Ephemeral Architecture
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Table of contents
VIRTUAL REALITY AND ITS AFFECTS ON ARCHITECTURAL LANDSCAPESSui Ying LOW
INTRODUCTION
ROLE OF EPHEMERAL ARCHITECTURE IN SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGYeo Hui WEN
FLEXIBILITY IN ARCHITECTURE: QUINTA MONROYLour MASHI
WATER AND MOVEMENT IN ARCHITECTUREEzgi TEZCAN
DO TRACES MAKE ARCHITECTURE SUBSIST?Hortense PROT
FUN PALACE AND EPHEMERAL ARCHITECTURENhaila CHIN FOO
CAN MUSIC INFLUENCE THE PERCEPTION OF SPACE?Younes EL HAYANI
THE RESISTANT EPHEMERALPaula JURAK
THE ILLUSIONAL PRESENCE OF WOOD IN BRUDER KLAUSOlivia KEMPF
HOW DO EPHEMERAL AND TRANSCENDENTAL QUALITIES OF LIGHT ALTER AN ARCHITECTURAL SPACEGenevieve GRIFFIN-GEORGE
DYNAMICS OF TUAREG KEL FERWAN CAMPSNatacha LANGEVIN
INTRODUCTIONThe S5 course entitled Ephemeral Architecture at the École Spéciale d’Architecture (ESA) addresses the ‘limits’ of architecture. The students read and discussed a number of philosophical and theoretical texts questioning the boundaries of architecture. They ‘deconstructed’ it, considering the different assumptions we make about the discipline and imagined other interpretations and possibilities. They explored different ways in which architecture may be ‘ephemeral’ – addressing materiality, “lightness”, “weakness”, history and memory, ruin, questions of architec-
the site, sustainability, deterritorializaition, virtual architecture and “cybers-pace”, questions of temporality, homelessness, etc. In addition to the
the subject. They also divided into groups to experiment some aspect of ‘ephemeral’ architecture and then reported back on these. In the context of this course the students invite a speaker every semester to give a conference on a related subject. This semester’s speaker was Pier Schneider of 1024 Architecture (previous speakers have included: Peter Greenaway, Philippe Rahm and raumlabor). The students wrote research articles related to the theme of the course, resulting in a diverse range of ideas about the ‘ephemeral’, a number of which are included in this publication. Brent PattersonSpecial thanks to Natacha Langevin for the layout and Pola Jurack for designing the cover, Grégoire d’Amiens for the printing, and to all the S5 students who participated and made this an epic experience:Nicolas ARAMANRobin BELKenza BENCHEKROUNAnthony BOGUSZEWSKIAuguste CHANTRELAlexis CHAPPEYNhaila CHIN FOOVlad DARABANPauline de VATHAIREYounes EL HAYANIMarc Antoine GALUPGenevieve GRIFFIN GEORGETristand ISAAC DOGNINPola, JURACK Jeremie KATIDJO-MONNIER
Olivia KEMPFGilles KHARALLAHNatacha LANGEVINSui Ying LOWLour MAHSHIFrancesco MESSINAMaja PIECHOWIAKRomain PLANTROUHortense PROTManon ROBERTAnne-Laure SEREROPaul SERIZAYEzgi TEZCANEleanor XUHui Wen YEO
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VIRTUAL REALITY AND ITS AFFECTS ON ARCHITECTURAL LANDSCAPESSui Ying LOW
The rapid rate with which technology has expanded in recent years has greatly changed the way we live, with the most noticeable being the
telecommunication networks with the PC to give rise to the latest phe-nomenon – virtual reality. The widespread usage of virtual networks and tools, whether through personal computers, televisions or mobile devices has led to the pervading presence of user interfaces, for which our phy-sical landscape has, accordingly, adjusted itself. There is thus concern about the future of architecture as the world turns its attention to the
ourselves with. This essay will attempt to reach a conclusion by studying
design and by discussing philosophical insights and predictions.
-tural space, where focus is steered away from the habited interior space and onto the displays on monitors. A case study would be Silicon Valley, the epicentre of the new technological world1. The common miscon-ception is to imagine a vibrant agglomeration of buildings until the actual
facades.2
1 Wright, Gwendolyn. “The Virtual Architecture of Silicon Valley”, in Journal of Architec-tural Education (1984) Vol. 54, No. 2, 88-94.2 Ibid.
Silicon Valley, California, USA3
There is little concern by both the employer and employees regarding their working environments, due largely to the fact that their work has little to do with their physical surroundings. A functionalism of the virtual4 has
for space by warranting their full attention in a virtual world comprised of intangible traits like communication and information. In addition, the ne-glect of architectural design is due to the opposing nature of technology and architecture – one of ephemeral and permanence. Firms dealing with technology are short-lived as new technology is constantly created and older ones outmoded and replaced almost instantly,5 hence the reluc-
the “image of virtual networks” 6 are in stark contrast with the dynamic
be ‘Second Life’, a virtual world where individual players are free to build and organize space without the intervention of third party authorities. In contrast to plain landscapes like that of the Silicon Valley, Second Life is a world dominated by tasteful spaces, where the aesthetic aspect is greatly valued, and the ‘experience’ dimension takes precedence over all others.7
3 Photo of Silicon Valley | South Bay, SRGliving, http://www.srgliving.com/uploads/pro-perty_groups/images/921x306h/171/silicon_valley.jpg?13219533144 Baudrillard, Jean. “Truth or Radicality: On the Future of Architecture.” in Francesco Proto (ed), Mass. Identity. Architecture: The Architectural Writings of Jean Baudrillard (Chichester: John Wiley, 2006) 5 Wright, “The Virtual Architecture of Silicon Valley”, 90.6 Baudrillard, “Truth or Radicality,”147 De Boer, Joop. “Spatial Planning – Learning from Second Life”, in Strategy, Planning and Design on the City, Building Innovation, May 2007.
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This occurrence shows that the aesthetic of spaces is still highly valued, but the fact that the time and energy placed in our physical landscape is being siphoned off into a foreign dimension shows that in this new era, people are beginning to ‘inhabit’ more than one landscape.Furthermore, with the creation and availability of new technology, a new generation of spaces termed screen architecture 9 is surfacing. The above mentioned Second Life is one such example of three-dimensional architecture behind a screen. These spaces that are represented two-dimensionally simulate actual spaces, and while technology is constantly evolving to increase its realism, they are but programs comprised of
-rational commands that have no need to be rational.10 It is the program-med nature of these spaces that leaves little to be discovered that is not
quality of the space, and hence poses a threat to the innate quality of architecture.11 8 Cerise, Giovanna, , November 2011, Linden Endow-ment of the Arts, JPG, http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151346480283072&set=pb.84315643071.-2207520000.1354011615&type=3&theater, accessed Novem-ber 27, 20129 Baudrillard, “Truth or Radicality,”12.10 Baudrillard, Jean. “Simulacra and Simulations” in Selected Writings, ed. Mark Poster (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988), pp.166-184. 11 Baudrillard, “Truth or Radicality,”15.
There are several ideas to counter this trend of surface architecture, one of which is ‘Information Decoration’. 12 This has arisen to counter the in-creasing popularity of screen architecture. The theory goes that the envi-ronment is there for the observation of human eyes, and if there is exces-sive attention focused solely on displays and interfaces then perhaps it is time for the outdated landscape to imbibe useful information well-suited for this technological age. Thus, there are two standpoints here regarding the challenge of an architect in this new age, one of which requires a shift in attention from the technological race for the perfection of the latest innovation, and to our immediate landscape - to make it more relevant to our daily lives.
-
While they have made valuable contributions like increased accuracy and -
vely or otherwise to the design of these buildings. The convenience with which components can be copied and pasted from elsewhere, where conventional shapes 13 and forms are duplicated with ease to form simple and pleasing geometrical designs, have resulted in a landscape of clones.14 The act of designing is distracted by the availability of tes-
less a part of the architect than a part of a generic universal perception. Should this generalization of architectural form be a sustaining trend, it would erode the purpose of architectural practice, where creations are no longer creative expressions of the individual. There are however strong arguments for the use of virtual tools to ameliorate the architectural landscape, one of which is the ability to simulate reality through rende-rings, to provide architects with the opportunity to better visualize scenes and hence adjust outcomes accordingly without incurring high construc-tion costs. 15 This however, has the potential to cause the situation to deteriorate, for simulation blurs the difference between the ‘real’ and the
12 Van Mensvoort, Koert. “ICarrier”, in (2007), ed. Gerritzen13 Antonioli, Manola. “Virtual Architecture,” trans. Julie-Francoise Kruidenier and Peter Gaffney, in The Force of the Virtual: Deleuze, Science, and Philosophy, ed. Peter Gaff-ney (London: University of Minnesota Press, 2010), 169-190.14 Baudrillard, “Truth or Radicality,”15.15 Ismail, Izwan. “Virtual reality adds more dimension to architecture,” New Straits Times (Malaysia), October 16, 2006.
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‘imaginary’. For a simulated scene produces ‘true’ symptoms,16 resulting in a visualized scene backed by real elements - is the scene portrayed thus supposed to be a true one? There is the danger that too much
comprised of averaged data and details.
On the other hand, all is not as bleak as it looks when we investigate the most recent breakthroughs. One of which is that the more time people are given to adapt to the usage of technology, the more ways of using and complementing it can be found. As technology becomes widespread and more easily available globally, alternatives and competition starts to surface, and with competition comes the general improvement of things
South Korea’s answer to California’s Silicon Valley: Jeju Province, which has been actively encouraging the development of a technology-based
-
modules.
