PlayHouse - attempt 1

Strategy One - Physically and visually engaging spaces (maybe "engaging" should be "interactive" instead? - a focus on experience through actions

So, Tactic One - create physically engaging spaces through use of different scales, levels, and forms (Figure 1)

Figure 1 - first attempt internal massing (no exterior walls ....yet)

Program spaces are constant - as per rules established in previous post... play opportunities happen in the pink spaces

Strategy Two - create social spaces by establish a play-rhythm that engages/interacts with people inside/outside; Tactic Two - increase connection to outside, architecture invites occupants to play (working on this now...)

Strategy Three - open-ended non-linear spaces; Tactic Three - more than two ways to get to each space (choice and options) 

SITE:

A successful public park in downtown Toronto. Trinity Bellwoods Park has underdesigned spaces which are open to interpretation and use. Activity spaces emerge based on user engagement - house as an extension of the park. Park as open-ended play; house as game (structured play)

LIVE-WORK-PLAY: Redefining living conditions within a megalopolis

I've been playing with the idea of  building within an "extreme city" defined as a MEGALOPOLIS.

This term was "invented" or coined by Jean Gottmann, a French Geographer in his book; Megalopolis: The Urbanized Northeastern Seaboard of the United States, published in 1961 where he conducted a landmark four-year study of the Northeastern Corridor of the United States

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“… Generally the term MEGALOPOLIS describes any densely populated social and economic entity encompassing two or more cities and the increasingly urbanized space between them. It particularly came to describe the urbanized region of the northeastern U.S. that arose in the second half of the 20th century. Stretching between the metropolitan areas of Boston on the northeast to Washington, D.C., on the southwest, it included the metropolitan areas of New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, Md. The name, meaning “great city,” was coined by French geographer Jean Gottmann.” – Merriam Webster Concise Encyclopedia

After scheming through several definitions and starting off with my site (Lagos, Nigeria), I discovered this term associates strongly with the city's make-up.

Lagos is made up of pockets of tight knit settlements or "min-cities" called "districts" and became that way due to several factors over the years;

• It's proximity to the water
• Inevitably turning into a port city
• Trades occurring through this channel
• Allowing the ability for colonizers to export goods easily in the 20th century
• Development stemmed from this allowing Lagos to become an ECONOMIC CENTER 

By highlighting the CHARACTERISTICS OF A MEGALOPOLIS from Gottmann's book;

• Highly population density
• Concentrated money market
• Land distribution “revolution” that creates a symbiotic relationship between Rural & Urban
• Jobs & Trade cycle due to high population density producing a high consumer rate and therefore a high demand for workers to produce the commodities needed to sustain the city.
• Fluid transportation networks
•  Heavy cultural influence, based on being the center of activities of entertainment, publishing, broadcasting etc..

I began to create a purpose to the conditions of the site selected.

CONDITION: congested mega-city with a consistent fabric generated by opportunity, development, industrialization and technology which generates a rich and fruitful job market.

ISSUE/CRITIQUE:

With the integration of mini cities becoming megalopolitan, an architect needs to address issues associated with the neglected infrastructure of these large and rapidly developing cities, that result in TRAFFIC congestion. This happens because the average professional spends hours in traffic commuting from a farther district towards the core where the majority of firms and offices are located.

POSITION:

If development does not grow in a parallel manner and infrastructure are treated as mutually exclusive elements in the growth of a city, which poses a disconnect in the relationship between people and how they experience the architecture of the city begins to emerge.

HYPOTHESIS

Cities will intensify over the next 50 years, are we as architects designing to accommodate this anticipated or foreseen growth?

The architecture/built form within a city described as a “megalopolis” can be split into 3 main categories based on an individuals personal ROUTINE;

• The house/home; resideNCE
• The place where they carry out activities of sustenance; OFFICE/WORK-SCHOOL-BANK + the place to maintain HEALTH
• The place for ENTERTAINMENT

STRATEGIES

Attempt 1:

1. Applying contextual fabric with design; in this case maybe designing in water
2. Create user engagement with their immediate context
3. Marrying the user with his context to produce a LIVE-WORK situation

Koen Olthuis, princpal at Water Studio on his ideologies of floating cities and how they could be the "solution":

After discussing the vagueness of the above listed strategies, I developed a new set;

Attempt 2:

1. TEMPORAL INTENSIFICATION: Embodying the quality of the future and what Lagos would look like in 50 years.
   
2. MERGING ROUTINE: Bringing users daily functions into one, thereby redefining and creating a new definition of the idea of RESIDENCE. This is specific and caters to users who can function and work offline.
   
