THE SIMPLE EXPRESSION OF COMPLEX THOUGHT
As Alan Watts asserts; "space is relationship". What is created between (and because of) the physical is what intrigues me.
ESSAYS
Architectural Dissertation: Architecture of Violence
Architectural History: Utopias
Architectural History: Vienna Ringstrasse
Architectural Theory: Report
Architectural Theory: Objects/Products/Waste
LINKS
About my volunteering in Laos (in Swedish)
12.10.18
Today, the Swedish political climate was turned upside down in the space of a few minutes. Year long debates were seemingly concluded during a press conference with the ruling parties in Stockholm. In short, they decided that the capital will not see its first Apple Store being built in Kungsträdgården, no Nobel Centre at Blasieholmen and finally no Olympic nomination for 2026.
It is rare that a political statement to mark a new reign chooses to emphasise negative development rather than a future agenda or vision. It is understandable that the winning entry for the Nobel Centre may not be appreciated by everyone, but the fact that the vacant backyard plot at Blasieholmen is not up for development causes serious concern and is a threat to Sweden in general and Stockholm in particular as centres of science and innovation. The more digital and online our world becomes the more we need physical manifestations of achievements and excellence.
Attached to the Apple Store decision were concerns about commercialising pubic space and visualisations by Foster & Partners reveal an imposing scheme on a prime location in the centre of the city. However, examining an image with the current building and the proposal side to side, I am not so sure it is really reducing the quality of the space.
Further reading:
https://www.dn.se/sthlm/klart-for-blagront-styre-i-stockholm/
11.10.18
strong borders in the world, soft borders in the world, kjell nordstrom link
Kombinera foton och recensioner? Foton och arkitektur?
Filmreviews
Chariots of Fire
experiment
vackert spännande språk
One paragraph synopsis per project
Brand portfolio/cv/website/animation
Filmrecensioner: semantik (props, location, characters) och syntax (narrative or ideology of genre)
public amenities first laid down
lingering potential, generates demand for other programmes
TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP
The activity is composed of a 4 week trip through the southern German cities to explore the growth of the cities following the immigrant crisis and the citizens' attitudes that changed.
What is it like being a young person in Germany today with these ideas being part of your everyday life? How will the regional sources of pride be affected (Germany is along with France and Italy particularly famous for regional cultures that have established copyright issues concerning food and drink, e.g. Parma/Bologna/Champagne, especially in rural areas). I seem to see a commodification of the European landscape and a copyright of regions that have strong links to pride and heritage. What does this mean when new citizens become part of that region from countries suffering from wars and economical despair?
Statistical analysis of German cities reveal trends of growth beyond our traditional sense of urbanism. Thelocal.de writes:
''The Berlin senate revealed on Monday that the capital is growing at double the pace that city planners had previously expected. But after decades of stagnation the growth is seen as positive. [Senator] Geisel warned that in the last 12 months the price of a plot of land has increased by 30 percent, an increase he described as “crazy.”
''When we build, we need to build densely,” said the senator.''
Diewelt reports that the city administration’s previous prognosis announces that a population increase of 250,000 over 2011's figure would now be achieved by 2019, rather than 2030 as previously expected.
All this renders a state in transition and a Europe with an identity crisis. There are parallels to Brexit, terror attacks and the spread of racism. Are we the all-embracing, liberal institution that we are so proud of or an exclusive society that is best left alone?
ACADEMIC COMPONENT
During the past year as a Post-graduate student at the Architecture School (ESALA) I have studied extensively the theoretical and philosophical understanding of the urban situation. In the Design course, we went to and undertook a project in Bodo, Norway, the fastest growing city in Scandinavia. The growth of the city is largely due to it being an infrastructural hub as well as the contemporary migrant crisis. In the Theory course, we have further explored this idea of a changing urbanism and the metropolitan consciousness that follows planning, spontaneity and movements of people. These ideas influence politics, economics, psychology, geography and nationalism. I think that it will be of interest to put these skills and seminar hours into practice by researching how Germany (who along with Sweden received the highest numbers of immigrants from Greece and Syria) has coped with this. What I will focus on are the changing attitudes of the inhabitants, the cities and suburbs themselves and the infrastructure that connects them.