Daum Space, Jeju, South Korea17
16 Baudrillard, “Simulacra and Simulations”, 166-184.17 Shin, Kyungsub and Kim, Yong-Kwan, , October 2012, dezeen magazine, JPG, http://www.dezeen.com/2012/10/31/daum-space-by-mass-stu-dies/, accessed November 7, 2012
design that could potentially serve as the architectural grammar for the entire territory.18 This new development is one of many instances of
management, and not just narrow-mindedly focusing on the work present behind computer monitors.
In addition, as society begins to recognize the importance of fusing design and technology, rather than allowing either to take dominance, architectural schools are updating their school curriculums to introduce technical inquiry into the design curriculum.19 Design ability is now mea-sured by the capacity to develop the design from idea to realization, with technology pursued imaginatively as learning through making.20 This is to produce architects who will be able to translate their ideas and creativity into reality with the aid of technological tools. One such visionary archi-
established as a creator of virtual realities, with their most notable client being the New York Stock Exchange, they have gone on to translate vir-tual realities into ambitious architecture like the award-winning Hydra Pier pavilion in the Netherlands, which they constructed by outsourcing to a Dutch jet manufacturer.
Virtual New York Stock Exchange 21 Hydra Pier Pavillion, Netherlands22
18 “Daum Space” 19 Watson, Donald. “ ”, in Journal of Archi-
(1984), Vol. 51, No. 2 (Nov., 1997), 119-126.20 Watson, “ ”, 123.21 . Asymptote, 1999-2000, Columbia Edu, JPG, http://www.columbia.edu/itc/architecture/wright/6769_2001/images/week12/week12.html, Accessed November 27, 201222 Karpathios, Jonathan, Hydra Pier, MIMOA Mi Modern Architecture, JPG, http://www.mimoa.eu/projects/Netherlands/Hoofddorp/Hydra%20Pier, Accessed November 27, 2012
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Their laudable creativity brings much optimism that the newer generation may yet envision virtual reality in more ways than its functional qualities and translate its ‘impossible’ environments into our real world.
In conclusion, although architecture for a physical landscape may seem to have been rendered obsolete by a new virtual landscape which trans-ports its users into another dimension visually, it will still grow in impor-tance, when used as leverage above other competition and when we
its conventional monumental characteristic, one of permanence that is incongruent with the highly versatile virtual realm. Should its monumental status be forgotten momentarily, we will be able to ascribe it with spatial qualities as well as a temporal characteristics, as an architectural ‘event’ that will be more well-suited to our current era.23 To end with, here is a quote that while projecting the dire state of our architectural landscape
-ner. “This romanticizing of an earlier time as ‘simpler,’ fails to grasp that it is in the realization of complexity and contradiction that we begin to
Thomas Mayne.24
23 Antonioli, “Virtual Architecture,” 170, 175-17724 Antonioli, “Virtual Architecture,” 169
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Antonioli, Manola. “Virtual Architecture,” trans. Julie-Francoise Kruidenier and Peter Gaffney, in The Force of the Virtual: Deleuze, Science, and Philosophy, ed. Peter Gaffney (London: University of Minnesota Press, 2010), 169-190.
Baudrillard, Jean. “Truth or Radicality: On the Future of Architecture.” in Francesco Proto (ed), Mass. Identity. Architecture: The Architectural Writings of Jean Baudrillard (Chichester: John Wiley, 2006)
Baudrillard, Jean. “Simulacra and Simulations” in Selected Writings, ed. Mark Poster (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988), pp.166-184.
“ ” Dezeen Magazine, 31 October 2012, http://www.dezeen.com/2012/10/31/daum-space-by-mass-studies/
De Boer, Joop. “Spatial Planning – Learning from Second Life”, in Stra-, May 2007.
Ismail, Izwan. “Virtual reality adds more dimension to architecture,” New Straits Times (Malaysia), October 16, 2006.
Van Mensvoort, Koert. , in Artvertising: (2007),
ed. Gerritzen
Wright, Gwendolyn. “The Virtual Architecture of Silicon Valley”, in Jour-nal of Architectural Education (1984) Vol. 54, No. 2, 88-94.
Watson, Donald. in Journal of Architectural Education (1984), Vol. 51, No. 2 (Nov., 1997), 119-126.
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ROLE OF EPHEMERAL ARCHITECTURE IN SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGYeo Hui WEN
What role does ephemeral architecture play in the critical discourse of sustainable architecture?
Sustainability in architecture has long been a debated issue. The de-
agreed upon. There is a gamut of buildings that claim to be sustainable, employing different innovations and design approaches, and each are
a sustainable building.1
This essay aims to investigate the role of ephemeral architecture in sus-tainable building beyond the conventional perception, in challenging the stereotype of sustainable architecture. For the purposes of this essay, the
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” will be utilized.
1 Farmer, Simon Guy and Graham. «Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology.» (1984-) (Associate of Collegiate Schools of Architecture) 54 (2001): 140.
Role of Technology in SustainabilitySustainable architecture is increasingly becoming synonymous with ‘green’ architecture and the image of the quintessential sustainable archi-
-ted and operated to minimize impact on the environment by the use of sophisticated systems. This stereotype is perpetuated by a top-down view of environmental and technological change in which a “progressive process of innovation mitigates the adverse effects of development.” The basic assumption is that the development of new technologies that
the environment of past practices. More often than not, industrialization and technological development is believed to be a panacea for the ailing environment.2
The most pertinent issue of unsustainability, in line with global concerns, 3 The negative impacts of buildings are believed to be
process and operation such as favoring of a building’s appearance over -
nical and electrical equipment et cetera.4 As a result, many buildings are designed to be modern, high-technology structures that maximize
unsustainability are undoubtedly shaped by different social stakes, based on different understanding of the issues, ergo culminating in different approaches toward a variety of sustainable futures. “Sustainability can be humble: sourcing natural and passive solutions energy needs; and it can be extravagant: using customized and computer-enhanced systems that detect environmental conditions and respond accordingly to the buil-ding’s needs.”5
Measuring SustainabilityThere are attempts to quantify the ‘sustainability’ of a building, and many countries have their own rating system. For example, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) implemented LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), a program that provides third-party 2 Ibid.3 Ibid.4 Lovins, Amory. «Ithat is now causing widespread energy waste.» In (1993): 16.5 Vinnitskaya, Irina. ArchDaily. August 27, 2011. http://www.archdaily.com/159232 (ac-cessed November 06, 2012).
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designed to “lower operating costs and increase asset value, conserve energy and water, reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions” among other things.6
The LEED awards points for energy-saving features, but it has been cri-ticized in the past by those who consider some features (like bike racks)
Gehry said: “A lot of LEED is given for bogus stuff.” The costs of making a green building are “enormous,” he said, and “they don’t pay back in your lifetime.”7 Even though one could argue that there can be money paybacks and costs savings, an initial capital is still necessary to make it happen.8
Ephemeral ArchitectureEphemeral architecture is one branch of architecture that has been ne-glected in the discourse of sustainability. A variety of factors contribute to the ephemerality of architecture, including but not restricted to program, material, mobility, climate, budget and actions of users. Through the analysis of Shigeru Ban’s projects, this essay aims to demonstrate the
Ban is most well known for building with recyclable materials. The Paper Tube Housing built for the refugees of the Kobe earthquake in 1995 is an instance of architecture that is constructed with material is reusable and recyclable. All the materials for the Paper Tube Housing were prefabrica-ted and assembled at the site. The foundation was made of Kirin Beer
constructed with plywood and lined at the edges with plywood pegs. The main structure of the house comprised cardboard tubes that were sealed at the joints with waterproof sponge tape, and were held together horizontally with steel rods. Each of the houses are cost-effective, costing less than $2000 each, and easily erected. The housing was so effec-tive that similar shelters were used in Turkey in 2000 and India in 2001, customized for the local climate. “To protect against the Turkish winter,
6 Source: USGBC Website https://new.usgbc.org/leed7 Singh, Timon.
- Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building . November 05, 2010. http://inhabitat.com/frank-gehry-calls-sustainable-design-political/ (accessed Novermber 06, 2012).8 Redden, Elizabeth. Sustainability Failures. July 23, 2008. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/07/23/sustainability#ixzz2BSipNuli (accessed November 06, 2012).
Indian climate, the roof construction was transformed by blending paper tubing and local materials like bamboo.”9
Paper tube housing
Despite being commissioned as a temporary structure for refugees, the Paper Tube Housing did not become useless once it was demolished. The materials themselves could have been reused and recycled, but the success of the architecture allowed it to be constructed in the same way
made minimal impact on the environment and can be considered ‘sustai-nable’ even without the intensive use of technology in both the building construction and usage.
Ban had also built a Paper Church for the refugees of the Kobe earth-quake whose house of worship had been destroyed. The plan is en-closed within a skin of corrugate, polycarbonate sheeting, within which, paper tubes were placed in an elliptical design. Similarly, despite being
9 Meta, Agim. Paper Tube Housing by Shigeru Ban. Febuary 11, 2011. http://www.de-sign4disaster.org/2011/02/12/paper-tube-housing-by-shigeru-ban/ (accessed November 6, 2012).
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Paper church
designed and built as a temporary structure for disaster refugees, the Paper Church lasted long after it was planned for and was present for 10 years, before it was disassembled and all the materials sent to a city in Taiwan where it was reassembled as a permanent structure and called the Puli Paper Dome.