3.  INTEGRATING BUILT FORM W/ EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE: this allows for easier circulation/movement between the living component and the working/service component. The building then becomes a device that re-directs people to use alternate routes which in essense reduce congestion. Identifying nodes, hot spots and points of congestion, and having built form manifest within these spaces.
   

Attempt 3 :

Highlighting and identifying first the issues of congestion;

• Overcrowding in more affordable areas which result in pollution
• Increased and dense number of cars on the road due to the daily migration towards the areas of work opportunities
• This causes traffic jams due to commercial spaces being too far and separate from (cost-effective) living spaces/conditions 

These STRATEGIES emerge;

1. Creating An enjoyable space that encompasses the daily routine qualities of inhabitants of a city; LIVE-WORK-PLAY, to be merged within one, that deters people from frequently wanting or needing to leave the building for external functions.
   
2. Maximizing the use of existing infrastructural networks by integrating the new proposal with it.
3. Optimizing some left-over spaces and retrofitting existing buildings within the city to encourage alternative living conditions for workers who live in the area.
   
   
   
   
    

By creating a narrative, I’ll begin to consider developing an architectural response which minimizes the stresses of commuting into the downtown area. 

Here is a clip of one of the busiest commercial streets in Lagos; Awolowo Road. This road used to be strictly residential in the 60's and even in colonialist times.

It has now become predominantly commercial, with numerous bank head offices and even gas stations, shops, firms and a sprinkle of residential units located along this road.

By changing the experience of a potential commuter who is drawn to the opportunities of the core of the city for work, a space which allows for on-site productivity to flourish begins to emerge.

Creating a "new typology" (dynamic space) will begin to eliminates or alleviates the issues of the lack of space within a congested urban fabric; both from the perspective of the employer and employee, within the context of work.

Attempt 4:

1. Creating separate spaces or the illusion that evokes a sense of transition between functions (in essence making you feel like you are mentally changing zones as you move from the LIVING ZONE to the WORKING ZONE).
   
2.  Creating spaces that allow for modules of routine to be added on or plugged into single functions to accommodate the live-work typology based on ones need. Meaning if someone already owns a home, they could "add-on" the work module to their home to birth the live-work typology which allows them to carry out their regular routines within their own space.
   
3. Allowing for this "new typology/dynamic space" to possess elements of flexibility. Creating the ability to be situated in any location it is placed in; be it by the water, on a major street or in the middle of a planned community area.
   

EXPERIMENT

Would an architect be needed in this response??

I believe that architecture should...

STRATEGY: DESIGN a dynamic LIVE-WORK space/condition.

TO WHAT END?? : to encompass and alleviate the need for vehicular commuting and encourage pedestrian movement, as well as promote the use of alternate mobility devices [e.g. personal bicycles and existing commercial power bikes called "okada". The resident of the live-work home would only need to leave his place or work meetings, client meetings and other errands pertaining to his/her work

Is the problem clear and …..has this been addressed effectively as per the 4th attempt of strategies?

*Dying slowly here*

Cheers!
A.

Over the past few days I've been contemplating a lot whether adaptive re-use was where my interest lies or whether it represented a means to achieving what I was interested in... meaning. What I've realized is that from the beginning - where I started was with public spaces, and what makes for a successful one? one that make people want to return to - that's a sense of belonging and a feeling of place which creates meaning and identity. Adaptive re-use and heritage related projects are approaches to achieving this, therefore I've revisited my argument:

“one of the basic needs of man is to experience his life situations as meaningful”

- Christian Norberg Schultz

Today, many of the spaces created fail or are content in achieving mediocre meaningful experiences for their users. However in order to design for meaning, a set of complex physical and metaphysical qualities involving identity, sense of place, memory and belonging must be examined.

What are metaphysical qualities? Beyond the physical nature - thoughts, feelings, memories, dreams and ideas

What gives people a sense of place?

First and foremost – belonging – although that could relate to many aspects not only architectural. This could be cultural, economic, political etc.

On top of this – architecture and buildings – virtually the backdrops of peoples lives also create this sense of place.