Throughout my years of architecture studies, I have learnt the value of presentation. The communication aspect of my research is fundamental to the reception of it and I believe having an audience is effective as it will help me keep the focus clear and consistent. So in order to do this, I will create a video-documentary of my project with shots and sounds of the infrastructural systems (highways, biking paths, streets, alleys) and interviews with citizens of the communities I encounter. The documentary will aim to be 15-20 minutes and consist of around 15 interviews.
BENEFIT ME
The number one outcome of this for me personally will be to expand my curiosity and my open-mindness. I thrive off challenges and meeting people with stories and I am looking forward to sharing this upon my return to Edinburgh.
To undertake a rigorous research project is something I believe is a skill which will follow me for the rest of my life. To be organised and to communicate clearly an interest will influence my non-professional/academic life as well. The funding will allow me to consider budget restraints and understand limitations as means to be creative. I will learn priorities and the big budget part of projects.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES
I spent my placement year (2014) in Ghana and Norway and did architectural research in South-East Asia the same year. These experiences provided me with increased awareness, networking opportunities, confidence boosts, exciting challenges and improved risk-taking skills. During these stays I have learnt intimately the nature of infrastructure and how it can be imported from faraway (Chinese investors in Ghana and Indonesia) or locally (Norway) and how that influences me as a traveller. As a travelling observer I believe there is a value in recording (photos, texts, videos) as well as leaving your mark by talking to locals. In Indonesia I bumped into a police officer that took me to his office, home and the top-secret shooting range. He showed me papers of criminals, weapons and introduced me to his superiors. During our time together he taught me how different the police treat tourists to locals, as tourists would share their experiences back home and potentially give the country a bad reputation. Hence milder repercussions for crimes were given by the police to tourists.
AMBASSADOR
After having the opportunity to study at the University of Edinburgh/Edinburgh College of Art for almost five years I have seen, heard and reflected a great deal on the value of being a student in general and a representative for this university in particular. I believe that through travelling and exposing yourself to foreign situations and the people you meet are a fundamental part of sharing the knowledge and the thoughts you have from where you came from. Especially, what made you the person that you are today, in my case; the university of Edinburgh. I am looking forward to telling fellow travellers as well as locals of the values of the university, but maybe more importantly to explore this topic through discussions with people and potentially change my attitudes. In other words, I believe it is important to keep an open-mind, even about things you are proud of.
In addition to this, I have achieved well academically and think that through that process I have gained the values of the university. The way to explore a subject, the curiosity, the open-mind, the respectfulness and the never-give-up values are all part of my personality which I firmly believe will be evident as I encounter people on this project.
PREPARATION
During the development of this research project I have interviewed and discussed with various tutors from my Architectural Design and Architectural Theory courses as well as experts in the field from ESALA, School of Sociology and Economics to gain a better understanding of the contextual challenges I wish to dissect.
For presentation purposes I have taken a course in videography which includes credits in moving-image photography, sound recordings and video editing.
In order to undertake interviews methodologically correct, I have researched the way to reduce bias and the psychology of data-collection so the subjective/qualitative data will be as correct as possible.
SUMMARY
The project is valuable for me personally as an extension of my university studies as well as for my broader audience. As a representative for the university I will expand my horizons and skill set.
“Museums, restaurants, shops, theaters. These are the types of spaces the public interact with on a regular basis in a city. But these spaces alone do not make a city - in fact, the vast majority of buildings house spaces that 99 percent of the population will never see. Yet a true city experience cannot exist without these buildings. What is the true value of private buildings to the tourist or the passer-by on the street? Is it simply a matter of aesthetic and identity? Could the same result be achieved with a streetwall made up of only facades? These are the implicit questions embedded in “Appearances,” the new video from Claire and Max of Menilmonde. The duo uses video editing and CGI to alter iconic Paris views, making the city of romance appear to be little more than the world’s largest movie set.
A city with the history and imagery of Paris cannot be mistaken for a Potemkin Village - the city functions still as one of the preeminent economic centers in the world. Yet its status as one of the world’s most visited cities and tales of its beauty and luxury often plant false visions of grandeur in visitors’ minds.
