections are required, one horizontal, one vertical. Sections must document as many different spatial experiences as possible. The vertical section must include shadows and scale figures. The vertical section may be drawn at different times of day or year to document changing lighting conditions. All sections must show deep space by calibrating line-weight and line-type.
- Giuliana Bruno
Atlas of Emotion, Journeys in Art, Architecture, and Film
In an athletic pursuit, repetitive conditioning tunes the body to work exceptionally well within a specific set of performance parameters. In this process, the body gains certain abilities at the expense of others (i.e. a sumo wrestler does not make a good basketball player). A similar type of repetitive conditioning must now occur in systems for building the intervention into the landscape. So far, these systems have been driven by internal relational and transformative logics, now they must be conditioned in response to external demands of program.
As described above, program will be a ‘dynamic conception’ rather than a ‘still, tectonic construct.’ It will be based on a series of converging and diverging trajectories through space, not discreet, static compartments.
Biological form conditioned through environmental forces –
D’Arcy Thompson, variations on the form of a hydriod
PROGRAM
Text sequences from the exquisite corpse writing exercise will conceptualize a program consisting of an itinerary of converging and diverging movement trajectories. Scan all exquisite corpse work, and then with Photoshop, isolate three intertwining strands of text (7-10 words minimum) from the final iteration. Use these sequences of text to imagine and describe three potential movement trajectories of an inhabitant through the landscape / intervention. The inhabitant must move through a series of qualitatively different spatial conditions. Different spatial conditions should be produced by: filtering sunlight in different ways, producing surfaces and enclosures in different ways, and dealing with notions of ground in different ways. Program will not be composed of a single narrative but multiple potential micro-narratives.
MODEL
Build a new version of the intervention in the landscape. It may be in bristol board, basswood or a combination of the two. Condition this model in response to program. Modify and augment rules of its construction and relationship to the landscape so that it begins to support the movement sequences described in the program. Following the example above from Thompson, modify modular systems by stretching and re-orienting components rather than breaking or tearing them. Refine the craft of the model. Increase precision of attachments to the landscape.
SECTIONS
Two 1/4” scale sections are required, one horizontal, one vertical. Sections must document as many different spatial experiences as possible. The vertical section must include shadows and scale figures. The vertical section may be drawn at different times of day or year to document changing lighting conditions. All sections must show deep space by calibrating line-weight and line-type.
110401 - intervention studies
110331 - synthesis
On a continuum without values, everything can dissolve into inconsistency; however if we negotiate its inflections, we can ensure continuities between the most disparate registers, between the most distant eras.
- Bernard Cache
Earth Moves, The Furnishing of Territories, 1995
A synthesis combines diverse parts into a coherent whole. In the next phase of the project, synthesize concepts generated by text mapping and writing with structural and dynamic systems operating in the ground / intervention. This synthesis will function as a continuum that applies value across registers. It will provide a conceptual framework in which the product of material experiments may be evaluated, modified and augmented. You will generate a new series of written documents, and then use these documents to inform a next-generation intervention that considers issues of envelope.
EXQUISITE CORPSE
Revisit text mapping and writing in a group exercise based on the exquisite corpse game. Begin by writing a series of converging and diverging sentences with combinations and sequences of words extracted from your text map. Explore how graphic qualities of the map inform the writing. Create combinations and sequences of words that add information (i.e. gentle + tiger adds more information because it is an unexpected combination, fierce + tiger adds less information because it is an expected combination). Write these sentences in pencil on a 9” x 9” sheet of bristol board.
Then, in a specific sequence, one after the other, each member of your landscape group will rewrite the converging and diverging sentences on a new 9” x 9” board, adding to it and modifying it with combinations and sequences of words extracted from her/his own textmap. At the end of this process you will receive three new versions (one modified once, one modified twice, and one modified three times) of the original document you wrote. The third version will be the most dense and contain the most vocabulary, use it to frame ideas about converging and diverging sequences of movement through qualitatively different spaces in your landscape / intervention.
ENVELOPE
Develop a next-generation version of your intervention responding to exquisite corpse writings while also considering these two definitions of envelope:
- Bernard Cache
Earth Moves, The Furnishing of Territories, 1995
A synthesis combines diverse parts into a coherent whole. In the next phase of the project, synthesize concepts generated by text mapping and writing with structural and dynamic systems operating in the ground / intervention. This synthesis will function as a continuum that applies value across registers. It will provide a conceptual framework in which the product of material experiments may be evaluated, modified and augmented. You will generate a new series of written documents, and then use these documents to inform a next-generation intervention that considers issues of envelope.
Bernard Tschumi, plates from The Manhattan Transcripts –
a synthesis of Action (photograph) and Space (plan drawing)
into Movement (notational diagram)
EXQUISITE CORPSE
Revisit text mapping and writing in a group exercise based on the exquisite corpse game. Begin by writing a series of converging and diverging sentences with combinations and sequences of words extracted from your text map. Explore how graphic qualities of the map inform the writing. Create combinations and sequences of words that add information (i.e. gentle + tiger adds more information because it is an unexpected combination, fierce + tiger adds less information because it is an expected combination). Write these sentences in pencil on a 9” x 9” sheet of bristol board.
