Infrastructure: Order in the City

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The city if Rome has a picturesque quality around every corner. However, no picture could ever do the beauty of the city justice.  The church of St. Peter is perhaps the most magnificent building I have ever seen. The basilica is located at the end of a very long stretch of road, like so many of the churches in Rome. It symbolises their place as the destination and the idol location for Rome’s inhabitant. In other words in becomes the Panopticon symbol of Rome, and shows how important religion is to the people and how integrated it is into their lives and in history. These boulevards emphasise the horizontal and can be seen around the city. Examples include the Porto San Giovanni and the Arch de Constantine, the Monument to Emanuel II. Bridges are also used in this function, however not primarily created for this effect, eg the Castel Sant’ Angelo.

Infrastructure therefore has an impact on the architecture and planning of the city, and is perhaps why the modernist buildings of Rome show a response to this. The Maxii Museum by Zaha Hadid was designed by looking at the infrastructure around the site. Roads that lead towards the site were taken by Hadid and then effectively incorporated into the design as two intertwining channels that line up in plan with these roads and continue through the plan in order to line up with another two routes, at the opposite end of the site. This shows how links between the infrastructure of the city and architecture can be created and develops an effective response to the site’s location.

The Maxii Museum is a complex ensemble contrasting old and new architecture. The front façade blends with the classical style of its contemporaries and neighbours: the back extends into an intertwining concrete extravaganza in a typical Zaha Hadid style. The concrete of the exterior is smooth with sleek, neat edges emphasising its orientation and intention. The rear also has slanted steel posts, effectively finishing the design physically while offering another feature to the aesthetic. The use of glass to enclose the ground floor works well to allow light in as it reflects off of white pebbles, that Hadid used in the landscaping of the exterior.

The Auditorium along the road from the Museum is a building that attempts to link old a new as well. Its form dominates the skyline and consists of three massive steel eggs that sit atop extensive brick walls that enclose the interior. The metal skins of the upper structures appear to be made up of individual scales that overlap, allowing the viewer a preliminary glimpse of the interior steel framework. The proportions of this project are effective in that they allow the aura of a peaceful space: somewhere that the users feel welcome as well as leading them on to their destination: a transitional or mediated space encouraging one forward.

An Italian Entrance

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The ‘Entrance’ in Roman architecture appears to be one of the fundamental stages in design. Even in the classical architecture, the entrance is designed in so much detail that it emphasises how the first glimpse of the building importance. On the main street however, you can walk by a seemingly unimportant portico or archway and you are shocked to find an elaborate entrance hall. Marble floor and wall panels, finished with brass hand rails, light fixings and the like, flower arrangements, paintings and effective mood lighting all make up this effective space. Each compliments the shock of stumbling over these hidden spaces, however help in transitioning this initial moment into an admiration for the detail, decoration and effort involved in creating them.

 

Pizza on a Piaza

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The piazas are essential to the essence of Rome. These wide spaces that open up randomly across Rome are lined with cafes, restaurants, bars , pizza parlours which allow the chance to relax and amuse ones self in this space, the key to social life in Rome. The Piaza is a space were congregations occur and a friendly sociability is felt in the atmosphere. In empathy with your surroundings, the wide space perhaps plays its part in the desire to stand and breath in this place, but the atmosphere simply welcomes. Whether it’s the echo of music from a solo violinist, bringing a rhythm to the very mood of the day, or its the natural sound of tumbling water shattering down on the foundations of the preeminent feature of the piaza, the fountain.

The relaxation one feels in these spaces, ensure the moment of pause that allows the chance to appreciate the ambience of the surrounding area and appreciate the prestige of the architecture around them. The unity and style of the built environment around them is awing. An example is of course in the shadow of one of Rome’s most predominant monuments the Pantheon. The piaza here is always busy,  the shops open, the square lively and the pleasant mood of the day thriving. Its a space where one just wishes to sit relax and take it in all day every day.

Design a library

Design is the most important and most difficult part of being an architect. Design is essentially the response to an integrity inherited from a given idea (brief) and/or concept (function) and/or location (site).

Our brief:

IN PLACE Semester one’s brief asked students to consider the concrete characteristics of buildings location; it asked students to make designs that responded to measured surveys of a site, and the things and people it accommodated.

ANY PLACE will ask students to consider a broader sense of context, considering urban and cultural conditions that extend beyond the local. It will ask students to take a measure of, and make designs that respond to, the human condition and urbanity.

Urban Any city is a complex set of relationships, including – for example – networks of human circulation and movement that connect its many sites. We can understand characteristics of any particular site by thinking how it is cut across by or dislocated from the formal infrastructure of transport – tram lines, car-parks, pedestrian routes – and informal patterns of movement and occupation – from shopping habits to street life – that make up the city. Every new building responds to the established patterns of movement that define it, but also intervenes in those patterns, interrupting them and establishing new connections and dislocations.

Cultural The creation of buildings or cities reflects the contemporary period as it is. Designing a building or creating a space directly demonstrates new values, our ways of living or thinking.

