100121 - scapeshift

Is it possible to go beyond metaphor and show that the genesis of both geological and social strata involves the same engineering diagram?  Geological strata are created by means of (at least) two distinct operations.  When one looks closely at the layers of rock in an exposed mountainside, one is struck by the observation that each layer contains further layers, each composed of pebbles that are nearly homogeneous with respect to size, shape, and chemical composition.  Since pebbles do not come in standard sizes and shapes, some kind of sorting mechanism must be involved here…

- Manuel Delanda
A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History, 1997

This studio will be divided into three phases, all involving issues of landscape:

1. production of a landscape
2. analysis of the landscape under environmental and conceptual criteria
3. an architectural intervention on the landscape in the form of a roof / enclosure structure

In the essay “Eidetic Operations and New Landscapes”, James Corner discusses the term landschaft (from Old German) as it refers to a ‘working landscape.’  Landschaft is produced through transformational processes occurring on the land (such as farming and town planning) and it is opposed to a fixed, sceographic condition (as in a picturesque English garden).  This notion of landscape as a transformative process rather than a fixed image will be crucial throughout the semester.

large-scale morphology

Gobi Desert, satellite image

  

small-scale morphology

surface of a sand dune 

We will begin by analyzing sand dunes, a type of geologic landscape.  Like all geologic landscapes, sand dunes are undergoing a constant process of transformation.  An analysis of dunescapes will key into several fundamental issues of the studio including:  time, unit variation, and processes of transformation.

SHIFTING SANDS

Using Google Earth, locate two dunescapes that have recognizable patterns but also have some internal variation.  The two dunescapes must be clearly different from one another.  Carefully observe the morphology of each one, considering issues such as: wind direction, windward and leeward aspects, ridgeline and valley configurations, the basic ‘unit’ of the dunescape, how the unit repeats, and how the unit transforms.  Print an image of each dunescape on a 9” x 9” sheet.

For each dunescape, develop a map that tracks organization, variation, and potential transformation across the dunescape.  Draw maps in Illustrator over images of the dunescapes.  Read posts and study links on the studio blog for details on developing maps.

Print dunescape maps on 18” x 18” sheets.  These may be tiled from 11” x 17” sheets.

Go here for examples of the final dunescape maps.

WOOD MOLDING PROFILES

Obtain enough wood molding material to fill an 8”x24”x24” volume.  Profiles must be from straight baseboards, crown moldings, door moldings, window moldings, picture frames, chair rails, furniture, etc.  See example images below:

example molding profiles

All material must have similar, but not necessarily identical, profiles.  First look for salvaged material, then if necessary, add to your collection by purchasing new profiles from a lumberyard. 

Recommended sources for salvaged material, call ahead to check availability: 

Build it Green, salvaged and recycled building materials.

Eddie's Salvage, salvage store that attracts brownstone renovators.

Demolition Depot, salvaged building materials
.

In Rhino, draft the profile of each unique molding you have obtained.  These drawings must be constructed from circles and straight lines only, no splines allowed!  Construction lines, circles and lines not describing the profile of the molding, must be included in the drawings. 

Each molding profile is a sequence of curvatures.  These curvatures can be concave or convex, flat or steep.  Transitions between curvatures can be smooth or abrupt.  How do construction lines help describe these conditions?  Construction lines must be distinguished from geometry lines with line-weight.   

Print these drawings at 1 : 1 scale on 9” x 9” sheets.  Arrange multiple drawings on each sheet.  

UNIT DEVELOPMENT

Building on principles discovered in dunescape maps and molding profile drawings, develop a ‘unit’ from the wood molding profiles.  Start by writing a procedure or set of instructions the unit production.  The procedure must identify specific curvature conditions in the profile drawings and respond with a sequence of cuts and re-attachments.  Incorporate oblique cuts and slightly rotated re-attachments.  The procedure must specify a series of at least four 1/16” diameter holes to be drilled completely through every individual molding part.  

Re-attachments will be glued.  A unit must fit in a 4” x 4” x 4” volume.  Once the procedure is written, build five units each using slightly different angles for oblique cuts and reattachments and slightly different configurations of drilled holes.  The variation in the five units should reflect variation in the dunescape units.

WARNING:  Carefully inspect all salvaged wood for nails and screws before cutting!

READING

Each of the three phases of the semester will include required readings.  They will be discussed in class and your participation in these discussions will be part of your grade.  Readings will present challenging material, but they will be relatively short and foundational to the studio.  The first set of readings will be discussed in class Mon. Feb. 1; they are available for download from the blog.

Stan Allen.  “Diagrams Matter”.  Any, No. 23.
Gilles Deleuze.  “Rhizome vs. Tree”. The Deleuze Reader.
Manuel Delanda.  “Sandstone and Granite”.  A Thousand Year of Nonlinear History.