Thursday, January 30, 2014

An Architecture of Atmospheric Typologies

Issue:
Architects fascination with form has limited architecture to the representational qualities of drawing and its ultimate built construct, thus confining the dynamic environmental conditions of both atmosphere and user needs to an inactive formal design.  This fact has ultimately mitigated the effectiveness of architecture and its systems to address the constant shifting atmospheric and user based needs in habitable buildings.

(Systems within a form)

Position:
Architects should move beyond their fascination with form and representation to design and integrate performance related systems that address the dynamism and nuances of atmospheric conditions and user needs with that of formal design.

(Systems determining a form)

Strategies:
1. Design to Integrate
                Designers should be conscious not to separate performance systems from architectural               
                aesthetics.  Integrate and consider systems in formal design choices.

2. Design for and with the invisible
                Design tasks should focus on the atmospheric conditions affecting spaces and their users needs.                     Most importantly one must consider and design the resulting affect the architecture will produce on                 the environment and user.

Situation:
My project will be looking at the atmosphere of Shanghai, China as a test bed for this thesis idea.  Shanghai was chosen due to several environmental and meteorological factors that I believe architecture should be engaging in for the benefit of its user and city at large.  Specifically the large amount of pollution within the city of Shanghai that affect both air and water qualities are concerning atmospheric condition that this project will seek to address in its design.

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After several hours of working on various design ideas I began to realize that I had muddled the concept I was working on with too many cliché architectural techniques and ideas, and was moving away from the pure concept of my design.  I then decided to revisit my Issue and Position stated above and sketched out a simple comparison of the two ideas.




 The notion of Systems within a Form and Systems Determining a Form



Further I looked to distill my previous concept down to its essence



Finally I quickly sketched a concept for my building in Shanghai  that will aim to address air and water pollutants, as well as thermal comfort by integrating a material technology system within the design of the building envelope.



There will be further resolution and explanation of the proposed design in the next post.

2 comments:

  1. The best thing that you demonstrate here is your ability to be self-critical and assess where your weaknesses are. Doing so makes it clear that you have a direction to proceed with.
    Given your context, it is a bit backwards to work from the site first and propose strategies; at least that is what comes across in the writing. The strategies you outline here are broad such that they may be applied to a multiplicity of architectural contexts but be wary of contaminating the discussion with Shanghai's air quality in the back of your mind. Though the strategies you outline are broad, they are also stated in such generalities that it is difficult to understand them as stemming from the position you take (i.e. "Design to Integrate" and "Design for and with the invisible" do not explicitly speak to atmosphere). Though the follow-up text elaborates upon these issues, you can understand that the outlining of strategies in a concise manner must allude to the fundamental position you take. That word-smithing will come in time.
    If the strategies are clear in your own mind, then proceeding to design is critical at this point. The lack of design work in ALL students at this point is disturbing. Your overt tactical responses in (the extreme context of) Shanghai really must be outlined and illustrated today in order to get some decent movement towards the weekend and the deadline.

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  2. I think it might be helpful for you and I to discuss the strategies we are using because, even though we are looking at different thesis positions, the concept of integrating systems into form is something I am working toward as well.

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