Upon arriving in the French capital, instead of a spotlessly pristine city filled exclusively with tall, slender women in Chanel suits, tourists find a city filled with a diverse population and a cleanliness comparable to many cities. At its most extreme, this dissonance can cause visitors to experience a physical culture shock accompanied with sweating, dizziness and hallucinations. This phenomenon is known as “Paris Syndrome,” and can affect upwards of 20 people per year, largely of asian origin. Perhaps as a result, countries have instead attempted to bring Paris to them, such as the strangely unoccupied Tianducheng, China, which features Parisian inspired buildings and promenades clustered around a replica Eiffel Tower. While this copycat city features occupiable buildings and functioning infrastructure, the lack of people on the streets bears an eerie similarity to “Apparences,” when the video fades the pedestrians and vehicles out to show an empty Paris.
While Paris’ economic climate may keep it safe from becoming a historical theme park, other cities’ reliance on tourism cause the line between reality and fantasy to blur. Take for example Venice, where the economy is nearly entirely reliant on tourism, and the ever increasing demand for tourist housing is driving residents out of the city. With Paris Syndrome, the daily culture of residents is so robust that it can give tourists nausea; in contrast, Venice Syndrome describes tourists disappointment with the city’s lack of a bustling urban life. The buildings in Venice are very real, yet the function of most contribute to the city’s identity in a manner no stronger than the scaffolding of Menilmonde’s video.
As shown in “Appearances,” taking away the physical space of a building will strip a city of its life. But so will stripping a building of its function. It’s not just an aesthetic that makes a place desirable and interesting, but the people that come with it.”
LANGUAGE
Contemporary version of a medieval donjon: Five-story wood construction made from prefabricated frame elements. The isolated mountain location mandates the greatest possible self-sufficiency. The ambivalence between a sense of security and being exposed defines the building’s structure: below are the communal areas with surrounding ribbon glazing, above the closed sleeping quarters. The cascading spiral stairway opens panorama views when ascending, follows the course of the sun, captures the solar irradiation, and distributes the warmth of the sun throughout the entire house.
ENERGY/FIELD/GROUND CONDITIONS
– Hemligheten bakom bra bilder är att ha ett bra koncept. Många gör fel i att de sätter sig med programmet direkt och börjar snurra runt i 3D. Men det är i sitt inre visuella bibliotek man ska börja, säger Andreas Landgren.
Louis Kahn famously said that the main responsibility of the architect was to take the client’s program and change it. By that he did not mean betraying clients’ wishes, but rather understanding what they wanted and giving it form in a way the clients would not be able to imagine themselves.
There is no question that at this point in time the method in which we view the world is through the cinematic lens. The way we move and perceive space, time and the landscape is most certainly through this lens. How can this method be harnessed to become a methodology that is generative rather than just representational? Can this method be developed through a narrative feeding back onto the form expanding and creating space and time around the sequence of events?
New york is building smaller apartments with more amenities - av. apt. price 3000dollars, 2000dollars for studio
Michael Sorkin is skeptical about helsinki trying to be abu dhabi, it has been the architectural front runner for the last two decades, the finnish social democracy is more interested in community inclusion than one-off museums from abroad - the next helsinki, a reactionary competition to enlarge the discussion - provocateurs but also understand the role of the artist in the development of the city
20150502_NOTES FROM THE STUDIO - Tuesday (stream of academic consciousness)
Programme
How do we choose between romantic, but winding streets that create irregular building grounds and the more rigid of a stringent city, which is functional but monotonous?
Timescale:
Narratives dont occur randomly, but rather as a series of events deriving from the logic of cause and effect, it ties together character traits, goals, obstacles and actions
Diagetic (character-aware)/Non-diagetic (character-non aware) elements
Filmmakers use non-diagetic elements for several reasons: they may draw attention to aspects of the narrative form from a position outside the story, they communicate with the audience directly, and they engage viewers on an emotional level
Pramaggiore and Wallis, ‘Narrative Form’
Fabula: chronological narrative, as it happens in its entirety
Flashbacks/forwards (repositioning events influence the way the audience understands these)
Syuzhet (plot)
The place, with its gray sky and withered garlands, its bared spaces and scattered dead leaves, was like a theater after the performance all strewn with crumpled playbills.