For Ban, sustainable architecture is about more than saving energy or using recycled materials. It’s about people’s emotional connection to the buildings they occupy, and about making buildings that may have diffe-rent identities at different times”, one of the factors that make architecture ephemeral. “Some buildings, he says, should be built as disposable. They can still be green so long as they don’t require more energy to take down than they did to put up.”10
Paper buildings might be viewed as wasteful and not sturdy, but Ban explains that a concrete-and-steel building can also be temporary if taken down or destroyed by natural disaster. Ban says of his paper architecture, “paper can last. It’s a question of love. My paper church was still around after 10 years. If a building is loved, it becomes permanent, although buildings don’t always need to be permanent. People are more noma-
the way they used to. Families grow, they need to move, then children leave, and they move again. It’s always about designing for the particular situation.”11
10 Kimmelman, Michel. May 20, 2007. http://www.ny-times.com/2007/05/20/magazine/20shigeru-t.html?pagewanted=all (accessed November 6, 2012).11 Ibid.
ConclusionEphemeral architecture is often associated with being wasteful; the quintessential sustainable building is traditionally not a temporal struc-ture, but rather a long-lasting structure whose presence makes minimal
result, many countries have issued guidelines for environmentally friendly implementations or add-ons to buildings to certify the sustainability of a building. Hence, many of the ‘sustainable’ buildings of this era employ sophisticated machinery and techniques, both passive and active sys-tems, in order to reduce impact on the environment.12
The aim of this essay is not to discredit technology-based environmental innovations but rather to acknowledge that different stakeholders may embody vastly different perceptions of what sustainability is about, and may share a commitment to sustainable design but are likely to differ greatly in their interpretation of the causes of and ergo the solution to unsustainability.
The parameters of sustainability in this discourse are often limited to the physical attributes of a building, but by broadening perspectives to include the social and political aspects of sustainability, it is possible that ephemeral architecture, through its presence and impact on people, can be a form of sustainable architecture in a metaphysical way, on top of the environmentally friendly construction methods and materials, as seen through Shigeru Ban’s projects.
12 Lovins, Amory. «that is now causing widespread energy waste.» In (1993): 16.
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BILIOGRAPHY
Farmer, Simon Guy and Graham. «Reinterpreting Sustainable Archi-tecture: The Place of Technology.» Journal of Architectural Education (1984-) (Associate of Collegiate Schools of Architecture) 54 (2001): 140.
Vinnitskaya, Irina. ArchDaily. August 27, 2011. http://www.archdaily.com/159232 (accessed November 06, 2012).
Singh, Timon. Frank Gehry Slams LEED, Calls Sustainable Design «Political» Read more: Frank Gehry Calls Sustainable Design «Poli-tical» | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building . November 05, 2010. http://inhabitat.com/frank-gehry-calls-sustainable-design-political/ (accessed Novermber 06, 2012).
Redden, Elizabeth. Sustainability Failures. July 23, 2008. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/07/23/sustainability#ixzz2BSipNuli (accessed November 06, 2012).
Meta, Agim. Paper Tube Housing by Shigeru Ban. Febuary 11, 2011. http://www.design4disaster.org/2011/02/12/paper-tube-housing-by-shi-geru-ban/ (accessed November 6, 2012).
Kimmelman, Michel. . May 20, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/magazine/20shigeru-t.html?pagewanted=all (accessed November 6, 2012).
Lovins, Amory. « In
Context 35 (1993): 16.
FLEXIBILITY IN ARCHITECTURE: QUINTA MONROYLour MASHI
In a world where social, economic and environmental changes are taking
becomes of growing interest, especially in the case of buildings that are in need of evolving and adapting continuously with time. Regarding the social housing project Quinta Monroy (2004), situated in the district of Iquique in Chile, by the architects of the agency Elemental, the problem of providing adequate social dwellings for a hundred poor families living on illegal land was met with an original idea that involved building houses that can be adjusted and improved in time and according to the families’ desires and needs. How does the Quinta Monroy project incorporate the notion of changeability and temporality in its architecture?
The architects of Elemental cleverly remodeled the principles of social housing to work with budgetary limitations while keeping in mind the needs of the residents themselves. In the Quinta Monroy project, one of the main aspects that was put forth in their solutions was Chile’s culture of self-construction, where “half of a good house” is provided, instead of “all of a bad house”.1 This meant that the main unit of the house was built, leaving enough free space for each family to make their own addi-tions later on. The architects realized that the structure and massing of a
1 “May 23rd 2010, http://www.helsinkidesignlab.org/essays/elemental#
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1.Satellite snaphshot before construction 2.Satellite snaphshot after construction
-ned and constructed. Thus, more is invested in the structure of a unit in order to support a newly self-constructed expansion. The “half of a good house” concept offered to the families what they needed most, right at that given moment and left the building with the opportunity to be impro-ved upon as their wealth increased or their needs changed. Analyzing the project on a deeper level, Elemental have used a basic concept that the author Bernard Leupen called the “frame concept”.2 In his thesis, “Frame and Generic Space”, Leupen developed the notion of the changeability of dwellings based on the use of permanent elements which he termed as “the frame”. The importance of the development of the frame concept does not lie in what can be changed, in what is considered as ephemeral, but rather in what stays permanent. Hence, opportunities can be created to deal with future unpredictability due to this permanent part of the building which enables various adjustments to be made without requiring such adjustments to be precisely determined in advance.
This is the case with Quinta Monroy, where the architects have construc-ted neutral-looking buildings of equally sized units placed at the same intervals from each other on the site. These units are the permanent 2 Bernard Leupen, “Towards Time-Based Architecture”, in Time-Based Architecture, Bernard Leupen, René Heijne, Jasper van Zwol (eds.), (Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2005), p. 18.
elements, the frame. The uniformity and minimalism of these elements, along with the void provided next to each house unit, encourages the families to make future adjustments with ease and as needed.
The frame is not only the permanent part of the building, for it also re-
damaging its essential character. Therefore, a certain harmony is maintai-ned in the social housing project throughout the many additions that have been made over time, because the main permanent frame of the building has preserved the identity of the place, it gave freedom to changeability
-tures of how the settlement used to be before the creation of the project). –In the article “Time-Based Buildings”, by Herman Hertzberger, perma-
permanent, or the frame of the building, is considered as the lucid and neutral part of the structure that produces ‘polyvalency’ in the building.3 Polyvalency occurs because the form of the building suggests different interpretations by the different users. A polyvalent form is a form which can be put to different uses without having to undergo structural changes itself.
This is why, in the case of the frame concept, the frame is an open-ended structure that is free for different uses and different meanings through the various interpretations that it brings about by its simple forms that are used as the base for further adjustments. In addition to this, the pre-sence of voids that contrast clearly with each unit encourages individual interpretation and freedom of expression without disturbing the uniform organization of the houses.4
Going into more detail on the organization of the units, each base unit is composed of three stories comprising of an area of 36 squared meters that contain the kitchen, the bathroom, and the stairs, which are the main service utilities, disposed in such a way as to provide easy future expan-sion, up to 70 squared meters of space. The different units were positio-ned in such a manner on the site as to create an enclosed area between
3 Herman Hertzber, “Time-Base Buildings”, in Time-Based Architecture, Bernard Leu-pen, René Heijne, Jasper van Zwol (eds.), (Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2005), p. 82.4 Herman Hertzber, “Time-Base Buildings”, in Time-Based Architecture, Bernard Leu-pen, René Heijne, Jasper van Zwol (eds.), (Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2005), p. 82.
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3.Existing settlement situation before construction.
a certain number of families and create sub-communities to enhance interactions and bring support between the neighbors, creating common public spaces in each enclosure and providing a sense of security for the children to play on the shared grounds.
-tects have managed to solve social issues as well as create buildings that have a long life span and that evolve continuously in time. These concepts are that of constructing half a home, in order to leave the other half to be self-constructed in time, that of using the frame, implying the importance of having permanency in the structure to maintain long-las-ting sustainability, and that of organizing the houses in such a way as to be interpreted and adjusted freely by the users through time and to give identity and enclosure to the dwellings that are well in need of solidarity of the community.
Flexibility and changeability in architecture does not always have to mean
elements in a building are temporary, the building in itself will lack in co-herency and will have too much freedom in its changeability to last long in time. The fewer interventions needed on the building, the more adequate and adaptable its use will be in the uncertain future.
Development of the house extensions from 2004 to 2006
Project information:5
Architects: Elemental – Alejandro Aravena, Alfonso Montero, Tomás Cortese, Emilio de la Cerda Location: Iquique, Chile. Client: Gobierno regional de Tarapacá / Programa Chile-Barrio del Go-bierno de Chile. Engineering: Juan Carlos de la Llera & José Gajardo. Contractor and Services: Proingel, Abraham Guerra, Constructora Loga S.A. Budget: US $204 /sqm Project Year: 2003 Construction Year: 2004 Execution time: 9 months Materials: Concrete & Cement bricksSite Area: 5000 sqm Constructed Area: 3500 sqm Photographs: Elemental – Cristóbal Palma – Tadeuz Jalocha
5 Saieh, Nico, “ l”, 31 Dec 2008. ArchDaily, last accessed on 6th
of Nov. 2012, http://www.archdaily.com/10775/quinta-monroy-elemental/
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BIBLIOGRAPHY:
-Herman Hertzber, “Time-Base Buildings”, in Time-Based Architecture, Bernard Leupen, René Heijne, Jasper van Zwol (eds.), (Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2005), p. 82.
-Bernard Leupen, “Towards Time-Based Architecture”, in Time-Based Architecture, Bernard Leupen, René Heijne, Jasper van Zwol (eds.), (Rot-terdam: 010 Publishers, 2005), p. 18.
-Bernard Leupen, (Rotterdam: 010 Pu-blishers, 2006).