Then, in a specific sequence, one after the other, each member of your landscape group will rewrite the converging and diverging sentences on a new 9” x 9” board, adding to it and modifying it with combinations and sequences of words extracted from her/his own textmap. At the end of this process you will receive three new versions (one modified once, one modified twice, and one modified three times) of the original document you wrote. The third version will be the most dense and contain the most vocabulary, use it to frame ideas about converging and diverging sequences of movement through qualitatively different spaces in your landscape / intervention.
ENVELOPE
Develop a next-generation version of your intervention responding to exquisite corpse writings while also considering these two definitions of envelope:
- An envelope is a membrane continuously enfolding interiority and exteriority. This is more like the skin of a body with all its textures, curvatures, and folds than a normative architectural system of walls, floors, and ceilings.
- An envelope is a set of performance limits, i.e. the performance envelope of an aircraft. The performance of envelopes in your project will be measured in terms of sunlight control and the framing of movement sequences.
110322 - systems
The organization of a machine [system]…only states relations between components and rules for their interactions and transformations…
- Humbert Maturana & Francisco Varela
Autopoiesis and Cognition 1972
A system is a set of components defined by ‘their interactions and transformations.’ The organization of a system emerges from consistently enacted behaviors among its components. Low-level, part-to-part interactions among the components of a system produce pattern and organization at a higher level. Architects work with systems that have structural (pattern and organization) and dynamic (movement and transformation) aspects.
- Humbert Maturana & Francisco Varela
Autopoiesis and Cognition 1972
A system is a set of components defined by ‘their interactions and transformations.’ The organization of a system emerges from consistently enacted behaviors among its components. Low-level, part-to-part interactions among the components of a system produce pattern and organization at a higher level. Architects work with systems that have structural (pattern and organization) and dynamic (movement and transformation) aspects.
Louis Kahn –
traffic flow study for Philadelphia city center
Busby Berkeley –
42nd Street Musical
Kahn’s traffic flow study and Berkeley’s musical choreography exemplify systems with structural and dynamic aspects. The structural aspect of the system in Kahn’s diagram is the spatial organization of pedestrian and vehicular traffic flows; the dynamic aspect is movement along these flows. The structural aspects of Berkeley’s choreography are the positions and orientations of bodies in space and their relations to one another; the dynamic aspects are the movements and transformations of these bodies. Note that one of these systems is described theoretically in a diagram and the other is realized in physical space.
ATTACHMENT SYSTEM
Develop a system for introducing the light filter to the landscape. Consider structural aspects of this system:
ATTACHMENT SYSTEM
Develop a system for introducing the light filter to the landscape. Consider structural aspects of this system:
- associate specific modules of the light filter with specific molding pieces, units and/or strands in the landscape
- position and orient the light filter relative to the landscape
- control passage of sunlight through the light filter
Consider dynamic aspects of this system:
SYSTEM DIAGRAM
Diagram structural and dynamic aspects of the attachment system.
Structural aspects deal with:
- transform position and orientation of the light filter as it moves across the landscape
- transform how sunlight is controlled across the light filter
- organize flows of bodies through spaces created by the landscape and light filter
SYSTEM DIAGRAM
Diagram structural and dynamic aspects of the attachment system.
Structural aspects deal with:
- connections between light filter and landscape
- how light filter modules are positioned and oriented relative to landscape
- how light filter modules are positioned and oriented relative to sunlight
- how structural aspects transform
- flows of bodies through spaces and across surfaces
110307 - material analysis
Example of the material analysis drawings. This material is composed of wood molding profiles, cut into parts, in assemblies of increasing scales (unit, strand, braid) to construct a landscape condition. Go here for a slideshow of more drawings and here for the handout that introduced this exercise.
unit - sol, girolamo, jenny r, abraham
strand - ned, aimee, jenny b
braid - alyssa, julie, matthew, yoshi
110228 - instrument
This expanded notion of materiality…liberates form from a dualist approach that separates ideas from substances, objects from subjects, and production from perception. Today, abstract and dynamic materials can be precisely measured and visualized with the aid of digital software, and merged with concrete materials used to produce the design of built forms. It allows built forms to address multiple causes and hybrid concerns, and allows us to redefine the role of function in built forms…
Farshid Moussavi
The Function of Form, 2009
Design a form with a function – an instrument for tracking and filtering sunlight. Designing this instrument will not separate ideas from materials; it will aim to address ‘hybrid concerns’ within a particular material logic. Consider how sharkskin merges material and function while simultaneously being hydrodynamically efficient and resistant to microbial infection. Consider how Francois Roche’s building “that never dies” works as an instrument tracking the moon through the sky, and how drawings of the project associate paths of celestial bodies with geometry of the building.
Francois Roche, R&Sie(n) –
SUNLIGHT FILTER
The instrument will track and filter sunlight with a graduated series of apertures and fins. It will reflect material logics of units and strands, curving and twisting while distributing apertures and fins of varying depth. Explore potentials for the instrument to address hybrid concerns – how can it filter sunlight and simultaneously create enclosed spaces?