/ Henry James
Revenge - film noir - reverse linearity
20150126_NOTES FROM THE STUDIO - Monday
Scenographic setting / mise-en-scene
moving towards thematic emergencies
theme/concept = architecture/map/city
mediating public space, mediating private and public
shopfront : sign, navigational device
speed / communication
restaurant - public dining (living) room
first tectonic task: dealing with topography
second tectonic task: psychogeography
third tectonic task: public inclusion
what type of activity, where does it happen, why does it happen? the quality of the mapped spaces
funerals + alcohol = celebrations (seasons?)
feed movement data into grasshopper?
try to understand how it works, not speculative
record where people drink, walk about, NOT drink, sitting down, standing up
vehicles to empty the bins twice a day (infrastructure)
assemble that into a different landscape
tapas
back of house / front of house
efficiency/ecology
egg fast food?
whiskey ghana, imported, ‘london’ gin, the idea of champagne, russian champagne
waste - social issue
the angel’s share
destilleries mostly far from cities, in ghana very central
rekorderlig (where?!, fråga pappa)
saturation
track the move
september, west end, beer festival
airport (quasi-public)
campfire (no need for a ‘threshold’ to create a space
thresholds/envelopes/spaces (architecture) - enduring. never change
jul på liseberg
the christmas market : pop-up theme park
tectonics don’t have to stop at the ground, i.e. include the ground
map destilleries
history of drinking events
social issue? alcoholism?
territorial
constant state of change
for how long does the festivals last? why? how?
not just point to ‘activities’, take away the city and propose a new way of working
-connecting the nodes
alternate reading of the city
why thresholds? binary condition of outside/inside, why?
don’t just use an old map, thats second year, propose a new city
tourist map is different (connecting sights) to a locals map, architects map
distillery owner’s map vs the alcoholics map
resources
whats available? analyse that.
present findings
production - distribution - consumption
whats taboo in the city?
assemble scenic stages
textual and visual
clearly located on the site
scenographic setting (taken from the public realm study)
issues (scenes) discovered - this is how i want to place them (setting)
- emerging from the mapping exercise
- scenes be related?
Following from last weeks fictional interpretation of the luchador and his position in the tequila bar, I developed seasonal drinking times which he went through. From a mapping of these seasonal drinking territories, I realised how public and open they were, most times without an ‘entrance fee’, however with closing times. They are also fairly centrally located, which makes sense logistically. However, as part of my research (parallel to the data collection) I read the works of Ian Rankin, especially Doors Open, which features illegal activities in centre of edinburgh juxtaposed to leith.
So from this i got interested in the idea of the illegal versus the legal, and which one is the ‘mask’ to which. Within here is the idea of the worn out statement that ‘if alcohol would be invented today, it would be illegal’.
Last week I talked about the hype of drinking, I’ve developed that into the glorification of drugs. This then is abstracted into a space of illegality. By making something illegal, be it downloading on the internet, using drugs or selling sex, we create a population of criminals, in the easiest way possible. If it is illegal to take a line of cocaine, would a drug addict go seek help when he smokes weed and is worried about the consequences? Would a prostitute go to the police after abuse? Would a criminal go from the private flat to the public institutions?
Public square diagrams
Luchador+drinking?
20130704_WHY THE HOLLYWOOD ACTION SCREEN WRITERS NEED ARCHITECTS
The spatial qualities of art and culture are sometimes neglected yet vital for the narrative. Especially when considering the well known Die Hard films, fronted by Bruce Willis as the NY-cop John McClane. He has so far yelled yippie-ka-yey mother fucker in five films, less and less successful as the series progress. I’d like to outline why.
The major reason for the decline in the Die Hard saga is spelled ARCHITECTURE.
