How does this space make you feel? Precedent 1 - Healing/Paimio Sanitorium by Alvar Aalto

I am drawn to the idea that Architects have the power to adjust the mood, and in turn health, of a person who experiences a controlled space. It is already known that certain colors can make people hungry (example : yellow, McDonald's). Smells can bring forth memories from the past (baked cookies, home). This can also work in Hospital environments.
In 1929, Alvar Aalto designed Paimio Sanatorium for the Tuberculosis Outbreak in Finland. Each detail of the building is created with the intention of healing the patients, and creating a sense of community. Since doctors prescribed sunshine as a treatment for the illness, Aalto made sure to situate the patient rooms to face southward. The many common rooms (group settings) were placed near the treatment rooms so that patients had ample time to create connections with each other. Aalto did not use technology as the basis of his design, but as a piece of a dialogue that the human has with his surroundings. Emphasis is made on the connections between the different wings, both by color and spatial changes. He designed each piece of furniture and detailing with great care, including a splashless, quiet sink which was placed on each side of the patient rooms. This building is successful in many ways, which is apparent in the fact that it is still used today.

WHY IS THIS INTERESTING? A buzzword in Healthcare design these days is "healing", but I believe it is overused. Building according to code doesn't create a "healing" environment. The Paimio Sanitorium could be written on a Doctor's prescription because the building itself becomes a part of the patient's treatment. It becomes more than a space where the doctor can do their work, but the building becomes a doctor in itself.

Destination : Unknown

In taking a few steps back, I am trying to really understand what makes emotive spaces, and why I think some sticks and bricks can actually become emotional catalysts for a social group.

I began by doing a massing study with some different spaces/shapes, and began to picture myself in these spaces. Each space is interesting in itself, but how do you know if it is an interesting space without moving through un-interesting spaces along the way?
In an urban landscape (Dallas, for example), often times, buildings are placed in a block, without much consideration of the surroundings. Once the boundary lines of a site are drawn, the landscape outside of these lines disappears.

What if you had a multi-block site, where there were multiple paths that could be experienced, in between buildings? The goal would be to have different architects design their own buildings, but to always bear in mind how these buildings would be affecting/connecting to the others?
I considered middle eastern bazaars, but these are still separated, even though they are connected under one roof. This would need to be an more of an experience:
You go to the coffee shop building,
grab a coffee, (decide if you want to get a sandwich or a pastry)
follow a pathway into the pastry shop,
grab a puff pastry, (decide if you want to sit or keep walking)
walk to the outdoor seating space and meet your friend, (decide if you want to hit the bank or check out a book)
walk down the stairs into a library,
etc

Almost like the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books that we used to read as kids.

What type of spaces could use this type of experiential organization?
This happens all the time in a Facilities Business Plan at the scale of a building. Does this happen at a urban scale?


These are a couple things I am contemplating. I hope to do an "Exquisite Corpse" study, where I provide a realistic block, create a space, and pass the site to different architect friends and see what they can add with the one rule that each building must connect in some way.

Defining Thesis Words

Here's my first pass at the thesis words. It's not what I want, but I am moving.

Thesis as a Music Video

I am having trouble trying to visualize heterotopia without thinking of a cemetary (life & death). I don't think I want to be limited to the idea of cemetaries, but I am hoping I can make correlations between all of my ideas (through film, video, photography, paintings), and eventually, maybe in a few months, revisit the idea of if I can successfully show this through a specific architecture, or if I should keep moving in generalities and hope this idea will work through several types of buildings.
I came across this music video, and it seems to describe heterotopia in a 3 minute box. It is a mental reach, but this song/video works in layers in my head.
There is the light/dark, life/death, materials, feelings. Towards the buildup of the video, there is the idea of illusion vs. reality with the bucket of paint/person standing.

Musically, this song feels like circulation through a space -
it begins with a methodical quick stroll
then slowly anxiety is introduced with the high pitched strings
the walk is slowed down to a gut wrenching pause into a space full of tight spaces and dark corners
and the end climaxes with natural light slowly entering the space, and finding the exit door.
I'm wondering if maybe I should find a space that makes me feel like this and video tape it, and then study the "moments" where my emotions change.




Radiohead - Street Spirit (Fade Out)

SOTUA Word Cloud

In an attempt to refuel the brain juices (gross) I found this word cloud for the State of the Union Address. The more the words were said, the bigger the words.
This is a successful way to show the important words that were said, which becomes a great visual summary of a super long speech.


(image via http://www.wordle.net/gallery?username=NPR) which incidentally opened the word cloud for everyone, and got some funny ones (mostly with SALMON) as the focus point.

Why Do I Hate the Airport So Much?

While sitting at the DFW airport for 5 hours, I contemplated what I could do to improve the
"waiting" experience. I realized the most frustrating part was the continued sitting posture that all the chairs required you to adhere to. I noticed everyone using the seats in all sorts of manners (could be a sketch problem in itself), but never the way the chair was intended. Give the people more choices! We're paying enough for a four hour ride to deserve it!