Construct a physical model of the sunlight filter from two-ply bristol board. Build it to the following specifications:
TRACKING DOCUMENT
Develop a document tracking how the light filter controls sunlight. This document must show superimposed shadows for at least five different lighting conditions occurring at different times of the day and year. Use Rhino to render shadows from multiple views. Compose the document in Illustrator.
Farshid Moussavi
The Function of Form, 2009
Design a form with a function – an instrument for tracking and filtering sunlight. Designing this instrument will not separate ideas from materials; it will aim to address ‘hybrid concerns’ within a particular material logic. Consider how sharkskin merges material and function while simultaneously being hydrodynamically efficient and resistant to microbial infection. Consider how Francois Roche’s building “that never dies” works as an instrument tracking the moon through the sky, and how drawings of the project associate paths of celestial bodies with geometry of the building.
Microscopic image of sharkskin
Francois Roche, R&Sie(n) –
SUNLIGHT FILTER
The instrument will track and filter sunlight with a graduated series of apertures and fins. It will reflect material logics of units and strands, curving and twisting while distributing apertures and fins of varying depth. Explore potentials for the instrument to address hybrid concerns – how can it filter sunlight and simultaneously create enclosed spaces?
Construct a physical model of the sunlight filter from two-ply bristol board. Build it to the following specifications:
- width = approx. 9”, length = approx. 18”
- depth of apertures/fins must vary at least between 1/2” and 3”
- apertures and fins must filter sunlight differently for different times of the day and year
- the physical model of the sunlight filter must be rigid and self-supporting
TRACKING DOCUMENT
Develop a document tracking how the light filter controls sunlight. This document must show superimposed shadows for at least five different lighting conditions occurring at different times of the day and year. Use Rhino to render shadows from multiple views. Compose the document in Illustrator.
110221 - strand studies
Examples of curving / rotating strands built from cut and re-assembled bits of straight extruded wood molding profiles.
Alyssa, Yoshi, Matthew, Julie
Alyssa, Yoshi, Matthew, Julie
Ned, Jenny B, Aimee
Sol, Girolamo, Jenny R, Abraham
110220 - (un)grounding
…one might say that the concept of “program” may dispose us to an overly operational view of the space through which our bodies acquire their trajectivity, which another less programmatic, more affective diagram might allow us to see. A new question arises: What kinds of spaces or constructions might accommodate, show, facilitate, release these ungrounded sorts of movement, encounter, connection, for example in urban spaces, and the ways in which we fill them out? What would an architecture of such trajectories and movements look like…
- John Rajchman
Grounds, 1998
In the next phase of the semester, you will be analyzing landscapes of effect and affect. Effective potentials of a landscape are grounding; they suggest a level of stability in the earth. Effect will be studied in shadows moving across the landscape. Affective potentials of a landscape are ungrounding; they suggest open-ended trajectories of bodies in space. Affect will be studied in a text mapping exercise. The aim of these analyses will be to unpack unique qualities of landscape in your project.
SHADOW ANALYSIS
Build a Rhino model of the new smoother, more ‘surfaced’ landscape. Reflect all modifications to profiles, units and strands in the transition from wood to foam. The digital model must correspond as closely as possible to the physical model, but do not expect it to be an exact replica.
When the digital model is complete, use Rhino’s ‘One-Day Sun Study’ tool or the sun path model provided on the blog to track shadows moving across the landscape. Locate the landscape at 40 degrees north latitude, the approximate latitude of New York City. Orient the model to north and to gravity, then render shadows in selected view(s) for every 20 minutes of the winter solstice (shortest day), summer solstice (longest day) and equinox (equal day and night). Create a vertical filmstrip of small (approx. 2” high) still images for each of the three days.
TEXT MAPPPING
Refine and expand branching sentences from the first writing workshop: consider how branching organizes space and time, consider how branches converge and diverge, generate multiple alternatives for each sentence, work quickly by hand in your sketchbook, and scan selected branching sentences when complete.
Select one of the following Octavio Paz poems: As One Listens to the Rain, Axis, Spaces, The Street (find a link to Paz’s work on the blog). Using this poem as a pool of language, map text onto the river-scape. Strands of the river-scape will structure strands of text. Devise rules for relating text with notations in the map. Graphics and scale of text will be modified to reflect transforming characteristics of the river-scape. Create a high-density field of text. Text may be overlapping, but it must be legible in particular moments.
- John Rajchman
Grounds, 1998
In the next phase of the semester, you will be analyzing landscapes of effect and affect. Effective potentials of a landscape are grounding; they suggest a level of stability in the earth. Effect will be studied in shadows moving across the landscape. Affective potentials of a landscape are ungrounding; they suggest open-ended trajectories of bodies in space. Affect will be studied in a text mapping exercise. The aim of these analyses will be to unpack unique qualities of landscape in your project.
