Chris Li ARCH1101: 2017-04-23

THE TWO ARCHITECTS

Peter Zumthor - 1943 (Aged 74 Years)

Peter Zumthor is a Swiss Architect whose work is frequently described as uncompromising and minimalist.

Main attributes of Zumthors works are the use of materiality to create a certain atmosphere within his buildings as well as his arrangement and use of simplistic, block forms.

Zumthor expresses his motivations in designing buildings that speak to our feelings and understanding in many ways that possess a powerful and unmistakable presence. He believes that buildings have the ability to evoke different emotional responses.

Zumthor's Work - Therme Vals Spa

Brainstormed Concepts for Peter Zumthor

Just Being, Can Exude a Beautiful Silence

A building should be appreciated, separate from its functionality, for its basic form and what it represents.

Forming An Experience Through Composition and Presence

The composition of a building and the 'presence' that it exudes can generate a certain experience for people who view it.

Commitment to the Essential and Disdain for the Needless

Commit to basic, simple forms and stray away from over-embellished, over-complex ones.

Physicality of Materials Can Involve Individuals with the World Through Memory

Materiality can evoke memories or experiences in individuals that allow them to relate to buildings.

Materiality transcends the rules of Composition

Zumthors use of materiality transcends traditional rules of composition and goes beyond what is literal.

Ludwig Mies Van De Rohe - 1886 to 1969 (Deceased)

Mies Van De Rohe was a German-American Architect, widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modernist Architecture.

Following WW1, Van De Rohe sought to create a new type of Architecture that, following the Modernist movement of the time, represented the breakdown of traditional values. His works are characterised by extreme clarity and simplicity.

Van De Rohe's buildings made extensive use of Steel and Glass Plate to define interior interior spaces. He strove towards an architecture with a minimal structural framework balanced against the implied freedom of unobstructed, free-flowing space.

Van De Rohe's Works

Brainstormed Concepts for Mies Van De Rohe

Less Is More

This aphorism defined Van De Rohe's works, their simplicity become one of the main characteristics of his designs and actually add to the character of the building.

Interweaving Fluid Spaces

Van De Rohe's works featured interweaving, freeflowing spaces with little distinction between each module of space and interior/exteior spaces.

Elementary Rectilinear Forms

Many of Van De Rohe's buildings featured elementary rectangular blocks that form the main composition of the buildings.

Skin and Bones Construction

One of Van De Rohe's main concepts, his buildings featured minimal structural frameworking. It can be seen that he reduces structure to bare 'skin and bones'.

Dynamic Environment

Through the use of free-flowing space, a dynamic environment can be created in which circulation is seemingly unrestricted.

THE TWO CONCEPTS

The two final concepts i had decided upon from my given architects are:

"Forming an experience through composition and presence" - Peter Zumthor

Peter Zumthor understood that a person has to experience a building, the building should evoke a certain response of build an experience for its clients and he believed that composition and material presence was the way to do that.

The situation of my Light Rail stop upon its site, right in front of the UNSW Main Entrance, addresses this concept as this position, along with the building's monolithic qualities means that its presence will always be felt by students entering and exiting UNSW and will hopefully immerse them in a sensory experience when they do enter the stop.

"Interweaving Fluid Spaces" - Mies Van De Rohe

One of the cornerstones of Van De Rohe's works was the breakdown of true distinction between interior and exterior spaces as he created space that "flowed" into one another.

The design of my Light Rail Stop plays with this ideas as the main feature of the stop curves and coils amongst the structure yet never interrupting a pedestrians path of circulation. The pathway from sidewalk to the platform is unobstructed as a pedestrian who enters the stop will traverse seamlessly between exterior, interior and then exterior space once more.

A study of these architect shows that their relationship is dynamic, while their styles are distinct and different. Similarities between their concepts and works also exist. I have aimed to incorporate aspects of both architects' concepts into my work.