-“ ”, Justin W. Cook & Bryan Boyer, Version 1.0, -
says/elemental#
-Saieh, Nico, “ , 31 Dec 2008. ArchDaily, last accessed on 6th of Nov. 2012, http://www.archdaily.com/10775/quinta-monroy-elemental/
-Luke W. Perry, 2008, http://incrementalhouse.blogspot.fr/2008/10/chile-quinta-monroy.html
WATER AND MOVEMENT IN ARCHITECTUREEzgi TEZCAN
The aim of this research is to explain how architecture can be ephemeral by creating a sense of movement. The use of water in architectural de-
liquid behavior. Water’s role in creating a sense of movement in archi-tecture will be presented by investigating two World Expo’s projects in which water is considered as a main element of the design process. One of these projects is the Digital Water Pavilion by Carlo Ratti and the other
chance to gain a better understanding of the transformation process and the usage of water in architecture.
Ephemeral Architecture and Movement
Ephemeral means “not permanent, lasting a day”. It is used for changing,
it offers a chance to change, prevents stability and adds dynamism. “Mo-vement is found in nature in every organism, even static elements change in time and offer a sense of movement”.1
itecture, “it applies to a building with the potential to move”.2 The main concern is what kind of movement we are talking about. Technologic
1 Verónica Estremadoyro, Virginia Poly-technic Institute and State University, (October, 2003)2 Brian D. Chappel, , (December,2004),
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developments not only facilitate creating physical movement but also they lead us to create mental experiments of movement. It is possible to perceive movements even if the buildings themselves do not move. To create a sense of movement without actual motion, architecture may use and transform natural elements such as water.
Nature of Water
The nature of water offers many aspects to architecture to use in design.
feature of water, even in stable structures it is possible to create a sense of movement. Considering waterfalls and water waves architects try to create aesthetic effects in their design. The usage of water not only offers aesthetic designs but also contributes to a sense of movement. Water
movement is detected. In addition to this water as a transparent mate-rial, it allows us to see what is behind of it. Combining transparency and
special qualities of water, architecture can transform and use it to provide dynamism in designs. «Water, actuated by gravity, has traditionally been the most dynamic element in architectural and urban space,» said William J. Mitchell.3 Two World Expo buildings, Digital Water Pavilion and the Blur Building, will be analyzed in order to present different ways of usage of water. The possibility of creating the illusion of movement without actual motion in structure is explored.
Digital Water Pavilion
The Digital Water Pavilion was designed for Expo Zaragoza 2008, Spain by MIT architects and engineers. It is an interactive structure made of digitally controlled water curtains. “The water walls that make up the structure consist of a row of closely spaced solenoid valves along a pipe suspended in the air. This produces a curtain of falling water with gaps at
of illuminated points on a screen. The entire surface becomes a one-bit-deep digital display that continuously scrolls downward.”4
3 Patti Richards, MIT News,
4 D (10 November,2011), http://www.okeanosgroup.com/blog/water-as-art/digital-water-pavilion/
1:1 Water curtains of Pavillion
The water walls separate the interior and the exterior of the building as a barrier. “But of course, the terms “inside” and “outside” hardly apply to this building, because the spectacle of a water wall invites bystanders to investigate, and the ephemeral barrier acts more as an invitation than a restriction.” And the water walls can also create pattern and shapes. The roof of building is also covered by water and supported by large pistons. As the vans closed, the roof is able to move vertically and the whole buil-ding disappears.
1:2 Water walls create a pattern 1:3 Roof on the ground
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The Blur Building
The Blur Building is an exhibition pavilion built for the Swiss Expo 2002 on Lake Neuchatel in the town of Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland by Diller
To add to the effect, building stands several meter above the lake by a metal framework and the entire building acts as a cloud.
2:1 The Blur building spays water 2:2 Vapor generate a sense of movement
like a cloud and it creates a sense of movement. It is hard to realize the building itself beyond the vapor. “The architecture is impressive, but it becomes impossible to directly appreciate the structure because onloo-kers can’t actually see any of it. Even after stepping foot onto the Blur Building, visibility doesn’t improve much.”5
“This project managed to interrogate every environment -- built,
visual, cognitively mapped, and perceptually oriented culture that sur-rounds us today. The Blur Building produces different spacing and tem-porality from those of the modern world, hovering uncertainly at the limit or at the end of the world.”6
To conclude, water has an essential role in architecture in order to add a dynamic effect in design. By taking into account the World Expo’s futurist and experimental character these two buildings interpret the common materials in a different way. “World’s Fairs have offered hope of a better
5 Walking On Clouds At The Blur Building, (10 November,2011), http://www.okeanos-group.com/blog/water-as-art/blur-building/6 Ulrik Ekman, -ding, University of Copenhagen, (1 January,2009)
future by showing how things can be done differently.”7 In Digital Water Pavilion new technology controlled and shaped the water curtain. Even if it acts like a waterfall or if pixels are shaped by digital technology, the building is completely dynamic. The Blur Building uses the lake and trans-forms it into the water vapor. It presents a blurred image as a soaring cloud. It is possible to see it as a mobile structure blown by the wind. Although, water is used in different ways in the two buildings, the aim is similar. It is perceived as a tool to create dynamism. Despite stable positions of the buildings a sense of movement is obtained. These Expo Buildings are examined to present how architecture uses water and how water contributes to dynamic design. The role of water in architecture is unlimited; there are thousands of different possibilities that architecture can experiment.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Estremadoyro, Verónica “ ”, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, (October,2003)Chappel, Brian D. “ ”, (December, 2004), 4Richards, Patti “Water Walls“ ”,(10 Novem-ber,2011) http://www.okeanosgroup.com/blog/water-as-art/digital-water-pavilion/“Walking On Clouds At The Blur Building” (10 November, 2011)http://www.okeanosgroup.com/blog/water-as-art/blur-building/Ekman, Ulrik “s Blur Building, University of Copenhagen, (1 January,2009)“ ” http://unitec.researchbank.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10652/1234/fulltext.pdf?sequence=1Eyre , Jim “Bridging Art and Science”, Movement and Geometry, (2001)
Images1:1 http://www.okeanosgroup.com/blog/water-as-art/digital-water-pavi-lion/1:2 http://www.okeanosgroup.com/blog/water-as-art/digital-water-pavi-lion/1:3 http://www.alaninnes.com/studio999/crossroads/Entries/2012/7/14_
7 y, http://www.crystalpalace51.org/
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DO TRACES MAKE ARCHITECTURE SUBSIST?Hortense PROT
Do traces make architecture subsist? How the traces of the Palais des
do they have today?
In this essay I’m interested in what can subsist after a building’s disap-pearance and what does it mean for the notion of permanence in archi-tecture. That’s why I chose to study The Palais des Tuileries. It burned down in 1871 and was destroyed in 1883, but traces of different natures remain. Focusing on three of them I will precise the notion of ‘trace’, ana-lyzing their relation with the destroyed building in order to discover what role they play today.
displaced and installed in courtyards and gardens like ESA’s, or reused in constructions like that of the Chateau de la Punta. The second example includes images, iconographic documents representing the Palais des Tuileries. The third example is the site itself, the location in the city of the former Palais. These three examples refer to different aspects of the notion of trace. The point is that according to Paul Ricoeur, himself deve-loping Marc Bloch theory, trace is a general term which includes as well testimonies and remnants of the past.1
1 Paul Ricoeur, Paris, Seuil, 2000,
notion it is impossible to classify them but we can differentiate them, be-ginning with the difference between written, and non-written forms. In the sense of Ricoeur, written traces are all documentary traces, written tes-timonies, and non-written traces are clues, both opposed by their posi-
2
The second one is not literally written, but the fact it implies a transcrip-tion and what Ricoeur called the “moment of the archive” enables us to consider that it is closer to written traces, and more precisely to written
can differentiate them, indeed this one is closer to the notion of a foot-print, the mark of a former presence in the city, the remaining borders of the site, unchanged, and the absence of any new construction.
By specifying the examples, we determined these three traces have particular natures thereby relations they maintain with the former buil-
this point on the trace implies a notion of belonging, that there is a set in which the clue has a place. Moreover, the status of stones, columns, and pediments, which were moved to new sites or reused in new construc-
architectural set it became an object. I mean that taking them out of their context transforming them into examples of ancient architectural models or into artifacts in the landscape. It seems to me that in this meaning, they become an immediate object, a sign in the sense of Peirce’s semio-tics as explained by Nicole Everaert-Desmedt.3
The site of the building as a footprint refers more to the notion of ab-sence. In fact, if a footprint exists, it automatically means the author (human, animal, and architecture as well) of the mark is no longer pre-sent. With the notion of footprint we can say that architecture is no longer present as such but more as a form, or the boundary of a form which has disappeared. Aldo Rossi writes in “architecture of the city” that it is not
-borhood’s architectural footprint its history. I guess that this is the same 2 Ricoeur, , 2213 N.Everaert-Desmedt, Peirce, Liège, Mardaga, 1990, p.52
30 31
sense of the trace expressed here and in this point of view it is possible to consider that architecture evolved as a historical witness, a layer of patina in the city, as well as a tool for comprehension and rediscovery of the city. Given they can be considered as non-written traces, these
Iconographic documents, which through the notion of transcription of a testimony, install a double distance between the original objet and its representation. In fact, there is the interpretation of the one who transcri-bed and the critique of it by the one who has looked at it. In this sense it gets closer to the symbol, in the three levels of relations between the objet and its representative described by Nicole Everaert-Desmedt.4 Ico-nographic documents may then match with the idea of the source used in history, but as well in architecture. Indeed, describing the process of the architectural project, Olfa Meziou Baccour in “the architectural project as a genesis thesis, semiotic status of traces”, explains the relevance of archives in architectural project demarche.5 In parallel, J.-C. Daufresnes shows that they can play the role of an aid to memory and the imaginary, gathering together the multitude of projects that have been drawn for the Palais des Tuileries.6
Through the examples I have chosen, the link between traces and the original object is not a notion of resemblance or double. They maintain more distant relations in which interpretation is involved. Thus can we say that permanence in architecture is possible, or rather that architecture
leaves traces.