Day-long shadow study, top view –
Ashish Kulkarni
Conjugative Mass (detail) –
Daniel Zeller, 2004
SHADOW ANALYSIS
Build a Rhino model of the new smoother, more ‘surfaced’ landscape. Reflect all modifications to profiles, units and strands in the transition from wood to foam. The digital model must correspond as closely as possible to the physical model, but do not expect it to be an exact replica.
When the digital model is complete, use Rhino’s ‘One-Day Sun Study’ tool or the sun path model provided on the blog to track shadows moving across the landscape. Locate the landscape at 40 degrees north latitude, the approximate latitude of New York City. Orient the model to north and to gravity, then render shadows in selected view(s) for every 20 minutes of the winter solstice (shortest day), summer solstice (longest day) and equinox (equal day and night). Create a vertical filmstrip of small (approx. 2” high) still images for each of the three days.
TEXT MAPPPING
Refine and expand branching sentences from the first writing workshop: consider how branching organizes space and time, consider how branches converge and diverge, generate multiple alternatives for each sentence, work quickly by hand in your sketchbook, and scan selected branching sentences when complete.
Select one of the following Octavio Paz poems: As One Listens to the Rain, Axis, Spaces, The Street (find a link to Paz’s work on the blog). Using this poem as a pool of language, map text onto the river-scape. Strands of the river-scape will structure strands of text. Devise rules for relating text with notations in the map. Graphics and scale of text will be modified to reflect transforming characteristics of the river-scape. Create a high-density field of text. Text may be overlapping, but it must be legible in particular moments.
110220 - sun path geometry
Here is a Rhino model of sun paths for New York City's latitude for summer solstice, equinox, and winter solstice. You'll notice that each hour is divided into three segments of 20 mins. each. So bring this into your landscape model, scale as necessary and render a sequence for each of the three days by placing a directional light on each point aimed toward the center of the dome.
This will be more labor intensive then using Rhino's sun animation tools, but will yield accurate results. Hopefully it will give you a better idea of sun path geometry. Let me know if you find any problems with the model.
This will be more labor intensive then using Rhino's sun animation tools, but will yield accurate results. Hopefully it will give you a better idea of sun path geometry. Let me know if you find any problems with the model.
110211 - limit / surface
A move away from ameliorative and scenographic designs toward more productive, engendering strategies necessitates a parallel shift from appearances and meanings to more prosaic concerns for how things work, what they do, how they interact, and what agency or effects they might exercise over time. A return to complex and instrumental landscape issues involves more organizational and strategic skills than those of formal composition per se, more programmatic and metrical practices than solely representational.
- James Corner
Eidetic Operations and New Landscapes, 1999
Whether natural or artificial, landscapes come into being through transformational processes (such as farming, town planning, weather and plate tectonics) unfolding on their surfaces and in their depths. Though these processes may occur on time scales too long to be humanly perceptible, a landscape must be considered more a process of becoming than a fixed condition. Now working individually, you will continue transforming the landscape, testing its limits to produce surface.
GROUP LANDSCAPE
Before beginning individual landscapes, the group landscape and material analysis must be complete. The landscape model must be spray-painted with Krylon indoor/outdoor primer in All-Purpose Gray. This is available at Janovic and other paint/art stores around the city. Call ahead for availability.
INDIVIDUAL LANDSCAPE
Choose an 18” wide x 36” long zone of the group landscape that features at least three strand crossings and significant quantities of horizontal surface. Rebuild this portion of the landscape in foam. Modify procedures for building units and strands to produce larger amounts of smoother surface. Selectively increase the resolution of molding profile parts to increase smoothness of strands. Selectively modify (stretch) molding profiles to increase horizontally oriented surface areas. Carefully maintain transformative and combinatorial logics of the material system though all modifications.
Begin constructing your own Rhino model of this modified landscape. Reflect modifications to the material system in your own version of the group material analysis diagrams.
- James Corner
Eidetic Operations and New Landscapes, 1999
Whether natural or artificial, landscapes come into being through transformational processes (such as farming, town planning, weather and plate tectonics) unfolding on their surfaces and in their depths. Though these processes may occur on time scales too long to be humanly perceptible, a landscape must be considered more a process of becoming than a fixed condition. Now working individually, you will continue transforming the landscape, testing its limits to produce surface.
gobi desert - image via google earth
the netherlands - image via google earth
GROUP LANDSCAPE
Before beginning individual landscapes, the group landscape and material analysis must be complete. The landscape model must be spray-painted with Krylon indoor/outdoor primer in All-Purpose Gray. This is available at Janovic and other paint/art stores around the city. Call ahead for availability.
INDIVIDUAL LANDSCAPE
Choose an 18” wide x 36” long zone of the group landscape that features at least three strand crossings and significant quantities of horizontal surface. Rebuild this portion of the landscape in foam. Modify procedures for building units and strands to produce larger amounts of smoother surface. Selectively increase the resolution of molding profile parts to increase smoothness of strands. Selectively modify (stretch) molding profiles to increase horizontally oriented surface areas. Carefully maintain transformative and combinatorial logics of the material system though all modifications.