Within the guidelines of this brief I should wish to incorporate the following:

First I would like to continue the concept of ying and yang in regards to the library. The library should accommodate this in the plan or section as the two merge together in symmetry. Signifying their bond and emphasising their natural unity.

Subsequently the fundamental picturesque landscape of Rome and the natural beauty of the city, including the river, should be incorporated as such.

The history of Rome should be enjoyable through the program of my building whether in the concept of glazing, and creating a link with the surroundings through views out, or opening up qualities of the city for  the users of the building to enjoy. The layers of history should be exemplified and incorporated, either subconsciously or not, in the concept of design.

Rome

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TRADITIONS

One of the most predominant traditions of Rome is the fountain. The water springs that have supplied the city for two thousand years seem to be an integrated part of the culture and the people. Fountains on every street corner and highly decorative ensembles are dotted frequently all over the city. Each of these masterpieces are respected and each take your breath away.

None more so than the Trevi Fountain. The Trevi is the most beautiful monument I have ever seen. Its almost magical to behold. The way it protrudes out from the side of a building in the centre of a secluded piazza, where one could simply discover it by chance is overwhelming. The beauty and detail incorporated into the deign is perfection to the helm and the rocky finish that the sculptures stand majestically on top of finishes the aura of the fountain entirely.

RELIGION

Pure and utter devotion: the only thing to describe the religious culture in Rome. The love and care if everything to do with religion is beyond anything ever seen to thought about in Scotland. The chapels that appear on every street are so majestic and grand. Monuments and sculptures simply magnify the building entirely in its splendour and shows the respect, discipline and pride that Italy has for its architecture. The buildings are daunting in appearance and more so inside, where the attention to detail intensifies.

BOULEVARDS AND INFRASTUCURE

The linearity of Rome is evident everywhere. The long strips that run for miles though the city, connecting piazza to piazza, monument to monument and people to people. These boulevards essentially are perfectly straight never deviating from their original axis and are emphasised by the use of trees, buildings and street lamps, which are suspended over the centre of the road, and pillars all emphasise this linearity.

Rome

From 20/02/2012 to 27/02/2012 the second year students on the Architectural Design: Any Place were given the chance of travelling to Rome for a site survey. During that time, we were given free reign to enjoy the city as much as possible. We all enjoy the possibility of this.

Before travelling to Rome I was a bit confused as what to expect to find but once  got there it was one of the best experienced we could all of hope for. The Architecture, people, culture and social life of the city have a great atmosphere. It was a great week.

What is a Pecha Kucha

“Pecha Kucha (ペチャクチャ) was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. It has turned into a massive global celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of “chit chat”, it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It’s a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.” pecha-kucha.co.uk (2012)

As a weeks project this week my partner, Nick seen, and I were supposed to created a Pecha Kucha presentation. We were to have 5 slides, which were designed to display for 20 seconds each.

Library 1 : University of Eberswalde Library

Library 2 : Utrecht Library 

Pecha Kucha – Library 2

Link to original Pecha Kucha : GaryNickPechaKucha

UTRECHT LIBRARY

Utrecht University Main Library

Slide 1:

• Like the Eberswalde Library, Wiel Aret’s Utrecht University Library is a bold box, neatly fitting the decorated shed idea of architecture.
• It is imposing and not afraid to portray itself as a black box, although to mitigate the sheer massiveness of the building, the facade is broken up, with alternating transparent and opaque panels, and slightly extruded or offset volumes, making a dynamic and less frightening building.
• The library is surrounded by other blocky buildings on a gridded plan, many of which are by other internationally renowned Dutch firms such as OMA and UNStudio.

Slide 2:

• A pattern of willows is repeated across the black concrete panels and reflective glazing, which creates a kind of screen, sheltering the inside and creating a calm refuge. The patterned facade is similar to the Eberswalde library in that way, it creates the impression of a closed off exterior, and despite the large amounts of glass, it seems, from the outside to be a very introverted building.
• The pattern is both metaphorical and practical – it has been compared to the papyrus plant, linking in with the history of early writing, and creating a calming natural image. The prints on the glass are designed to filter the natural light entering the library whilst on the concrete panels on the interior, the relief forms help absorb sounds, making a peaceful quiet environment.

Slide 3:

• The organisational layout is more complex than that of Herzog and De Meuron’s building.
• Starting on the lower ground floor you enter into an enclosed dark space before ascending the stairs up two floors towards the light and the books, and thus the knowledge
• Within the outer box, the floors are shifted planes, with many voids and multi storey height spaces making the space feel open and yet sheltered. The varied floor plans create surprising moments, with varying degrees of enclosure/protection from distraction

Slide 4:

• “The users choice of location determines the degree of communication with others”
• Despite the majority of the interior being black concrete panels, reflective floors and the large windows allow sufficient light to create a comfortable reading space.
• The black was chosen as it was believed it would create a sense of security, and the airy feel of the spaces mean that it is reassuring rather than oppressive. This blackness also ensures that attention is drawn mainly to the books, as Wiel Arets says it is a space without need for any other stimuli.