4 Everaert-Desmedt, Le processus interprétatif5 Olfa Meziou Baccour, -
[ en ligne ]. NAS, 2008, N° 111.Disponible sur http://revues.unilim.fr/nas/document.php?id=21326 Jean-Claude Daufresnes, Louvre & Tuileries: architectures de papier, Editions Mardaga, 1987
BILIOGRAPHY
- Paul Ricoeur, , Paris, Seuil, 2000, p8-18 et p209-230- Pierre-Nicolas Sainte Fare Garnot, Emmanuel Jacquin, Le château des Tuilerie, Herscher, 1988- Nicole Everaert-Desmedt,
Liège, Mardaga- Aldo Rossi, Paris, livre & communication, 1990- Olfa Meziou Baccour,
[ en ligne ]. NAS, 2008, N° 111.Disponible sur http://revues.unilim.fr/nas/document.php?id=2132 - Jean-Claude Daufresnes,Editions Mardaga, 1987
32 33
What is behind Cedric Price and Joan Littlewood’s notion of the epheme-
Ephemeral architecture revolutionizes our perception of space, time and
able to adapt to the changing needs of our society. When societies grow, the value of space increases. As a consequence, society requires a more
ideas started a series of projects such as the Fun Palace designed by Cedric Price and Joan Littlewoods. Even if it was never realized, the Fun
and 21st centuries. This experimental project changes dramatically our
For that purpose, I will study the Fun Palace, an emblematic case of ephemeral architecture, to see if it achieved the objective of its author. By looking at this case study, I will also review and critique some of Price’s
-
FUN PALACE AND EPHEMERAL ARCHITECTURENhaila CHIN FOO
lity of architecture comes from the aesthetic.
The Fun Palace was born of a collaborative work between the theatre director Joan Littlewood and the architect Cedric Price in the
a reaction to traditional theatre in England. She argued that traditional theater was no longer adapted to society. Therefore, she did everything to break the formalism of theater and reinsert entertainment into everyday life. She wanted to set up a new kind of art center, a place where people could come and practice different activities; a place where people could dance, sing, watch a play, read; a place where people would have the option of being active or could just looking at other people doing those activities. Another concern that Littlewood held was regarding the British educatio-nal system. According to her, the educational system at that time was not appropriate to society anymore. She said that it was too elitist and also too traditional. Her idea was to develop an exploratory aspect of educa-tion, emancipate and democratize it by abolishing boundaries between education, work-time and leisure. While Littlewood had all these radical
her ideas. Her meeting with Cedric Price was crucial to the concretiza-tion of her plans. In fact, Price accepted to help her to develop a sort of experimental social project that will revolutionize people’s perception of the environment. This is how the Fun Palace was created. What Price did was to translate Littlewood’s ideas into spaces, into a building. But, theoretically, what does it mean for architecture?
It is simply revolutionary for the theories of architecture. The fusion of ideas between Price and Littlewood showed a new relationship between the architect and a work of art. The classical scheme of the construction of a building was somewhat inverted. Here, the architect is just an employee who works to make possible the realization of social project with other employees.
To implement a project like the Fun Palace, Price and Littlewood had to deal with the ephemeral aspect of their program. According to them, it is impossible to create a building that lasts forever because the needs of society evolve over time, therefore programs needs to change too to be able to respond to those needs. The shape of a building should not
34 35
-titude of different programs over time. It would be non-permanent, easy to dismantle, move and reassemble. In other words, the architect does not create a project that is spatially or temporally frozen. The Fun Palace
The interesting thing here is to see how the architect shapes a building
depends on the program it contains.
According to Price and Littlewood, it is possible to create a building with
the space in several possible ways. It will give the users a skeletal fra-mework within which they can practice the activities of their choice. They can thus shape their environment according to their needs. The architect
exterior spaces and the general form of the building: services, activities, frequency of use, thermal comfort, acoustic and light among others. For example, a library doesn’t require the same acoustic qualities or lighting as a theater. A library would need a certain calm while a restaurant would be noisier. That is why they don’t have the shape, size and don’t use the same material. Therefore is it really true that the more functions your buil-
I think that the opposite effect will happen. By trying to adapt to many different functions, the Fun Palace is not adapted to any of them.
does not develop spatial qualities in which each program could happen. We will look at some examples. The metal structure that Price proposes
parts of the building like the plans, walls and stairs. Cranes will be used to move the different elements and the users will control the cranes. The critique made by Newby is that, 1) the cranes that move elements around take too much space and 2) that vertical circulation like cranes as well as
-
lity of the building is nothing like Price pretends that it is.
We note that Price rejects any aesthetic elements in the Fun Palace buil-ding. The building has neither a door, nor a façade or any sign of orna-mentation. Only the metal structure appears and leaves visible air condi-tioners, vents, etc. By refusing ornament, Cedric Price doesn’t put its personality into the building. However, this refusal of ornamentation is still an aesthetic: an industrial aesthetic. In a way, it also seems to be Price’s intention not to highlight his personality in the building. In fact, According to Isosaki, Price rejects “all that is designed” and instead assembles common industrial elements. Therefore, by being as neutral as possible,
I looked at the context of the emergence of the Fun Palace with the objective to understand what was behind Price’s notion of ephemeral architecture. By following Price’s logic and trying to apply his theory to the real word, I tried to show that Price’s theory had both good and bad points.
reduces it.While an industrial aesthetic - absence of ornamentation – prevents the
the building. In addition, if we look at the remnants of the industrial age, we’ll see that rehabilitated abandoned factories are a good example that
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arata Isozaki, , in Re :CP by Cedric Price Ed. Hans Obrist (with contributions by Arata Isozaki, Patrick Keiller and Rem Koolhaas) 2006
Hans Ulrich Obrist, by Cedric Price Ed. Hans Obrist (with contributions by Arata Isozaki, Patrick Keiller and Rem Koolhaas) 2006
Stanley Mathwes in From Agit- Prop to Free Space : The Architecture of Cedric Price,
Ed.Black Dog Pub., 2007
Stanley Mathews », in From Agit-Prop to Free Space : The Architecture of Cedric Price, Ed.Black Dog Pub., 2007
CAN MUSIC INFLUENCE THE PERCEPTION OF SPACE?Younes EL HAYANI
Perception, in architecture, is the vector of an immaterial ephemerality.
detection of the stable permanent framework of the environment.1
Merleau-Ponty showed us that to rediscover the world of perceptions, one has to analyze the role senses play in the formation of knowledge.2 And as Mikel Dufrenne wrote, art is the apotheosis of the sensuous in the way that it contains the other aspects of the aesthetic object experience
3 The relation between the subject (auditor) and the aesthetic object (piece of music) becomes inter-subjective4 and the experience of the subject becomes a synthesis between passion and rationality, emotion and understanding, and body and spirit.5
These statements about perception of space and art help to understand 1 Gibson, James J. “The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems”. Boston: Hough-
2 Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. “The World of Perception”. London and New York: Routledge, 2004. p. 95., Used by MACEDO (6)3 Dufrenne, Mikel. “ ”: Northwes-tern University Press, 1973, p. 11., Used by MACEDO (6)4Ferrara, Lawrence. “ ”. The Musical Quar-terly. Volume LXX. No. 3. New York: Schirmer, 1984., Used by MACEDO (6)5 Ferrara, Lawrence. “Form, and Reference”. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1991., Used by MACEDO (6)
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what we are going to focus on, which is the aural perception of spatiality,
on the sound (diffraction, acoustic shadows, echoes and reverberation),
sound.6
concept of musical space, then link it with sounds’ spatiality. But to
concepts.