Begin constructing your own Rhino model of this modified landscape. Reflect modifications to the material system in your own version of the group material analysis diagrams.
110211 - landscape material (julie, alyssa, matthew, yoshi)
The system that creates our group's landscape is based on the characteristics of a braided river. Each strand is created by using three different units, all put together in different ways. There are three types of strands and two different types of moldings.
The units are created by 10 to 15 individual pieces that change incrementally within each unit. We tested several oblique angle cuts to explore the ways to manipulate moldings to emphasize the profile of the moldings rather than the surface(top).
There are three primary strand that run individually to each other and secondary strands that weave under and over each of the three primary strands. After creating primary and secondary strands we end up with three bigger 'units' and the four tertiary strands are the ones that weave the entire structure together to transform individual strands into a single landscape.
Unit A was inspired by this study unit. Unit A does have curvature
in it but the curvature is not extreme.
in it but the curvature is not extreme.
Unit B is quite similar to unit A but has slightly bigger curvature,
it was inspired by this study unit.
Unit C has the most extreme curve out of three units,
it was inspired by these study units.
110211 - landscape material (jenny b., ned, erfu, aimee)
Our landscape is based on the characteristics of a braided river in the way that it consists of several strands intertwining within each other, therefore "braiding" together to form a single project. Each strand is made up of units that incorporate incremental change by deconstructing then reconstructing to manipulate the molding profile.
Our units were cut at on oblique angle and incrementally changed in the length of the piece. With two types of strands, the primary and the secondary, we created a rule system for the strands to braid within each other systematically.There are 3 main streams (primary strands) that run “parallel” to each other, with 2 secondary strands weaving in and out. We followed the 1-3-1 proportional pattern, which is carried out by the secondary strand. With this pattern, the strands are able to braid each other in a systematic way.
Our units were cut at on oblique angle and incrementally changed in the length of the piece. With two types of strands, the primary and the secondary, we created a rule system for the strands to braid within each other systematically.There are 3 main streams (primary strands) that run “parallel” to each other, with 2 secondary strands weaving in and out. We followed the 1-3-1 proportional pattern, which is carried out by the secondary strand. With this pattern, the strands are able to braid each other in a systematic way.
Primary strand – This strand is made up of 3 similar units, forming the
pattern AA CC BB CC AA, and was cut on a 40 and 25 degree oblique.
Secondary strand – This strand is made up of 2 similar units, forming
the pattern A B A B and so on, and was cut on a 30 degree oblique.
110211 - landscape material (sol, girolamo, abraham, jenny r.)
Our landscape is revolves around the characteristics of a braided river. The landscape is created by systematically cutting and reattaching moulding in order to form units and later, strands. Each unit incorporates an incremental change in some aspect such as cutting the moulding at an oblique, horizontally or vertically, changing the length of each piece, or the rotation at which the pieces are being reattached at. Units are developed which are then attached to one another to create strands. The strands are then systematically braided together to form the landscape.
We have developed two types of strands, the primary and the secondary. In our landscape, the primary strands touch each other while the secondary strand braids with a primary strand and one other secondary strand.
We have developed two types of strands, the primary and the secondary. In our landscape, the primary strands touch each other while the secondary strand braids with a primary strand and one other secondary strand.
primary strand
110203 - multiplicities
Multiplicities are rhizomatic…A multiplicity has neither subject nor object, only determinations, magnitudes, and dimensions that cannot increase in number without the multiplicity changing in nature (the laws of combination therefore increase in number as a multiplicity grows).
- Gilles Deleuze
Rhizome Versus Tree
A multiplicity is an organization belonging to the many. A multiplicity is a flexible body that alters its configuration as it repeats (see images below). A multiplicity is defined from its outside through relationships with other multiplicities. Units and strands becoming landscapes are multiplicities. Repetitive alterations to their configurations define transformative logics. Relationships with other units or strands define combinatorial logics.
MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT
Transformative and combinatorial logics derived from the geometries of molding profiles, units and strands yield a type of material. Careful maintenance of these logics – even as they are adjusted in response to the braiding diagram – will produce order and pattern in the material as it is worked. Do not allow other externally defined constraints – size, structural integrity and opacity of the landscape – to override internally defined rules for incremental change (transformative logics) and attachment (combinatorial logics).
MATERIAL ANALYSIS
In Rhino, model the molding profiles, units and strands used to build the landscape. From these models, develop a series of diagrams that unpack the derivation and assembly of this material. Indicate the following:
- Gilles Deleuze
Rhizome Versus Tree
A multiplicity is an organization belonging to the many. A multiplicity is a flexible body that alters its configuration as it repeats (see images below). A multiplicity is defined from its outside through relationships with other multiplicities. Units and strands becoming landscapes are multiplicities. Repetitive alterations to their configurations define transformative logics. Relationships with other units or strands define combinatorial logics.