Slide 5:

• The combination of different spaces is summed up by Arets as concentration versus communication, absorption versus confrontation. He recognises that the modern library is used for different reasons, sometimes as a quiet place to work, other times as a social hub, a place to share and discuss.
• Within the shifting a floating floor planes, black cube volumes act as the book depots, which the architect wanted to be like clouds, implying an ethereal view of the pursuit of knowledge, and contrasting with many libraries where the storage is below ground and uninspiring.
• It is a more complex and less rigid space than that at Eberswalde, but sharing the principle of a decorated box.

by Nick Green

Pecha Kucha – Library 1

Link to original Pecha Kucha : GaryNickPechaKucha

Library of Eberswalde University

Location: Eberswalde, Germany

Client: Land Brandenburg

Architect(s): Herzog & de Meuron with Thomas Ruff

Completion: 1997-99

• Eberswalde, Germany was seriously damaged in WWII.

• This historical portrait, Venus and Cupid, was one image as well as others that are used in the design of the Eberswalde Library Facades by famous photographer Thomas Ruff.

• Who Herzog & De Meuron architects worked with frequently

• These images were converted to precast concrete or printed glass

• The images / are alternated vertically / in 17 horizontal strips

• As people walk by / they envisage a frozen image of a movie reel / stationary in history

• Hence / the subjects find their place / in time and space

• The small rectangular windows then create a backdrop for these subjects / revealing the buildings primary function

• The Site Plan is strictly arranged / each building abides by a perpendicular axis

• The design is almost military / bringing another historical connotation

• The library fills the fourth corner of the campus / creating a prism for the campus boundaries

• The interior plans share this uniformity / in placement of the tables / and seperation of spaces / by use of bookcases /

• which abide by a grid formation

• Andrew Benjamin ‘s ‘Writing Art and Architecture’ says the “Library for the Eberswalde Polytechnic – should be understood as locating the object’s architecture as much in a sustained engagement with programmatic concerns”

• Susanne Fritz believes: “Herzog de Meuron set another trend in architecture: the photo-concrete façade of the Fachhochschule Eberswalde’s library”

• and that its is… “one of the first buildings to use photo concrete on such a large scale.”

• In summary, The Eberswalde Library is a unique building / weighed down in meaning.

• It was a creation of innovative technology / and thoughtful design / and maintains its prestige in the world of Architecture.

• It stands exceptional / within the 19^th century construction of its neighbours / however as Herzog himself states it’s ‘simple yet elegant’ structures does not disturb them.

References:

Mack, G. c1996-c2000. Herzog & de Meuron: the Complete Works. Translated into English by K. Steiner, B. Almberg. Basel: Birkhauser.

Mack, G. and Liebermann, V. ed., 2000. Eberswalde Library. London: Architecture Association.

Herzog, C. 2005. Herzog_Eberswalde. [pdf] Available at: http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~kcoleman/Precedents/ALL%20PDFs/Herzog_EberswaldeTS.pdf [Accessed 1 February 2012]

Architecture Journal, 2000. Eberswalde Library: Herzog & de Meuron. [online] Available at: http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/eberswalde-library-herzog-and-de-meuron/192556.article [Accessed 31 January 2012].

Herzog & de Meuron, 1996. Eberswalde Technical School Library. [online] Available at: http://www.herzogdemeuron.com/index/projects/complete-works/101-125/105-eberswalde-technical-school-library.html [Accessed on 31 January 2012].

Further Reading:

Herzog & de Meuron: Herzog & de Meuron. Thomas Ruff. BibliothekderFachhochschule Eberswalde. In: António de Campos Rosado (Ed.). Co-Laborações. Co-Laboraciones. Arquitectos – Artistas. Exh. Cat. Co-Laborações: Arquitectos / Artistas. Sala Jorge Vieira, Lisbon, Portugal. 6 December 2000 – 4 March 2001. Lisbon, Parque Expo ’98, S.A., 2000. pp. 41-55.

Raymund Ryan: The Eberswalde Chronicle. In: Nobuyuki Yoshida (Ed.). Architecture and Urbanism. Feature: Images of Glass I. Vol. No. 352, Tokyo, A+U Publishing Co., Ltd., 03.2000. pp. 44-49.

Gerhard Mack, Valeria Liebermann: Eberswalde Library. Herzog & de Meuron. Edited by: Pamela Johnston. London, Architectural Association, 2000. (= Architecture Landscape Urbanism 3).

Global Warming

‘Architecture is the objectification of the values humans hold essential to living: these values are made concrete by building and using the structures that form our environment.’ MG Taylor 1995-2002

If Taylor is right in saying this, then why do we not assume that the needs of humans are, in necessity, the preparation for tomorrow. Global Warming is the single biggest threat to the human race and is essentially the outcome of ignorance applied over generations. Now have begun to see their impact on the world around us. As architects we have a responsibility to provide for the needs of today, without endangering the generations of tomorrow. This is a key aspect in the design of the library. As we now do not only hope to preserve the identity of the library in order to ensure its place in the future, but also preserve our own place in the future. Passive strategies that accommodate the elements usefulness rather than sheild them from us. We should engage and utilise them rather than waste their potential. Then we can start to move away from the toxic, industrial sources of power and move towards a greener world.

Here’s hoping.