Die Hard (1988)
The greatest in the series. The genius idea in letting all the characters inhabit a space that the narrative demands to be enclosed gives the film and the Nakatomi Plaza a novel and inherent structure that is all about what’s inside and how the people respond to this. Using elevators upwards, downwards and even as a method to drop an office chair covered with c4 as a creative outlet is something that makes the film infinitely unpredictable in a very finite location. Essentially, the antagonists move from the basement up to the top floor, controlling every floor, controlling every space. What the protagonist McClane realizes is that he has to play this against them. Use the profound logic of the German terrorists against them. Their weapon becomes their enemy. Crawling in ventilator shafts and elevator shafts and even outside the building forces him to explore the space in every direction. There’s even an unfinished floor with drawings in it that he barely glances at. He doesn’t use these methods to orientate. He uses direct signals to navigate through the building, the building relies on the sheer perception of its inhabitants. This shows to be vital since the NY-cop neither has time nor the patience for this. In this uncomplicated simplicity the straight-forward American has an advantage over these hi-tech terrorists.
The confined space renders scenes where we recognize rooms and remember events that’s happened here, but now the narrative has accelerated to another level. For instance the room where the CEO is shot in the head. There is still blood on the floor, but now McClane is walking around talking to Gruber over the walkie-talkie, the same Gruber that shot the CEO, however, he doesn’t know he’s talking to someone that’s in the same room he has been in. This gives McClane an advantage. This meta-use of communication tools in a confined space adds to the complexity of this framework that has probably never been more successfully used in an American film. Ever.
Die Harder (1990)
Similarly to the first film, this film is confined to an airport. The cinematic advantage of this is that it operates on two levels. The helpless captivity of the people inside the airplanes simultaneously as the people at ground-level feel helpless because they can’t get the airplanes down anywhere else due to fuel running out etcetera. The villain in this film shows how vulnerable airports are and how fragile they are as a structure we rely on.
Die Hard: With A Vengeance (1995)
John McClane and Zeus Carver run all over New York City in the search for bombs and other elements of danger planted by the brother to the villain in the first film, Hans Gruber.
Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
This sequel explores the architectural concept quite poorly with digital space. Briefly put, the film is resolved with McClane showing that physical space (read: force) always trumps digital space.
A Good Day To Die Hard (2013)
After failed attempts to convince my girlfriend to come and see this film with me when it came out on Valentine’s day I watched it myself, leaving it with regret and sadness. Complete waste of time. Why? A unrooted sense of place. The film rushes all over Russia to converge in Tjernobyl and the radioactivity as a primary element. As the films after the second one from 1990 have focused more and more on the relationships in the McClane family this one takes the prize, since even the antagonist uses his daughter to achieve his goals. Suddenly it’s all about two fathers fighting each other instead of a fight towards space, direction and limits of the built environment.
FILM AND ARCHITECTURE
Both disciplines and art forms involve space/settings and a sensitivity for the actors that inhabit them. The director and architect are not that different in their dictating and diplomatic skills, as they have to team-work simultaneously as keeping true to their own individualism and vision.
In the same way, good visualisations make you believe the setting, the illusion - very similar to how good actors can make you believe even the most ludicrous script.
Shallow Grave
Batman
Office Space
Salo
Hero
Space - inhabitants - sense of direction - reactions - autonomy - juxtaposition of forces
Film as a visual conveyor of space,
its unique ability to show spatial dynamism,
how characters respond to their environment and ultimately have a vital effect on the narrative
SYMBIOTIC ARCHITECTURE
A building cannot, and should not, stand by itself. The context creates and dictates the building in a sense that it becomes a natural consequence in the urban ecosystem. Emphasising the flow of resources in this ecology is to me the core of architecture. The Bilbao Effect shows how this can be neglected, yet having a cultural and even contextual benefit in terms of revival and regeneration.
TIME/SPACE
Having considered theoretical approaches such as how temporal concepts apply to spatial problems are constantly growing my knowledge of the world and society.
Recommended resources on this subject, with emphasis on the film Memento, by Christopher Nolan:
http://blogs.aftrs.edu.au/screenculture/?p=213
http://dinamico2.unibg.it/fa/fa_mem01.html
http://detrave.net/nblume/portfolio/temporality/3.html
http://www.film-philosophy.com/2008v12n2/bragues.pdf
http://www.rbphilo.com/memento.pdf
http://www.philfilms.utm.edu/1/memento.htm