Four dimensional projections –
E. Jouffret, 1903
Recursively patterned landscape –
Tom Beddard, 2011 (www.subblue.com)
Transformative and combinatorial logics derived from the geometries of molding profiles, units and strands yield a type of material. Careful maintenance of these logics – even as they are adjusted in response to the braiding diagram – will produce order and pattern in the material as it is worked. Do not allow other externally defined constraints – size, structural integrity and opacity of the landscape – to override internally defined rules for incremental change (transformative logics) and attachment (combinatorial logics).
MATERIAL ANALYSIS
In Rhino, model the molding profiles, units and strands used to build the landscape. From these models, develop a series of diagrams that unpack the derivation and assembly of this material. Indicate the following:
- How analyzing curvatures of molding profiles informs cutting and reattaching parts to form units.
- How units attach, rotate, etc. to form strands.
- How strands braid with each other to form the landscape.
110127 - braiding landscapes
It may be helpful to realize…that the primary form of mathematical communication is not description, but injunction. In this respect it is comparable to practical art forms like cookery, in which the taste of a cake, although literally indescribable, can be conveyed to the reader in the form of a set of injunctions called a recipe.
- G. Spencer-Brown
Laws of Form, 1969
Braiding (and other techniques for interconnecting stranded material, knitting, weaving, etc.) is executed according to a pre-defined set of directives called injunctions. The finished form of a braid or knit may be ‘literally indescribable,’ but it can be communicated in a set of injunctions.
Working by injunction is fundamentally exploratory because outcomes cannot be fully anticipated. It involves iterative improvement (a recipe for baking a cake is followed, results are evaluated, recipe is adjusted to achieve a more desirable outcome, and the cake is baked again). It is a technique for avoiding pre-figuration and extending beyond the expected. Much of the work you are currently doing is by injunction; keep this in mind as you begin braiding landscapes.
DIAGRAM
In groups of four, select one river map that will inform a set of injunctions for braiding – collaboratively develop a braiding diagram based on this map. The braiding diagram will:
LANDSCAPE
Extending from individually created units and intersecting strands, begin collaboratively building the landscape. The braiding diagram will serve a guide, though be aware that the internal logics of the wood molding profile material system will push back against this externally derived set of directives. Allow internal logics and external directives to evolve in negotiation with one another. In a series of tests, iteratively modify procedures for building stranded units and the braiding diagram until they work in concert to realize the landscape.
The group landscape must measure 48” x 48” x 12”. It must be at least 80% opaque when viewed directly from above. It must incorporate at least two different molding profiles. It may incorporate a secondary structural system of wood dowels for strength and rigidity. Sections of the landscape may be detachable for transport and storage.
- G. Spencer-Brown
Laws of Form, 1969
Braiding (and other techniques for interconnecting stranded material, knitting, weaving, etc.) is executed according to a pre-defined set of directives called injunctions. The finished form of a braid or knit may be ‘literally indescribable,’ but it can be communicated in a set of injunctions.
Working by injunction is fundamentally exploratory because outcomes cannot be fully anticipated. It involves iterative improvement (a recipe for baking a cake is followed, results are evaluated, recipe is adjusted to achieve a more desirable outcome, and the cake is baked again). It is a technique for avoiding pre-figuration and extending beyond the expected. Much of the work you are currently doing is by injunction; keep this in mind as you begin braiding landscapes.
knitted surface: Aurelie Mosse
weaving diagram
DIAGRAM
In groups of four, select one river map that will inform a set of injunctions for braiding – collaboratively develop a braiding diagram based on this map. The braiding diagram will:
- extract organizational principles from the river map (not attempt to duplicate it)
- introduce a logic for passing strands over and under each other
- indicate how a series of individual strands fill a field
- describe repetitive braiding operations serve as a guide or set of directives for producing the landscape
LANDSCAPE
Extending from individually created units and intersecting strands, begin collaboratively building the landscape. The braiding diagram will serve a guide, though be aware that the internal logics of the wood molding profile material system will push back against this externally derived set of directives. Allow internal logics and external directives to evolve in negotiation with one another. In a series of tests, iteratively modify procedures for building stranded units and the braiding diagram until they work in concert to realize the landscape.
The group landscape must measure 48” x 48” x 12”. It must be at least 80% opaque when viewed directly from above. It must incorporate at least two different molding profiles. It may incorporate a secondary structural system of wood dowels for strength and rigidity. Sections of the landscape may be detachable for transport and storage.
110120 - > = < (convergent - parallel - divergent)
Unlike Newton and Schopenhauer, your ancestor did not believe in a uniform and absolute time; he believed in an infinite series of times, a growing, dizzying web of divergent, convergent, and parallel times. That fabric of times that approach one another, fork, are snipped off, or are simply unknown for centuries, contains all possibilities. In most of those times, we do not exist; in some, you exist but I do not; in others, I do and you do not; in other still, we both do.
- Jorge Luis Borges
The Garden of Forking Paths; 1941
Jorge Luis Borges’ short story, The Garden of Forking Paths proposes a model for the world that is composed of multiple splitting strands. In the story, strands are temporal rather than spatial – “a growing, dizzying web of divergent, convergent, and parallel times.” The notion of convergent, parallel, and divergent strands will serve as an abstract (and sometimes real) model informing all spatial and temporal investigations in this studio. Work will begin in an abstract material practice geared toward the production of a braided field – a type of landscape. The latter phases of the studio will segue abstract work into increasingly concrete architectural proposals situated within the braided field.