These buildings involve practicality, an aesthetic delight and the spirit of a place relating to

Genius loci – every place has a unique and distinctive atmosphere, a unique spirit of place, beyond the built environment but affected by it, genetic footprint of a place

Cultures are sustained by what was there before, by memory - it bounds them together and creates a sense of belonging to a particular place

I believe that many developments lack the proper sensitivity in achieving the metaphysical aspects so crucial in creating a sense of place and meaning for humans.

Strategies 

1) In creating meaning architects should be concerned with both aesthetic delight but also in engaging with metaphysical aspects of a building

2) Architects should design with a sensitivity and awareness to the layers unique to every project and carefully grafting a narrative

3) Architects should utilize growth and technology as the natural progress interweaved with the past, and creating new meanings

...still ambiguous?

Before I continue designing, I wanted to re-examine previous ideas on gaming, digital, play, and social interactions - to define an unambiguous problem and position...

Problem:

With rise of the Internet and ubiquitous technologies, videogames are gaining popularity with people of all ages today. Sociological and psychological explanations of this shift suggests that there are issues in reality where only virtual worlds can satisfy, and thus, a need to escape reality. It suggests a broken reality where the physical world is unsatisfying (McGonigal, 2011). This is a very dystopian view on the need for games. As children, we are encouraged to play. We explore, investigate, and learn through play and imagination. However, this curiosity and imagination is lost as we grow older. Maybe we as humans simply crave play and our physical world doesn’t provide it. As an object of the physical world which accommodates all human activity, contemporary architecture fails in addressing the basic human needs for play and engagement.  

Contemporary social spaces are often large spaces open to manipulation and definition by the end user. The architect is relieved of his/her role as a designer of space, allowing flexible spaces to transform on their own based on various programmatic needs. Architecture becomes a homogenous empty playground with completely flexible, modular interiors (E.g. Convention Centres, Community Centre, Multi-purpose spaces, public spaces). Although flexible spaces has its advantages, Architecture should not be a bystander to its internal activities.

Position:

Thus, instead of designing for flexibility, Architecture should be a ludic activity or facilitate ludic activities for play using social dynamics and culture of gaming to satisfy the human needs of play and engagement.

Strategies are determined by notions of gaming and play:

The design of architecture should:

1. Provide physically and visually engaging productive spaces - using architectural form to facilitate play and games (user-architecture interaction)

2. Create social spaces - using play and games as a means of ludic collaboration and social interactions (user-user interaction) - promote socialization 

3. Operate in open-ended experience space - provide non-linear experiences through navigation, exploration, and adventure - promote curiosity (self-driven)

Ludic - spontaneous and undirected playfulness 

Play is harder to define, because it is subjective and relative... but... some define it as an activity that is fun, voluntary, intrinsically motivated, incorporating free choices/free will, offers escape, and is fundamentally exciting (Smith, 2009). These actions can be: competitive, socially bonding, skill-training, or simply for fun (no reason other than for enjoyment).

Game is then simply defined as "constructed play scenarios" - applying some rules that manage play and define play spaces. Games are action-based - so engagement is defined by a user action (active engagement over passive engagement)

As an opposition to completely flexible open space, "rules" define the game of architecture where programmed spaces are fixed entities and movement from one space to another becomes the goal of the game. Transition spaces become opportunities for play. 

A house for place-making

Some Plans and some basic massing.

 

This house is a microcosm for a community.

Basically, each function of the house is represented by a separate volume with it's own distinct identity. 

But the volumes are united with a collective identity by the water and the orientation and views to the central gathering place. They will also be united through material but I haven't got that far yet.

The site is in a subdivision in Markham, which has a large demographic of Chinese individuals. So I took some elements from Fung Shui as a starting point. Mainly the significance of water, and the diagram of all the functions of a home revolving around a central space which represents the earth. It is basically all about achieving harmony. It's become more abstracted as time goes by, but it was an initial inspiration. 

The house is designed to be welcoming from the street and the neighbours, offering sightline through to the gathering place. The water element is used to visually pull one towards and through the space.

It's a work in progress... don't judge too harshly. 

Ornament in Design

Moving along with the position in my last blog post (ornament and restraint) here is a preliminary idea of what my house will be.  By house I mean "Hungarian Canadian Holiday Home for Two".  Yeah, I guess that's a mouthful. Tried to make things a bit easier for myself by sticking with what I know.  (As cheesy as it may sound.)