18 SKETCH AXONOMETRICS

12 Axonometric Rectilinear Amalgamations

Commitment to the Essential and Disdain for the Needless - Zumthor

Elementary Rectilinear Forms - Van De Rohe

Forming an Experience Through Composition and Presence - Zumthor

Interweaving Fluid Spaces - Van De Rohe

Just Being, Can Exude a Beautiful Silence - Zumthor

Skin and Bones Construction - Van De Rohe

Rectangular Amalgamations - Sketchup

Frontal Axonometric View

Rear Axonometric View

6 Axonometric Combined Parallel Projections

Commitment to the essential and disdain for the needless + Elementary rectilinear forms

Forming an experience through composition and presence + Interweaving, fluid spaces

Skin and bones construction + Just being can exude a beautiful silence

Combined Parallel Projections - Sketchup

Combined Parallel Projections

Parallel Projections + Smooth Curvilinear Forms

Rear View

36 CUSTOM TEXTURES FROM LIGHT TO DARK

The Custom Textures

Textures Applied to my Model

Light

The 'light' texture is applied to the LED strip lighting on the floor of my platform. The texture makes the the lighting stand out from the floor and is used to guide circulation around the platform.

Light Texture

Light texture applies to floor strip lighting

Medium

The 'medium' texture is applied to the window-frame of the intermission space in my Stop. The striped texture makes the space more 'dynamic' and creates a tunnel effect.

Medium Texture

Medium Texture applied to windowframe

Dark

The 'dark' texture is applied to the curved, sheltering feature of my Stop. The texture looks almost 'alien' on the curved form which reinforced the theme of Technology and adds a certain hypnotic effect as commuters approach the Stop.

Dark Texture

Dark texture applied to curved shelter

THE IMAGE CAPTURES AND ARCHITECTURE

The theme that my Light Rail Stop design addresses is Technology. As technology advances in fields such as Civil Engineering and Material Science, stronger and more lightweight materials can be made that take interesting shapes and turns what would be physically impossible into a reality.

The main feature of my Light Rail Stop being a monumental curved, cantilevered shelter demonstrates how advances in technology can aid in conveying architectural concepts and vice versa.

I also had two concepts in mind when designing this Light Rail Stop:

"Forming an experience through composition and presence" - Peter Zumthor

and

"Interweaving, fluid spaces" - Mise Van De Rohe

Although both concepts are interchangeable and applied to the design of my Light Rail Stop. Zumthors concept mainly informed how i situated the Stop within its context and materiality within my Stop while Van De Rohe's concept informed the design/form of the Light Rail Stop. This design was also influenced by my second 'combined parallel projection'.

Sketchup Model

Ground Level View of the Stop

Facade Elevation

The Stop situated within its context - UNSW

LUMION CAPTURE ONE

My first image show how Zumthors concept informed the way that my Light Rail Stop was situated in its site. It is located just to the left of the UNSW main entrance/walkway and mounted onto the pavement. My choice of site was deliberately 'obstructive' in order to allow my Light Rail stop to become a physical and visual presence within the landscape. When pedestrians notice its confronting and monolithic form they will hopefully be affected by it.

LUMION CAPTURE TWO

The second image focuses on the theme of technology. In my design for the Stop i wished for its appearance to be somewhat monumental/sculptural and wished to have an open platform overseen by a curved shelter. While this concept may seem farfetched, in an age of ever advancing technological development, monumental curved structures do exist and allow architects to effectively convey their concepts.

LUMION CAPTURE THREE

The third image conveys how Van De Rohe's concept of "interweaving fluid spaces" influenced my design. The main feature of the Light Rail Stop is a curvilinear form that winds and coils around a rectilinear platform. This amalgamating of discrete forms create interesting spaces that are all interconnected within my design. As seen in the capture, although the form of the design is quite chaotic, circulation to and from the stop is quite simple and linear, there are little to no barriers between each space within the Stop.

LUMION CAPTURE FOUR

The fourth image follows on from the previous concept. It shows the short transition space between the street and the Light Rail platform. Within a pedestrian's circulation path into the Light Rail Stop, they will experience, unhindered by barriers, transitions from the outside street to the sheltered intermission space and then outside onto the platform again. This seamless flow of space, a breakdown between exterior and interior space, is core to Van De Rohe's architecture and has inspired my own design.

LUMION CAPTURE FIVE

The Final image conveys how Peter Zumthor also influenced my design for this Light Rail Stop. One of Zumthors works i was impress by was the Therme Vals spa baths. His use of heavy, Earthen, materiality and sense of monlithic structure is what i was inspired by in my design. I wanted pedestrians to enter the platform and be amazed by the 'swooping' form and materiality of the curved shelter.