In order to make the concept of musical space clearer, Frederico Macedo gives four senses of it.7 First, he talks about musical space as a meta-phor, used to describe different aspects of music like structure or rhythm that can be “high” or “low”. The second sense is the performance space, which describes effects of the built environment on sound. Ancient buildings, like the St Peter’s Basilica in Rome has special sound phenomenon that are simple conse-quences of the geometry of the space. Indeed, the whispering gallery, at the base of its dome, provides an effect allowing people to speak very softly against its wall and be heard 35 meters away.8 But many buildings
better. The third musical space concerns sound spatiality, which we are going to focus on. The fourth sense of musical space is the soundscape.
a city soundscape.Musical space as sound spatiality is “any kind of music in which the sound sources are dispersed throughout the performance space.”9 When it is different from the traditional front oriented relationship between spec-tators and the musicians, like in contemporary music with some compo-sers (Stockhausen, Boulez, Xenakis) who place musicians and/or other sound sources in a way that the sound comes from different directions. It can be an “instrumental spatial music”, with only instrumental or vocal 6 Macedo, Frederico, “Phenomenology, spatial music and the composer: prelude to a phenomenology of space in electroacoustic music”, Proceedings of the International
7 Macedo, Frederico, “Phenomenology, spatial music and the composer: prelude to a phenomenology of space in electroacoustic music”, Proceedings of the International
8 Grenelle, Marc, « Toucher, audition et odorat en architecture”, Editions Seripia, 2001, p.609 Macedo, Frederico, “Phenomenology, spatial music and the composer: prelude to a phenomenology of space in electroacoustic music”, Proceedings of the International
resources, “electroacoustic spatial music”, with loudspeakers dispersed throughout the performance place, or “mixed spatial music”, with both instrumental and electroacoustic sources. Beyond sound sources, their effects are also important to understand their potential to create different types of perception of space. Stream segregation is a spatial separation that allows making a differentiation between different sources and can be used for both instrumental and electroacoustic sources. The second effect is motion of sound. Using a multi channel technology, it can give an impression of movement of the source whereas it is actually stationary.10
With the evolution of technology, some projects were made, using these tools, such as the Philips Pavilion built at the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958 by Le Corbusier for the Netherland Pavilion. The architecture design was completely done by Iannis Xenakis, while Le Corbusier created images to be projected on the curved walls inside the pavilion. Varese was asked to write music to be played in it. This multisensory project was design based on “Metastasis”, a musical piece written by Xenakis using mathematical rules and theories.11 He was indeed inspired by Aristoxe-nus’ “Treaty of harmonics.”12
The building was made with 5 cm concrete curves, without any column, 10Macedo, Frederico, “Phenomenology, spatial music and the composer: prelude to a phenomenology of space in electroacoustic music”, Proceedings of the International
11 Xenakis, Iannis, « -», Editions Parenthèses, 2006, p. 142-149
12 Xenakis, Iannis, « -», Editions Parenthèses, 2006, p. 22
40 41
and could hold 500 people inside. The sound installation, in order to provide a completely new musical spatiality experience, was composed by 400 speakers on the walls that plays Poèmes electroniques, a piece
created using music notes. People were completely surrounded by these “organized sounds”, wherever they were.13
In the 1980’s, Luigi Nono, an Italian music composer, tried to decompose directions of sounds, using electroacoustic sounds, used as antimaterial of the instrumental sound. The result is a new perception of space for au-ditors. Moreover he uses moving sound in order to create an impression of movement surrounding the auditor. To create an exploded spatiality, he uses heterogeneous musical layers so that one cannot feel any begin-ning, source, or direction of the sounds in space and time.14 He applied these principles and researches in “Prometeo”, an opera that he realized with Renzo Piano in 1982 in the St Venezio church in Venice. Piano has
no ceiling, made of glulam, inside the church, using the principle of imbri-cations of both ark and church spaces all in all.15 It works with a double process: musicians play in the ark and speakers play electroacoustic music outside the ark, using the reverberation of the church walls.
Refusing the classical relation between inside and outside, social and private, he uses a high tension so that the audition is oscillating between inside and outside the ark. He also dissociates different sensorial expe-riences (audition and visual). Sound and space are indeed interlaced and space doesn’t have the function of reverberation anymore, with its walls,
-
16
We have seen that musical experience in space is more and more com-13 Xenakis, Iannis, « -
», Editions Parenthèses, 2006, p. 154-17814 Dautrey, Jehanne, Article « Une hétérotopie musicale: la collaboration entre Renzo Piano et Luigi Nono sur Prometeo », « Musique, architecture », Rue Descartes, 2007, p.13-15 15 Feher, Etienne Article « », « Musique, architecture », Rue Descartes, 2007, p.3316 Dautrey, Jehanne, Article « Une hétérotopie musicale: la collaboration entre Renzo Piano et Luigi Nono sur Prometeo », « Musique, architecture », Rue Descartes, 2007, p.16-18
-vances. Indeed, Xenakis said that the future of listening to music is in the progress of modern technology.17 For example, in 1996, the Hypersonic Sound System (HSS) was invented, allowing to remotely chose direc-tion of sound. Controlling the sound waves, one can project music to a
this kind of innovation will be able to make perception of space by music progress.18 These new ways to create sound spaces will help architec-ture to integrate it in the built environment in order to produce invisible soundscape ambiances, space separations, or even music immersion, in controlled and ephemeral ways.
17 Xenakis, Iannis, « -», Editions Parenthèses, 2006, p. 24
18 Norris, Woody, TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/woody_norris_invents_amazing_things.html
42 43
BIBLIOGRAPHY
DAUTREY, Jehanne, Article-
Rue Descartes, 2007, p.13-18
FEHER, Etienne, Article -, Rue Descartes, 2007, p.33
GRENELLE, Marc, Edi-tions Seripia, 2001, p.60
MACEDO, Frederico, “Phenomenology, spatial music and the compo-ser: prelude to a phenomenology of space in electroacoustic music”, Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference 2011,
XENAKIS, Iannis, «, Editions Parenthèses, 2006, p. 22-24, 142-178
Video:
NORRIS, Woody, TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/woody_norris_in-vents_amazing_things.html
THE RESISTANT EPHEMERALPaula JURAK
in the future of architecture such as in the façade of ‘cloud 9’s media-tic on the 22@barcelona project?
Membrane structures date back to early nomadic people (North Ameri-cans, North Africans or East Asians) requiring shelter that was lightweight, portable and structurally strong enough to stand climatical extremes such as sand storms or monsoons.
Today, the applications and capabilities of membrane structures, espe-
structures replace durable constructions in the future of architecture?
One of the most important people for the development of membrane constructions was Walter Bird. In 1955, he founded his own company Birdair, specialized in such structures. Later, in the 1960s, experimen-
44 45
ting on materials for space travel, NASA invented a strong, lightweight, 1 Not only its high resistance
-cial project, a membrane roof construction for the University of La Verne in California, that is still in use today. From then on, the extensive use
capacities and inventions of materials, institutional facilities like museums, stadiums or, for instance, retail centers.
According to Sir Michael Hopkins ‘’increasingly we are exploring highly--
sure, light and thermal transmittance are combined in a single element. 2
Currently, such membrane constructions are relating to new digital production process methodologies, such as 3D modelling and numeric
-gible, membrane structures can span great horizontal distances and faci-litate the creation of dynamic forms. Such complex construction methods
to implement afterwards. Even though membrane structures depend on a primary support structure made of steel and/or cables, the essential interaction with this support structure, makes it possible to create minimal surfaces that enable an economic use of the material.
Corresponding to both new technological and environmental require-ments, Enric Ruiz Geli (cloud 9) designed the so-called Media-Tic building as a socially open civic space, set up in the southern part of Barcelona, El Poblenou. The district, known as 22@Barcelona, is situated next to the Mediterranean Sea, where buildings, organized in clusters, are clas-
design.3
1
NASA Spinoff, accessed November 5, 2012. http://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2009/ip_2.html2 Tensile membrane Structures’, Birdair, MakMax – maximizing membrane, accessed November 6, 2012. http://dc391.4shared.com/doc/NnH6ZHqj/preview.html3 ‘Media-TIC / Enric Ruiz Geli’, Arch daily selected works, accessed November 3, 2012. http://www.archdaily.com/49150/media-tic-enric-ruiz-geli/
For more than ten years, around 14.000m2 of industrial ground of Spain’s second largest city are in a constant state of reorganisation. The urban initiative pursues an improvement of the social and economic situation by shared utilisations, new buildings and landscaping, with the aim of increased amenity values.
According to its name, the Media-TIC itself combines the range of media with technologies of information and communication, like an ‘’icon in the digital world and a vehicle for the dissemination of new technologies’‘.4 On its eight levels comprising 23.104m2 of utilisable space, the building offers space for companies, educational research and training as well as a restaurant and an auditorium. Enric Ruiz Geli, well known for his intel-ligent, prototype-like architecture, tried to realize ecological and energy
the temperature and the natural lightening of the interior, the most sun-
5
The North-South façade is composed of tessellated, convex and concave -
brane structure designed for high corrosion resistance and strength over a wide temperature range. Not only its remarkable material capacities, such as its high melting temperature, its excellent chemical, electrical and high energy radiation resistance properties, but also its climatic and heat isolation as well as the proof and absorption of sound justify the physical use of ETFE membranes as durable constructions.Being attached on the steel framed cubic assembly of the Media-TIC,
4 ‘ ’, 22@Barcelona, accessed November 5, 2012. http://www.22barcelona.com/content/view/41/427/lang,en/5 Ibid.
46 47
building, by independent pneumatic mechanisms controlling the permea-bility of UV light from the middle to the external or internal membrane. De-pending on the momental solar irradiation, these so-called ‘luxor’ sensors
Whereas parts of the steel assembly stay visible on the South-East fa-
Apart from the Media-TIC building, established in 2010, there is already a numerous range of similar projects to mention. The Beijing National Aquatics Center (2008), for instance, or the famed Eden Garden project of 2001 by Grimshaw Architects.
trampolines, designed by AZC Architecture Studio.
Space as shell – space as membrane. ‘’Architecture, evolving on a broad working basis, relates to the human body more directly than ever, as a
-vironment; from being the handmaid of the technical arts, it has become
thank it for a new sphere of activity that expands its previous technical and intellectual boundaries.’’ Siegfried Eberling6 Already in 1926, when Siegfried Eberling, studying at the University of
vision of architecture. In his manifesto, he describes space as a ‘material extension of the human skin’, an ‘epidermic space’ or ‘building skin’, that, as a result of connection and combination, creates a ‘global mem-brane’. Even today there is a string of projects in which contemporary artists work on this topic. One of them is a very recent installation ‘On Space Time Foam’ by Tomás Saraceno, Argentinian artist and architect. Opening his exhibition in October 2012 in Milan, Saraceno creates a multidimensional, air supported membrane structure. The construction
be discovered by the visitors like a parallel universe.7
6 Ebeling, Siegfried, ed. Spyros Papapetros, transl. Johnston, Pamela (Belgium: AA Publications, 2010), Orig. publ. Duennhaupt, C. (Dessau: 1926)7 ‘Tomás Saraceno – On Space Time Foam’, HangarBicocca Milan, accessed October 30, 2012. http://www.hangarbicocca.org/exhibitions/On-Space-Time-Foam-Tomas-Sara-ceno/
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-port structure. But regarding the constant improvement and development
-ring durable objectives.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
books:Seidel, Michael, Tensile Surface Structures – a practical guide to cable and membrane construction (Berlin, Germany: Ernst&Sohn Verlag, 2009).
