100406 - observatory

Although architects generally make a clear distinction between what is given (context) and what is to be conceived (concept), the relationship is not so simple. Rather than a given, context is something defined by the observer, in the same way that a scientific fact is influenced by the observation of the scientist…Context is not fact; it is always a matter of interpretation.

- Bernard Tschumi
Event-Cities 3, Concept vs. Context vs. Content, 2004

An observatory is a device for monitoring celestial or terrestrial phenomena. An observatory is designed to gather data regarding a specific type of process or event, i.e. star formation, planetary movement, weather, earthquakes, etc. Observatories may gather data for empirical purposes (radio telescope), or for more experiential purposes (Roden Crater).

The two examples of observatories below, the Arecibo radio telescope and the Roden Crater are fully integrated into the landscape. They are organized by found terrains. Operations such as cutting, filling, extending, and slicing augment found terrains to give these observatories their final form.

Arecibo radio telescope 

Puerto Rico

James Turrell, Roden Crater – section and plan
Arizona

Your project will be to design a type of observatory, one that monitors movement of the sun and uses filtered sunlight to produce qualitatively different spatial experiences. The observatory must have at least three clearly differentiated spatial conditions qualified by scale and time:

• scale: small, medium, large
• time: morning, noon, afternoon or winter, equinox, summer

These qualifications may be combined in different ways: large/morning, small/noon, medium/afternoon; medium/winter, large/equinox, small/summer; etc. Your observatory will be organized around spatial gradients – do not segment discreet rooms; rather define zones that blend into one another.

Go here for examples of the final observatory models.

THESIS

Write a one-page thesis that expands on the generic qualifications above. The thesis must discuss relationships between the landscape and observatory, argue for a specific type of inhabitation (how do people use your spaces and why), and make use of neologisms (existing from midterm or new).

PERSPECTIVE VIEWS

Continue developing the Rhino model of your intervention. Produce three preliminary perspective views, one for each of the three different spatial experiences. Include scale figures performing relevant activities. The quality of renderings is less important than conceptual information conveyed by the image. Every image must focus on a particular idea.