Operating in material and abstract realms simultaneously, an abstract material practice develops the formal and conceptual languages required to address real architectural problems while generating novel solutions. Note the following definitions as they apply to this studio:
Abstract – expressing a quality or characteristic apart from a specific object, not assigned to a particular size or orientation
Material – formation of tangible matter, pertaining to the physical
Practice – repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency, the action or process of doing something
A material practice may employ any number of materials and techniques. In this studio, the material will primarily be found wood molding profiles and the technique will be based on braiding. The material practice will be driven internally by part-to-part attachment logics in a component-based assembly system, and it will be conditioned externally by organizational qualities found in mappings of braided river systems.
BRAIDED RIVER MAPPING
Using Google Earth or NASA’s Visible Earth website, locate a high-resolution (at least 3000px in the long direction) image of a braided river. See the ‘braided river’ post on the studio blog for examples and further instructions. This image will become an underlay for a mapping of organization, variation, and potential transformation in the river system. You must develop a unique notational system (see the ‘notations’ post on the studio blog) to convey this information. Consider the following issues:
Print the braided river image on a 9” x 18” horizontally oriented sheet. Print the braided river mapping on an 18” x 36” horizontally oriented sheet. These may be tiled from 11”x 17” printouts.
MOLDING PROFILES
Obtain enough wood molding material to fill an 8”x24”x24” volume. Profiles must be from straight baseboards, crown moldings, door moldings, window moldings, picture frames, chair rails, furniture, etc. See examples below:
All the material you collect must have similar, but not necessarily identical, profiles. First look for salvaged material, then if necessary, add to your collection by purchasing new profiles from a lumberyard.
Recommended sources for salvaged material, call ahead to check availability:
Build it Green, salvaged and recycled building materials.
3-17 26th Ave. Astoria, Queens 718-777-0132
http://www.bignyc.org/
Eddie's Salvage, salvage store that attracts brownstone renovators.
224 Greene Ave, Brooklyn
http://national.citysearch.com/profile/44684828/brooklyn_ny/eddie_s_salvage.html#profile
Demolition Depot, salvaged building materials
216 East 125th Street, NYC 212-860-1138
http://www.demolitiondepot.com/vo/demo/default.aspx
In Rhino, draft the profile of each unique molding you have obtained. These drawings must be constructed from circles and straight lines only, no splines allowed! Construction lines, circles used to construct radii, and any other lines or marks not describing the profile of the molding, must remain in the drawings.
Each molding profile is a sequence of curvatures. These curvatures can be concave or convex, flat or steep. Transitions between curvatures can be smooth or abrupt. How do drawings with construction lines help describe these conditions? Construction lines must be distinguished from lines of geometry with line-weight and line-type.
Print these drawings at 1 : 1 scale on 9” x 9” sheets. Arrange multiple drawings on each sheet.
UNIT DEVELOPMENT
Develop a ‘unit’ from the wood molding profiles by cutting the straight wood molding into parts, and then re-attaching the parts. Start by writing a procedure or set of instructions for cutting and re-attaching. The procedure must identify specific curvature conditions in the profile and respond with a sequence of incrementally changing oblique cuts and rotated re-attachments.
Units must contain one part that is the width of the original molding and one part that is at least 3x the width of the original molding. Once the procedure is written, build five units each one using incrementally changing angles for oblique cuts and rotated re-attachments.
WARNING: Carefully inspect all salvaged wood for nails and screws before cutting!
READING
Readings will be assigned at three points in the semester. They will be discussed in class and your participation in these discussions will be part of your grade. Readings will present challenging material, but they will be relatively short and foundational to the studio. The first set of readings will be discussed in class Mon. Jan. 31; they are available for download from the blog.
Colin C. Adams. “Introduction” and “Braids”. The Knot Book.
Gilles Deleuze. “The Fold – Leibniz and the Baroque”. AD Architecture and Science.
Manuel Delanda. “Sandstone and Granite”. A Thousand Year of Nonlinear History.
Optional - Jorge Luis Borges. “The Garden of Forking Paths.” Collected Fictions.
GROUP WORK / CRITIQUE PARTNER
The first phase of the semester will contain group work. As an individual you are expected to participate in, and facilitate all aspects of group work.
Following the group work phase you will be paired with a critique partner – a classmate who will sit in your desk critiques and present with you in pin-ups and reviews. There may be some instances where you work together, but you will always have individual projects. It is your responsibility to be well versed in your critique partner’s project and to be available for in-studio discussions.