Keeping in mind that ornaments are "details that enrich architectural design in their physical form but also symbolic meaning"...

Strategies & Tactics:

1) Enrich the Architectural Identity
- pull an iconography from the user's culture
- create a holistic environment through repetition of a pattern
- reflect specific place and context

2) Enrich the Architectural Utility
- merge ornament with envelope
- merge ornament with structure
- merge ornament with finishes

3) Enrich the Architectural Craft
- carefully consider construction assembly/fabrication
- selectively choose placement
- choice of material

The strategies work together in forming a 'what-where-how' guide.

I chose a pattern based on Hungarian embroidery (in blue) and traditional Zsolnay tiling:

Photo sources: 1 & 2

I'm pretty sure these tiles were also a part of the Hungarian pavilion in Venice.  I'd like them to indicate the main entrance while also protecting from rain (slanted roof in sketch above).

Anyway, I'm exploring what the possibilities are with the pattern I've selected keeping in mind a wood frame construction - true to the Canadian north.  Some 'functions' I identified for this summer home are wind screen, sun filter, framing views, passive ventilation...

The grid has been used at various scales:

Without the grids now (white on plan is the roof):

Need to finesse the elevations and bring it all into 3D (which should help refine things) and assess the effect the pattern may have on filtering light etc and how it may be built...

Well, that wasn't too hard - everyone else post your designs!  Don't leave me out here all alone feeling vulnerable...

Interpreting Meanings of Local Identity - in this case what is the meaning of a home?

I refuse to believe that place-making is only a concern of urban design. 

Actually I resist the idea that urban design is a separate entity from architecture but anyways... I let that go for now. 

Problem: 

A major problem facing built environments is the prevalence of homogeneous architecture which is not rooted in place. This architecture has contributed to a sense of placelessness. 

Purpose:

Architecture should connect people to meanings of local identity. Rather than designing with preconceived notions about aesthetic style, architectural expression should result from an understanding of layered, shared meanings of place. Architecture should convey feelings of belonging and ownership among its users, and thus play a role in place-making.

Strategies:

Strategy 1.  Unveil shared meanings of place which reflect identity

A ‘place’ can be at the scale of a city, a community, or a specific plot of land. Place meanings can reflect on history, culture, natural features, and personal or collective memory. 

Strategy 2. Interpret and convey prominent themes of place through architecture expression

Make visible the invisible meanings of a place. Everything designed must have a reason connected to the identity of the place and it’s users. 

Strategy 3. Encourage personal engagement with place though the stimulation of the senses 

Architecture should provide visual and haptic interest to further engage users with place.

Also here's a cool example I found today 

http://architizer.com/blog/global-roadside-the-architecture-of-shake-shacks-56-worldwide-locations/   

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Ok so for the actual house. 

I started one but it was pretty bad. 

I'm beginning to think that choosing a specific site immediately limits the design from being purely conceptual and representative of the whole concept... 

So I think that the "meaning" I'm to use as a driver in this case is simply the meaning of home. 

Meanings of Home:

- protection

- shelter

- belonging

- ownership

- self-identity

- sanctuary

- comfort

- family

- rooted, grounded

- grows with us - can change over time

The fact that feelings of belonging and ownership overlap with my intention is interesting. All architecture should promote a sense of belonging, but the house is the most fundamental example of this.

How do all these 'feelings' result in a tiny building... well we shall see. 

Alleviating Ecological Displacement

Here are some of the latest ideas of the issue I am trying to put forth. My previous ideas about inducing sustainable behaviour in the user were not generating the buildings form, but seemed to be additive approaches to the issue, or 'gimmicky' tactics that could better be addressed by the buildings design, rather then its use.

Position:

Current considerations of sustainable systems in architecture are often additive design decisions, rather then ingrained considerations of the generators of the buildings form. The displaced ecology of the buildings new footprint is often eliminate from the buildings design, putting desired spaces as the main architectural consideration.

Response:

Sustainable design needs to consider performance beyond the pure capabilities of additive technologies and systems, to consider how the form can best serve them, alleviating the ecological displacement of its footprint. 

