1+3

Architecture should learn from nature in order to define experiential space.

Through the in-depth study of nature one will uncover natural hierarchies and systems that can inform architectural elements. While reacting to these systems the architecture should be sympathetic to human psychology. The passage through the building should be scripted to create a memorable experience.

22@ Location and Analysis

Ildefons Cerda designed the extension of Barcelona with a new city center.

The Medeival city is still well loved and El Corazon de la ciudad is still nestled by the Medeival city.

Older extensions of the city reached to Gracia, Montjuic and the Barcelonetta.

Cerda's extension, Eixample, extended from Montjuic to the Besos River and included a new city center.
The 22@ project interacts with that city center and continues Cerda's city plan.

Defining Urban Sites

Kahn focuses on the site in its context. The boundaries of which may be represented as harsh but they are often more fluid and contain multiple overlaps. The Urban Constellation embodies these overlaps and juxtapositions. There are many employable tools to understand the site better. As a conceptual tool, Kahn calls out representation. Representation is a critical tool for understanding the multiplicity and layers within a site.
While the Renaissance city may have been understood as contained and within walls, the Leonardo da Vinci View of Milan exemplifies Kahn's argument for a city that extends and crosses boundaries.

Concept Study 3

1-3-9

What is beauty?

Beauty can be minimized into perfect mathematical proportions, specifically the golden ratio; 1.61803399. Beauty can be found in nature from the smallest plant to the largest animal. Man-made beauty is a reflection of the possible and the necessary to create a form that serves as the solution to a problem with an element of quality.

Firstly, beauty is subjective. Still, there is a consensus for what makes beauty in the natural and man-made world. Whether through utility, function, simplicity, complexity, or mathematical ratio, beauty abounds in the natural world. But since beauty does not define the intention of plants, animals or the built world, what does it take to bush beauty as an agenda against an age of technology, efficiency, and capitalists gains? Good design and beauty are not synonymous. My aim is to look at the past, present and future simultaneously to project beauty into the built environment. Natural beauty is the result of need and adaptation. Part of this study will be to analyze the function of plants and animals in their natural environment, focusing on their adaptations and uses of form. New understanding will then be related to architecture.

Second Concept Sketch

The Muses are Not Amused

Silvetti’s categories of the architectural creative process focus on negative aspects of the creative process. The only process he seems to be excited by is the Blobs category. I am particularly intrigued by the idea of nostalgia for the future. This would be one case where architecture is ahead of the other artistic fields. Architecture is usually long behind any movement in the arts. Architecture is more readily affected by changes in technology.

I am interested in the idea that architecture, being stoic and static, has a longing for movement. Silvetti highlights this in his talk about the Baroque. He even goes as far as to say that the curving walls made passersby dizzy. Buildings are static, but they can create a sense of motion. Also, the bodies in a building script movements which engage the building.

The long debate of is architecture art comes up towards the end. I think it is interesting that Silvetti says that “Architecture as Art is an instance of the most advanced condition of Art today. Art as Architecture is a travesty.” Moments when architecture can reflect upon and add to our society in the form of Art is the highest form of Art. But Art parading as Architecture is a failure. Architecture cannot forget the fundamentals that make is what it is: place, people program, fulfillment of requirements. We have elevated Art to be Art for the sake of Art. We have not yet seen Architecture for the sake of Architecture. Perhaps the permanence, client or cost will always hold Architecture back.

Concept 1: biomimetics

I'm interested in studying the structures found in plants and living things. Biomimetics studies the designs found in nature and finds possible uses for them in engineering and design fields. I think this could really keep me engaged since many natural structures are inherently beautiful.

Mateo: How to Draw Up a Project: Response

Initially, I agree with the process. The start of a project is always vague. It is as vague as a few words or quick lines on a piece of paper. But I believe that this is a place that you come back to and improve upon throughout the design process. While it is correct that each step builds on the firm foundation of the step before it, I find the design process to be more circular than linear. Vague ideas from the early stages take shape when designing the structure and then the ideas are reformed and clarified. The structure certainly influences the initial form as does the material and skin.
In terms of my own process, this is not an accurate map. My process flows between these stages and repeats stages many times over to revise and revisit formal ideas. It is a good linear guideline, but my process is iterative. A thesis should be the culmination of the design process, each part giving a firm foundation for the overall project.

22@ Barcelona

The Poblenou district in Barcelona was redistricted on July 27^th of 2000 to amend the Metropolitan Master Plan of 1976 and formally called the 22@ district. The Poblenou has been an industrial area for over 150 years comprising textile, foodstuff, chemical and metallurgical industry. The decline of these industries in the 1970s left the area abandoned. The redistricting of Poblenou changes the zoning from Industry to Commercial and Housing. Over 110 street blocks are affected by the new zoning and the Ajuntament de Barcelona has already poured 180 million Euros towards rebuilding infrastructure with the intent of attracting new technology businesses and a knowledge based economy.

I am really interested in the area because it is a new type of program: the district is combining research facilities, housing, universities, green spaces and technology driven companies.

http://www.22barcelona.com/index.php?lang=en