Flexible Spaces
Evaluating Circulation as Space and Movement in Examples of Contemporary Architecture
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Doris Kowaltowski, Evandra Ramos Victorio
Circulation of people and goods is what makes architecture. Buildings and urban spaces need to have life as well as artistic qualities to be called architecture. Circulation spaces are however less discussed in theory and mostly not detailed in an architectural brief. Questions of flows are rarely answered in programming discussions, leaving design teams to solve complex problems, without the support of the analysis of key examples. Contemporary architecture emphasises open-ended spaces, with “blurred edges” and fluidity. The “physical” reality of this architecture has not only people and goods circulating but also information. Flows, related to environmental comfort and sustainability have also gained importance in contemporary design. This paper is based on research on the concept of circulation in architecture. The question of circulation and connectivity of spaces is discussed. Aspects of circulation (flows, access, hierarchy, organization, wayfinding, accessibility, flexibility, among others) are structured in graphic form. Four Pritzker prizewinning designs are analysed using this structure. Design solutions to recurrent problems are identified and transformed into diagrammatic abstractions. These should help to solve problems of circulation in contemporary architecture and present a rich panorama of design ideas to stimulate new and creative proposals for the complexity of everyday needs of the built environment.
Addressing a Global Population: A Study in Contrasts
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Roberto Rengel
This paper examines two academic buildings at a major university in the U.S., both of which serve a widely diverse global population of students and scholars. Both are widely popular and offer a welcoming and hospitable environment. Although their design approaches are quite different they have qualities in common that attract users. In both cases the design team used universal archetypal themes as a unifying language that everyone could relate to. One of the buildings, a student union, uses the cave as its main inspiration. It is dark and features natural materials such as stone and wood and several fireplaces. It is comfortable and hospitable in a warm and cozy way. The other building, a research center with a community-serving ground floor, emphasizes openness. It features bright and tall open spaces and abundant natural light. The potential coldness of the white materials is offset by the presence of plants, and, in this case, water, instead of fire. It is comfortable and hospitable in a fresh and expansive way. The buildings were studied systematic through repeated observations over a period of one semester. Using Jay Appleton’s theory of prospect-refuge the author addresses how these two environments positively influence interactions between people by the positioning of places and the relationships between those places. Moreover, the author illustrates how the conditions of prospect and refuge, although in different measures and combinations, are present in both buildings and contribute in great measure to their popularity among many diverse groups.
Urbanism Underground: Re-emergence of the Subterranean City in Paris and Naples
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session René Davids
Quarrying for building stone has created intricate networks of underground spaces beneath many cities which over time, developed symbiotic relationships with the surface world. These subterranean layers were variously used for tunnels, canals, and sewers; cisterns, aqueducts, and reservoirs; catacombs, crypts, and places of worship, offering new opportunities to experience the city in vertical section. With its vast web of limestone quarries connected by galleries, the Paris underground is one of the oldest, densest, and most complex; the volcanic sandstone underlying Naples removed in huge blocks over several millennia left behind a vast honeycomb of excavated caverns. This paper explores new subterranean projects in both cities which are testaments to the continuing evolution and enduring vitality of forbidden spaces, many of them formerly closed to public access, that continue to enrich contemporary urban life, subverting official boundaries and inspiring the collective imagination.