Strategies:

1. Consider sustainable strategies as an expressive form-finding component of the design.

2. Integrate sustainable strategies into the internal functions of the building, fostering user interaction.

3. Alleviate the displacement of ecology through its integration into the design.

My overuse of "sustainable strategies" is due to the fact that I haven't narrowed down, or don't know if I should, the type of strategies I should be looking into. So far I am thinking of:

-Integrated solar panel design

-Rainwater retention

-Green roof design

Architectural Projects Addressing Similar Issues/Topics: 

T.R.Hamzah & Yeang Sdn.Bhd.

Spire Edge Manesar

The relevance in this project towards my position is the buildings response to displacing the existing ecology of the site, incorporating the green space and rain water collection back into the building.

Terreform

Fab Tree Hab

Created from living nutrients alone, this project is a literal version of my idea of mitigating the displacement of the environment by using the environment to create the design. Although I am not a fan of unrealistic ideas, the concept of fitting "symbolically into the surrounding ecosystem" has a valid portrayal.

Lawrence Scarpa and Angela Brooks Architects

Solar Umbrella House

I have always been a fan of this building for its taste in incorporating an aspect of a sustainable design technology, here being solar panels, into the expression of the architectural design. It doesn't feel as if it was added on as an afterthought (although the project was a retrofit of an existing building), but was ingrained as part of the architectural expression.


Moving forward, I would like to incorporate these ideas into my design, although I am still unsure which type of literature would really support my position.

Let's start designing...and researching...and designing....and researching some more!

So.....here's my revised thesis statement.  Hopefully I am starting to narrow it down and get more focused on my problem and what I want to achieve through my strategies:

Problem:
The lack of sensitivity of architecture for displaced and marginalized populations has resulted in homogeneous, standardized and inadequate buildings that barely meets the minimum needs of the populations, let alone carry any meaning that connects these populations to the architecture. These current practices and architectural "solutions" are environmentally, socially and culturally unsustainable, as they fail to create any sense of identity, may it be at the level of the community or level of the individual, and fail to establish a connection between people, building, and place.

Strategies:
In order to address this problem, architecture should:
     
1 - Paraphrase vernacular building methods and cultural values through subtle design gestures in order to establish connections to the past and create meaning in the design for its users. 

2 - Create both static and dynamic permanence through the design in order to maintain relevance to users as culture and needs evolve and to create integrity for both the building and its users.

3 - Reinforce an intimate and reciprocal relationship between nature, the building and the user to generate a sense of identity and place rooted  in the surrounding natural environment.


I think the last one in particular needs a little more work in order for me to clarify my intention with that strategy better.

I'm starting to design and scribble ideas down and I am starting to wonder if i should be considering the reality of economic feasibility of the design or if i should just be exploring these three strategies?  Cause, in reality, these populations wont be given proper funds. Sooo....I don't know what to do.


- M

Strategies underway...

So here are my strategies for intervention in places where traumatic incidents have happened.

I, as an architect, should:

1. reconcile the difficult memories in the built environment towards a more peaceful future
2. value the traces that are layered in the landscapes and urban territories and visualize the history of the place
3. integrate cultural heritage in local daily life and invite to active engagement in difficult memories

I think that strategy 1 and 3 are somehow similar. And also when looking at these strategies, they might seem a bit out of the scope of what architects do. BUT...maybe if I clarify my tactics, they would be more complete and architectural. 

Ornamental Interventions

I admit I've been struggling (and having a cold has not helped).  I was perhaps a bit too focused on examining contemporary ornament.  A look at more traditional forms of ornament has re-stimulated my interest in the subject.  These are the details that enrich architectural design in their physical form but also symbolic meaning.

What went wrong:

The demise of architectural ornament was its overuse.  As ornament became a commodity, it lost its value.  Its worth was overlooked.  At the same time, the rise of the industrial revolution reduced the architect’s palette to a catalogue of materials.  While contemporary architecture addresses mass customization over production, today’s efforts to reintroduce ornament into architectural design have yet to understand the restraint required for it to resonate with the user.  Sprawling ornament simply becomes white noise. 

What to do:

Beyond visual delight, ornament ought to be used selectively and provide identity, utility and articulation of the building.  By achieving this tripartite combination as well as limiting its pervasiveness, architectural ornament can reclaim its potency.  What comes to mind is an ornamental acupuncture.

Strategies working towards Ornament:

Identity

- create a holistic environment

- provide a unique character

- reflect specific place and context

Utility

- merge ornament with function

- identify possible interconnections between them

- add a didactic dimension

Articulation

- choice in material

- the technology used (craft)

- placement