CURIOUS, EXCITING, and PASSIONATE [architecture]

Architecture that is CURIOUS - Humans vs. Architecture
I have always been interested in understanding how buildings shape people, and also how people shape buildings. Can we create a building that creates calm? Can we create a building that creates confusion, anxiety? See below, the Alzheimer's Center by Frank Gehry. If your grandparent was an Alzheimer's patient, is this a place you would want them to go? For me, Architecture is less designing to make a statement, and more designing to improve society. Is this acceptable?

(photo via besthomesdesign.com)

Architecture that is EXCITING - Construction Administration
The most exciting part of architecture for me is Construction Administration. As the submittals and RFIs come to my desk at work, I know that my decisions on what manufacturer of roof shingles, or what handrail finish is being used is being built hundreds of miles away. As Peter Zumthor stated in Thinking Architecture, "The real core of all Architectural work lies in the act of Construction ."(11) Verbal and Constructional interactions between the Architect and the Consultants helps direct a building to become a collage of everyones' thoughts combined into one. Again, this becomes everyone's vision, not just the Architects. I suppose the AIA would look down on me for feeling this way about Architecture.

Architecture that is PASSIONATE - Zaha Hadid
Zaha Hadid is the Architect that I would most like to understand. She creates Architecture that looks like it is sprinting when it is anchored to the ground. Below is the Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Center. This building is not just an amoebas structure with drainage problems. It is a building whose interior forms a direct interplay with the exterior. In addition to the dramatic form itself, the building also answers the need for an intersection of pedestrian paths in the cultural district of where this is located. Hadid does not turned a blind eye to her surroundings, and for this, i feel she is a responsible Architect that evokes passion in her buildings.
(image via yankodesign.com)

Supermodel

It has proven to be a difficult exercise for me trying to model "horizontal and vertical movement" and "green roof" without being too literal. It made for a great brain workout though.


Here, I tried putting all my matchbook models together to form 1 combined model. I think if I could do this again, I might push the models together, rather than making them separate entities.

Zoom In, Crop, Zoom In Some More

This is further study on the idea of movement.
The first vignette is the process of moving up a set of monumental stairs to the roof (reward at the end of the stiars.
The second drawing was a sketch to study movement through a building (putting the pencil down, visualizing moving through a building, adding possible horizontal & vertical concept movements.
The third drawing is entertaining the concept of green walls (from Teagan's suggestion). What if...the trees continued from the ground to the walls to the roof, back down the walls, back to the ground.
This is thinking past what we know as a vegetative roof, and trying to look at it differently, without losing the intention of a vegetative roof (anarchy with rules).

The Importance of good light

The flickr image did make me want to redo my "what's in your bag" exercise, but I quickly realized that proper lighting can work wonders for these exercises. This took too long for me not to post it, but for obvious reasons, i'm not super happy with the outcome, but it was a learning experience for sure. It made me think about all the times in undergrad that we created basswood models that took so long to create, but no proper light room to photograph them.
I'll have to read up on how to photograph items (and models) successfully so that they aren't so dimly lit when being photographed, and will look better in portfolios.

Portrait Photography - Jelmar Geertsma

I came across a flickr album from an artist named Jelmar Geertsma, and wanted to share his work. He did a series of photographs where he painted a picture of someone from his family, and then assembled a portrait with different items that pertained to the family member.
Look familiar?
I like the way the artist set up this picture - the painting does not become the focal point of this photo, the picture as a whole does. This photo explains so much about the lady, without saying a word. From this piece, I can tell that she is a cat lady, likes drinking wine and cooking, and enjoys collecting home decor pieces from the 1950s.
This photo also contains many things, but is neatly organized to where it is not full of unimportant material.
I found it very cool, so I thought I'd share.

Thesis Ideas/Concepts

The Love/Hate Relationship of Times Square

My sister lives in Harlem, which is a quick subway ride to Times Square. Any time anyone goes to visit her, the first place they want to go is Times Square - this maker her roll her eyes and resent the fact that she lives so close. As December hits, she starts planning her New Years plans. It actually rarely involves New York City at all.
Times Square belongs to the tourists. How can we remodel this space so that it is a better experience for the locals, as well as a cleaner experience for the visitors? This must be studied in several scales - streetwise, it still must retain the current appearance of neon lights layered over itself. Individually, the pedestrians are constantly avoiding other people and taxis. What can be done in order to help this situation, not only during New Years, but any time of the year?


Can you even imagine how different it would look with the park in between the buildings?! Would Times Square lose its "charm" with such a drastic change? You would almost need to study the sociology of the locals vs. the tourists in order to know how successful this could be.

hips, and eaves and gables, oh my!

My brain is mashed potatoes right now. I've been staring at this roof plan for a senior living home for 9 hours straight. Why is it that something that seems SO simple is SO hard to understand? It's basically a bunch of 45 degree angles that should theoretically all connect and drain water off the building.

DAY (2)01(1)

IS IT TRUE THAT THEY SARAN-WRAP THE STREETS OF TIMES SQUARE FOR NYE?
(THERE SHOULD BE A MORE PERMANENT SOLUTION)