- Jorge Luis Borges
The Garden of Forking Paths; 1941
Jorge Luis Borges’ short story, The Garden of Forking Paths proposes a model for the world that is composed of multiple splitting strands. In the story, strands are temporal rather than spatial – “a growing, dizzying web of divergent, convergent, and parallel times.” The notion of convergent, parallel, and divergent strands will serve as an abstract (and sometimes real) model informing all spatial and temporal investigations in this studio. Work will begin in an abstract material practice geared toward the production of a braided field – a type of landscape. The latter phases of the studio will segue abstract work into increasingly concrete architectural proposals situated within the braided field.
string bog –
patterning in the landscape
The Fifth One, Tianqi Zhang –
an abstract material practice
an abstract material practice
Operating in material and abstract realms simultaneously, an abstract material practice develops the formal and conceptual languages required to address real architectural problems while generating novel solutions. Note the following definitions as they apply to this studio:
Abstract – expressing a quality or characteristic apart from a specific object, not assigned to a particular size or orientation
Material – formation of tangible matter, pertaining to the physical
Practice – repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency, the action or process of doing something
A material practice may employ any number of materials and techniques. In this studio, the material will primarily be found wood molding profiles and the technique will be based on braiding. The material practice will be driven internally by part-to-part attachment logics in a component-based assembly system, and it will be conditioned externally by organizational qualities found in mappings of braided river systems.
BRAIDED RIVER MAPPING
Using Google Earth or NASA’s Visible Earth website, locate a high-resolution (at least 3000px in the long direction) image of a braided river. See the ‘braided river’ post on the studio blog for examples and further instructions. This image will become an underlay for a mapping of organization, variation, and potential transformation in the river system. You must develop a unique notational system (see the ‘notations’ post on the studio blog) to convey this information. Consider the following issues:
- the morphology of strands, their sinuousness and intersections
- the width of strands
- the fluvial style of strands (straight, meandering, anastomosing)
- direction and speed of water flow
- the morphology of interior islands
- the morphology of river banks
- potential organizational transformations of the river
Print the braided river image on a 9” x 18” horizontally oriented sheet. Print the braided river mapping on an 18” x 36” horizontally oriented sheet. These may be tiled from 11”x 17” printouts.
MOLDING PROFILES
Obtain enough wood molding material to fill an 8”x24”x24” volume. Profiles must be from straight baseboards, crown moldings, door moldings, window moldings, picture frames, chair rails, furniture, etc. See examples below:
examples of wood molding profiles
Recommended sources for salvaged material, call ahead to check availability:
Build it Green, salvaged and recycled building materials.
3-17 26th Ave. Astoria, Queens 718-777-0132
http://www.bignyc.org/
Eddie's Salvage, salvage store that attracts brownstone renovators.
224 Greene Ave, Brooklyn
http://national.citysearch.com/profile/44684828/brooklyn_ny/eddie_s_salvage.html#profile
Demolition Depot, salvaged building materials
216 East 125th Street, NYC 212-860-1138
http://www.demolitiondepot.com/vo/demo/default.aspx
In Rhino, draft the profile of each unique molding you have obtained. These drawings must be constructed from circles and straight lines only, no splines allowed! Construction lines, circles used to construct radii, and any other lines or marks not describing the profile of the molding, must remain in the drawings.
Each molding profile is a sequence of curvatures. These curvatures can be concave or convex, flat or steep. Transitions between curvatures can be smooth or abrupt. How do drawings with construction lines help describe these conditions? Construction lines must be distinguished from lines of geometry with line-weight and line-type.
Print these drawings at 1 : 1 scale on 9” x 9” sheets. Arrange multiple drawings on each sheet.
UNIT DEVELOPMENT
Develop a ‘unit’ from the wood molding profiles by cutting the straight wood molding into parts, and then re-attaching the parts. Start by writing a procedure or set of instructions for cutting and re-attaching. The procedure must identify specific curvature conditions in the profile and respond with a sequence of incrementally changing oblique cuts and rotated re-attachments.
Units must contain one part that is the width of the original molding and one part that is at least 3x the width of the original molding. Once the procedure is written, build five units each one using incrementally changing angles for oblique cuts and rotated re-attachments.
WARNING: Carefully inspect all salvaged wood for nails and screws before cutting!
READING
Readings will be assigned at three points in the semester. They will be discussed in class and your participation in these discussions will be part of your grade. Readings will present challenging material, but they will be relatively short and foundational to the studio. The first set of readings will be discussed in class Mon. Jan. 31; they are available for download from the blog.
Colin C. Adams. “Introduction” and “Braids”. The Knot Book.
Gilles Deleuze. “The Fold – Leibniz and the Baroque”. AD Architecture and Science.
Manuel Delanda. “Sandstone and Granite”. A Thousand Year of Nonlinear History.
Optional - Jorge Luis Borges. “The Garden of Forking Paths.” Collected Fictions.
GROUP WORK / CRITIQUE PARTNER
The first phase of the semester will contain group work. As an individual you are expected to participate in, and facilitate all aspects of group work.
Following the group work phase you will be paired with a critique partner – a classmate who will sit in your desk critiques and present with you in pin-ups and reviews. There may be some instances where you work together, but you will always have individual projects. It is your responsibility to be well versed in your critique partner’s project and to be available for in-studio discussions.
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