Teyssot, Georges, in ed. Reto Geiser, Explo-rations in Architecture (Switzerland: Birkhäuser Verlag, 2008), 166-175.
Ebeling, Siegfried, ed. Spyros Papapetros, transl. Johnston, Pamela (Belgium: AA Publications, 2010), Orig. publ. Duenn-haupt, C. (Dessau: 1926)
Charre, Alain, , Paris: Archibooks + Sautereau Éditeur, 2012)
ed. Ishii, Kazuo, , transl. Watanabe, Hiroshi and Miyachi, Koki (Japan: Shinkenchiku-sha, )
articles:Mialet, Frédéric, „ “ in amc – le moniteur architecture (May 2011) no. 197, 72-76
Webb, Michael, ‘The Breathing Building’ in AZURE (Sept. 2011) vol. 27, no. 210, 44-45
‘ (photographs and plans) in ARKINKA (Dec. 2011) vol. 15, no. 193,
48-55
websites: Arch daily selected works, accessed No-
vember 3, 2012. http://www.archdaily.com/49150/media-tic-enric-ruiz-geli/
, P.A.T.I. S.p.A. - thermoplastic
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, 22@Barcelona, accessed November 5, 2012. http://www.22barcelona.com/content/view/41/427/lang,en/
‘Tomás Saraceno – On Space Time Foam’, HangarBicocca Milan, accessed October 30, 2012. http://www.hangarbicocca.org/exhibitions/On-Space-Time-Foam-Tomas-Saraceno/
- Originating Technology/NASA Contribution’ NASA Spinoff, accessed November 5, 2012. http://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2009/ip_2.html
Birdair, MakMax – maximizing mem-brane, accessed November 6, 2012. http://dc391.4shared.com/doc/NnH6ZHqj/preview.html
pictures:‘ ’, Mei-guoxing.com, Your Ultimate Guide to Beijing, China, accessed November 3, 2012. http://www.meiguoxing.com/images/National_Aquatics_Cen-ter_at_night.jpg
‘asz bridge in paris’, yes future france, accessed November 5, 2012. http://yesfuture.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/azc-bridge-in-paris-1.jpg
THE ILLUSIONAL PRESENCE OF WOOD IN BRUDER KLAUSOlivia KEMPF
“The wood grows wings”1, Peter Zumthor pronounces as a closing statement after receiving the Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award in 2006. Perhaps this muted thought took root and grew into a
chapel for a German farming town in 2007. In this work Zumthor em-phasizes process as essential, from inception to destruction, focusing on human perceptive senses. The literal construction process of Zumthor’s Bruder Klaus Field Chapel fabricates metaphorical purpose for wood.The chapel takes the negative form of 112 tree trunks propped together. Twenty-four layers of rammed concrete were poured around the tree fra-mework, which were ignited and left to burn slowly for three weeks.2 For Zumthor, the void is the difference between architecture and art. Architec-ture has constraints because it must be inhabited and used.3The interior becomes architecture through the construction process, a place for the individual to join the collective. Wood, as structure, becomes architecture.
1 Peter Zumthor. “ (2006), 13. 2 John Armitage & Adam Sharr, “Slipstream,” (2011), 46.3 Peter Zumthor. “ ,” (2008), 69.
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Zumthor views material as something given purpose from form. The void is the space to be occupied, but also the primary void for light to enter, throwing the texture of the scorched walls into relief. Capturing light becomes the wood’s vocation, the presence of light proportionate to the wood’s absence. This resonates strongly with
sought to bring them from darkness to light.4The light above emphasizes a sheer verticality, while the pinpoints of light along the scarred walls hold
light, this chapel seems to have its own temperature; one’s psyche per-ceives visible warmth radiating from the long-since extinguished walls yet physically cold because of its open roof. This is Zumthor drawing our at-tention to how wood has the capacity to interact with the temperature of bodies, drawing in heat to create a space independent from the exterior. 5Fire, usually seen as a destructor to the carefully built world, fosters an
and create fertile soil, this construction was rid of its “primitive” structure to make way for a modern concrete version of itself.6
4 John Armitage & Adam Sharr, “Slipstream,” (2011), 50.5 Peter Zumthor. “ ,” (2008), 33.6 Joanita Goei. “ ” (Nov 2012), 53.
On the subject of materiality, Zumthor observes that materials are not inherently poetic but rather have a language that can be formed into a conversation. As an architect, he has compared his work to that of a composer of music, with plans and diagrams holding the same rigid literality as sheet music, and physical architecture being a sensual oc-currence, just as music must be heard to be experienced.7 His choices
at the same time to expose the very essence of these materials which is beyond all culturally conveyed meaning.”8 In this way, wood is not so-mething venerated as an object, but merely a medium given purpose and
--
rything is only inside mankind; a logical interaction between living beings and existing things.9
understanding and the singular instance where he allows the wood to control the design. Raised in a carpenter family, he has an extensive body of knowledge of wood and uses it carefully in his projects to remind users of its inherent and natural qualities. Because the allegorical logs in Bruder
The biomorphic process of the Bruder Klaus Chapel has not
of decay. In its lifespan, decay began early and at a greatly exaggerated with the burning, and it continues to change at an exponentially slower
7Mikesch Muecke & Miriam Zach. “ -ture,” (2007), 262.8 Friedrich Achleitner, Peter Zumthor, & Hiroshi Nakao. “Peter Zumthor,” Architecture+Urbanism, (1998), 8.9 Peter Zumthor. “ ,” (2008), 23.
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human feet, and the burnt smell is fading from the walls. This is the kind of beauty that occurs by circumstance, much like the form created from the original logs.10 Rachel Whiteread, an artist who has surveyed negative space by pouring concrete into everyday items and spaces,
Fiona Bradly attempts to clarify Whiteread’s goals. She observes that -
drobe. The destruction of this space, of course, is what gives us back the wardrobe, both formally- the sculpture looks like a wardrobe- and conceptually- wardrobes exist in order to give us the space inside them, the space trapped by the sculpture.”11 The Field Chapel similarly respects the unobstructed form of an object, using destruction to explore occu-pied space. The difference is the lack of process of Whiteread’s work. For Zumthor, this is not architecture, and he marks the difference by genera-ting space through material.
by its nonexistence, capturing the unmistakable process of construction. Solid wood symbolically gives way to light, a reminder of the purifying yet
of sound, smell, and temperature unite to remind habitants of the most glaringly absent material. The logs are given meaning only through these conscious applications. As other change is brought to the chapel by the constant of time, the space will take a new meaning, folding into its landscape as its materiality crumbles. Time here is the constant, percep-tion the application. Wood is merely prone to these forces, given wings by that which moves us. Beyond this, the building is nothing more than a stinking pile of burnt ruin.
10 John Armitage & Adam Sharr, “Slipstream,” (2011), 53-60.11 Wendy Steiner. “ ,” (2001), 233-234.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Friedrich Achleitner, Peter Zumthor, & Hiroshi Nakao, “Peter Zumthor,” Architecture+Urbanism (1998): 8.
Clemence, Peter. “ Architizer. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2012. <http:/ www.architizer.com/en_us/blog/dyn/5878/chapel-for-mystics-bruder-klaus/# UJou3Y45Xao>.
Joanita Goei, “ -ture,” (PhD diss., Victoria University of Wellington, 2012), 53.
Mikesch Muecke & Miriam Zach, and Architecture (Ames: Culicidae Architectural, 2007), 262.
John Armitage & Adam Sharr, -tecture of Slipstream (London: Polity, 2011), 46-60.
Wendy Steiner, Century Art (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2001), 233-234.
Peter Zumthor, (Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag AG, 2008), 23-69.
Peter Zumthor, Zumthor Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award (Helsinki: Wood in Culture Association, 2006), 13.
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HOW DO EPHEMERAL AND TRANSCENDENTAL QUALITIES OF LIGHT ALTER AN ARCHITECTURAL SPACEGenevieve GRIFFIN-GEORGE
How do the effects of light and shadows on Le Corbusier’s Ronchamp cathedral create a sensation of ephemeralness?
world is determined by light. Light, or absence of light transforms a space and our perception of space. It is dependents on time.
Le Corbusier went as far as to say that “architecture is the wise, correct
“Light and shadow reveal form.” (Eiler Rasmussen 2000)1
Depending on how light is used it can transform the spatial content and context of a space. Light has the ability to create an atmosphere and to change a space from being pleasant to unpleasant, happy or sad, mo-ving or ambiguous. Light and shadow play with scale and our perception of shapes. Our perception can be skewed by light. What we believe we
1 Eiler Rasmussen, Steen. . Cambridge: 2000.
may be seeing may not exist.
In 1950 the Arch-bishop of Besancon commissioned Le Corbusier to rebuilt the chapel of Ronchamp. Le Corbusier’s Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut, is sited on the top of a hill overlooking the small village of Ron-champ. This site has enjoyed a symbolic role for centuries and is now a centre of pilgrimage not only for Christians but for architects.
