Études for Architects

Joseph Choma

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781138632233
• eBook ISBN: 9781351803458
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture General

Organized around a series of pedagogical exercises, this book provides a visual journey through a series of games architects can play as a means to design. Aimed specifically at beginner design students, learning objectives include: computational thinking and making, introduction to design as an iterative, reflective, and rigorous process, ideas of continuity and discontinuity, and understanding the bias and constraints of analog and digital tooling. The text is simple and straightforward to understand and in addition the author draws explanatory diagrams to elaborate on each exercise's description. He also includes visually compelling student work to provide insight into the possibilities of each exercise. Finally, the book includes eighteen case studies from Europe, the USA, Mexico, and Asia to inspire and inform.

Case Studies

Drawing on top of that which is already known. A cube is a generic shape, but depending how it is made, could transform how it is perceived.

Architecture is an intellectual discourse that builds on itself. Arguably, in order to make architecture, the work must have a dialogue or conversation with work that has been done before. In other words, architecture should always strive to contribute to a historical lineage. That does not mean it should emulate the past, but it should learn from it as a means to project a new future. Therefore, a simple way to learn about architecture is to simply look at architecture. This is why precedent studies have become a tradition within the education of an architect. We are never starting from scratch within a vacuum, but are part of an ongoing growth of knowledge.

In the previous chapter, you were introduced to the concept of translation, how a diagram, idea or design intention transforms and develops when confronted with constraints, such as materials and tectonics. In this context, tectonics can be understood as the art of construction. The process of translating a diagram or architectural intention is another design opportunity. The same formal design operation could get developed with very different tectonic expressions. When experiencing a building, the shape of the space, quality of light and materiality will likely influence how it is perceived. The way in which the building is detailed and structured will also contribute to the overall atmosphere. There is both a perceptual delight and pragmatic role of architectural tectonics. In other words, how elements connect and the way a space is detailed are design decisions.

In the pages that follow, you will be exposed to eighteen case studies that demonstrate a wide variety of ways to translate abstract design operations into inhabitable spaces. The projects transition from Shapes Carving Shapes, Plane Surface Volume to Curves with Lines. Each of these projects were realized between 2002 and 2016. They are from Europe, the USA, Mexico and Asia. When browsing through this catalogue of projects, try to answer the following questions.

What operation did the architect design with? What is the scale of the project? What materials compose it? How is the tectonic expression related to the formal technique? Do you think you could re-create the precedent? How might you design a new variation of the project, while designing within a similar game?

Within this chapter, the projects are presented more like eighteen appetizers rather than one main-course meal. They should provide you with a range of tectonic flavors and possibilities. They may leave you hungry for more, but only at the expense of sparking your curiosity. Enjoy and digest each project before moving on to the next.

Photograph by Paul Warchol.

Ex of In House
in Rhinebeck, NY, USA, 2016

Steven Holl Architects
New York, USA

Located on twenty-eight rural acres, a 918 square foot house rests among forested rock outcroppings. Geometrically, the house’s volume is intersected with spherical spaces. Sometimes these spheres are utilized to carve and subtract. In one instance, the wooden walls and floors get replaced by glass, leaving an individual floating. When entering the house, an additive orb collides. Visitors find themselves standing within the spherical boundary, while simultaneously in the continuous volume of the entire house. Although the house is one open space, it is locally defined by Boolean operations. Each window frame and curved surface is precisely crafted from raw materials, like a giant piece of inhabitable furniture.

Ex of In House by Steven Holl Architects.

Exterior photograph by Paul Warchol.

Photograph courtesy of Aires Mateus e Associados.

Radix
in Venice, Italy, 2012

Aires Mateus e Associados
Lisboa, Portugal

Radix is an installation for the Venice Biennale in 2012, that seeks to create continuity instead of novelty. Located on the docks of Arsenale, the arches of the nearby building inform this steel structure. The two-dimensional arches inform the three-dimensional volumes which carve a rectilinear boundary. Some views give ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Noun and Verb
• Making with Rules
• Shapes Carving Shapes
• Plane Surface Volume
• Curves with Lines
• Scale and Material
• Case Studies
• Bibliography
• Acknowledgments