Micro-Environments / Macro-ArrangementsArchitectures of Modulation and Mediation
Above all, we must remember that nothing that
exists or comes into being, lasts or passes, can be thought of as
entirely isolated, as unadulterated. One thing is always permeated,
accompanied or enveloped by another; it produces effects and endures
them.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe
The unit will examine opportunities to rethink use of space based on
experimenting with performative material arrangements and spatial
organization.
The year will commence with a detailed study of Japanese micro-houses,
which are in extreme cases little more then inhabited staircases. These
building types are both hyper-specific and hyper-generic relative to
space-use. This detailed study will be paralleled by a seminar series
on spatial organization and social formation, as well as experiments
towards performative material arrangements. We will investigate
processes of material self-organisation and harnessing these through
form-finding methods, while earning from natural systems, and
incorporating an element of Bionics into the design.
The engagement with material systems will add a new dimension to the
design of micro-houses, by articulating them as highly differentiated
micro-environments. Each student will develop a detailed design for a
micro-house, including a careful analysis of its capacity to modulate
micro-environments over time. The houses will be developed in the scale
range from 1/10 to 1/1, with the intention to investigate and
demonstrate full-scale prototypical elements of the schemes. Physical
modeling will constitute a vital operative part of this phase of the
design.
The second stage of the design will bring the individual designs
together into a coordinated architectural arrangement. One key aspect
will be the introduction of a shared floor that will connect the
different micro-houses. The second key aspect is the mediation between
the different performative material arrangements into a coherent
macro-arrangement that respects nevertheless the individual
articulation of each micro-house / micro-environment. The
macro-arrangement will be developed in the scale range from 1/100 to
1/50, with key details in 1/10 to 1/1.
Upon successful completion the unit will present the design(s) to the
London Met administration as a possible student housing scheme.
For further information please refer to:
Literature:
Hensel, Michael and Menges, Achim, Ed.; Morpho-Ecologies; AA Publications, London 2006
Hensel, Michael, Menges, Achim and Weinstock, Michael; Techniques and
Technologies in Morphogenetic Design; AD Wiley, London, 2006
Hensel, Michael, Menges, Achim and Weinstock, Michael; Emergence - Morphogenetic Design Strategies; AD Wiley, London, 2004
Web:
www.ocean-north.net
www.aaschool.ac.uk/et/
www.extra.rdg.ac.uk/eng/BIONIS/
www.rdg.ac.uk/Biomim/
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