In the Chapel at Ronchamp Le Corbusier has created a space that evokes a spiritual emotion through the relationship of form, space and light, without using any obvious church typology. Le Corbusier was not a religious man himself yet he alluded to the spiri-tuality in art through his use of such phrases as “l’espace indicible”. He was in search of a cosmic dimension in touch with the visible and the invisible forces of nature, especially through the medium of light.
The interior of the Chapel can be likened to a maternal place, offering warmth, silence and peace. He wanted the space to be meditative and
-ment of the chapel and to intensify the light entering the space. The
towards the alter and the benches are angled away from the altar.
of some Gothic churches. The human eye requires certain levels of light to be able to see clearly. It takes time for the eye to adjust to altered light levels and Le Corbusier has taken full advantage of this knowledge and used it to great effect. The lack of light, or presence of darkness empha-sises the drama of light that appears as the eyes adjust and accentuates the mystic light and the sacredness of the space. As the light enters the chapel it defuses giving a washed out, ethereal atmosphere. The use of light in this manner effects and alters the atmosphere and mood of the space heightening the spiritual and emotional sensation evoked within the space and placing the space in tune with its religious purpose.
The irregular windows are scattered over the walls of the chapel. (See Figure 1)
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Figure 1
They are tapering into the wall cavity at different angles. Light is refracted at different angles through clear and coloured glass and fades gently to within the chapel providing warmth and life. (See Figure 2.)
Behind the altar, small puncture hole-like windows create a speckled light pattern. These windows create an intense direct light which emulates a starry night sky or perhaps heaven.
Figure 2
Le Corbusier placement of light above the cross at the centre of the
space. Yet another sourced of indirect light comes from the chapel apses. (See Figure 3.) In this case the light enters and is diffused across the rough surfaces of the curved walls. The height of the apses and the type of light
Figure 3
on things, is so moving to me that I feel almost a spiritual quality. When
and casts its light on things, it doesn’t feel as if it quite belongs in this world. I don’t understand light. It gives me the feeling there’s something beyond me, something beyond all understanding”) 2
lights of an interrogator. They confuse and weaken those exposed to them. Le Corbusier on the other hand uses the placement of light to en-hance the chapel’s appearance and evoke a ‘godly like’ atmosphere.“Light is of decisive importance in experiencing architecture. The same
2 Zumthor, Peter, Atmospheres. Birkhauser, Switzerland, 2006
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room can be made to give very different spatial impressions by the simple expedient of changing the size and location of its openings”3
For Monet the effects of light on the subjects became more important than the objects themselves. In his series paintings of the Rouen Ca-thedral he paints the changing character of the cathedral dependant on the time of day, the year, the atmosphere, and the weather. He illustrates the importance of light in our perception of a subject at a given time and place. Even though Monet paints the same view of the cathedral he vi-sually demonstrates the ever-changing and transient qualities of light and how this changes the atmosphere and mood of the building.
“By focusing on the same subject through a whole series of paintings, Monet was able to concentrate on recording visual sensations them-selves. The subjects did not change, but the visual sensations – due to changing conditions of light – changed constantly”.4
James Turrell plays with that idea that art is not an object but an expe-rience in perception. He manipulates light rather than painting or sculp-ting with a material. He examines the way in which we see the world around us.
or affect the medium of perception. I feel that I want to use light as this wonderful and magic elixir that we drink as Vitamin D through the skin—and I mean, we are literally light-eaters—to then affect the way that we see. We live within this reality we create, and we’re quite unaware of how we create the reality. So the work is often a general koan into how we go about forming this world in which we live, in particular with seeing.
As light is every changing the space and environment within the chapel is never the same. The sense of ephemerality is created by light. Light is the protagonist of the building. Unlike material objects light and spirituality
of light within the chapel.The ephemerality of light and spirituality within the chapel takes the viewer into transient dimensions.
3 Eiler Rasmussen, Steen. . Cambridge: 2000.4 Robert Pelfrey, in 1996, Page 166
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Flora Samuel, Le Corbusier in Detail, New York Elsevier Limited, 2007
James Turrell: The Art of Light and Space, Boston, Craig Adcock.
Jean-Louis Cohen, Le Corbusier, 1887-1965: The Lyricism of Architec- Germnay, 2005
Larsen, Henning in Made of Light. The Art of Light and Architecture, Boston, MA: Birkhäuser Basel, 2005.
MIT, Lived-in Architecture. , trans. G. Onn, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1979
Nancy Marmer, «James Turrell: The Art of Deception,» Art in America, May 1981
Piano, Renzo in Made of Light. The Art of Light and Architecture, Bos-ton, MA: Birkhäuser Basel, 2005.
Robert Pelfrey, in (Kendall/Hunt, 1996)
Turrell, James, , New York, NY: Peter Blum Editions, 1987.
William Curtis, Le Corbusier , NY: Rizzoli, 1986, p. 175.
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DYNAMICS OF TUAREG KEL FERWAN CAMPSNatacha LANGEVIN
-
ephemerality represented in the life of the Kel Ferwan Tuaregs?
The Tuareg are a nomadic people who live in Western Sahara. The Kel Ferwan tribe is situated in Niger. Each camp among the tribe is a group of people who live and move together. The camp is constituted of several families. They live in tents that are transportable. Their mobility shapes their way of life and each camp is related one to another due to dynamic social rules that change the composition of the camps through
camps? How is mobility an ephemeral characteristic of nomad architec-ture?
The Kel Ferwan tent is made with Acacia roots bent into arches. The ma-jor arcs are oriented into a north-south axis and the transverses laths are attached with cords to the principal ones. It works like a human body: the arcs are the vertebral column; the transverse laths are the ribs. The entry
in the west is the head. The east is closed and reserved to prayers. The tent is covered with palm matts.1 During the trips the tent is dismantled. Then, the structural elements play a second role: they are use to build the palanquins on which the women and children ride. The tents become a moving structure but their function stays similar: to protect the inhabitants from outside elements like wind, dust or rain. Their tent is like a snail’s shell.
-tall their habitat is to set into a particular place the bed and the trestles. Those two elements are the symbols of their home. They create the spa-tiality of the tent, before the structure is rebuilt. The tent is built with very
up and down very often. It is mobile and transportable.
Camel saddle in acacia wood
For the Kel Ferwan, the tents entirely depend on women: they build it and own it. Every woman obtains a tent when they emancipate themselves from their mother and get married. The mother gives some elements of her tent to her daughter so the line of descent is kept.2
1 p.101-102 Prussin, Labelle “African Nomadic Architecture: Space, place and gender” Smithsonian Institution Press, 19952 p.40-45 Casajus, Dominique “Le Campement chez les Touaregs Kel Ferwan”
, Volume 32, 1981
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The tent is ephemeral because its existence starts with the emancipation of a woman and ends when she dies. However the tent is sustainable du-ring its lifespan: it shelters the same woman and her family. The tent dies with its owner but some parts are always passed through generations and leave a continuous mark. The tent is a symbol of the longevity of a family. Even if they don’t live in the same camp anymore they will always recognize their siblings through their tents.
June, the rainy season begins, it generates the growth of grass. They -
veral camps to cohabit together. In October the dry season arrives: the camps move into riverbeds. In December the nights get colder and the wind blows: the nomads look for steep-sided riverbeds or groves to take shelter. The resources get scarce. Then, in February the wind gets hot
grass. They wait for the rain: their life is much simpler during this season.3 In all they move six or seven times a year. When they come back to the same territory they install themselves near the old camp but not at the same place: they have to wait until the last traces of their previous pre-
and mobility of the camp.
A camp of nomads is a division of a tribe. It is established around a chief. His camp is composed of his sons and their family, his children that are not yet independent. When a woman gets married, she installs her tent in her husband’s camp. Divorce is common among young couples, so the tent moves with her: it creates a dynamic between camps. Also when
the nomads spread and attach themselves to other camps. There is a large freedom of movement among this organization that is implemented by the social interactions between tribe members. Social life interferes with the dynamism of the camp and its longevity. While the geographical mobility is permanent and continuous, the camp is ephemeral and fragile because the social life interferes with its dynamism. People who have lived in the same camp for years can be separated very radically and might not see each other again. 3 p.102-103 Casajus, Dominique “Le Campement chez les Touaregs Kel Ferwan” Re-
Volume 32, 1981
The Tuaregs Kel Ferwan have a particular way of life where ephemerality is present at different scales. At the scale of the tribe, a camp is a fragile structure that can cease to exist at any moment: a tribe is constituted of an uninterrupted movement of apparition and disappearance of camps. At the scale of the camp, its ephemerality is due to its ability to adapt to geography and the mobility of the structures in which nomads live in. The tent is ephemeral because its transportability enables the camp to move and it has a short lifespan but in parallel it is a very steady element that marks the line of descent of people and the continuous space in which they live.
A noble Tuareg woman under a protective canopy
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Prussin, Labelle “African Nomadic Architecture: Space, place and gen-der” Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995
Bidault Jacques & Giraud ” J. Susse, 1946
Casajus, Dominique “Le Campement chez les Touaregs Kel Ferwan” , Volume 32, 1981
Faegre, Torvald “Tents: Architecture of the Nomads” , NY Anchor Press, 1979
Rhodes, Geoffrey “Tents and tentlife from the earliest ages to the pre-sent time” London: Smith, Elder & Company, 1858
Cowan, Gregory “ -ment and Collaboration” Dissertation submitted to the school of archi-tecture, landscape architecture and urban design at the University of Adelaïde in candidancy for the degree of master of architecture, 2002 http://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/37830/1/02whole.pdf
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