1001 Building Forms François Blanciak SITELESS
SITELESS k'12
SITELESS 1001 Building Forms François Blanciak The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England
© 2008 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for business or sales promotional use. For information, please email [email protected] or write to Special Sale Department, The MIT Press, 55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA 02142. This book was set in Helvetica Neue by the MIT Press and was printed and bound in Spain. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Blanciak, François. Siteless : 1001 building forms / François Blanciak. p. cm. ISBN 978-0-262-02630-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Architecture—Composition, proportion etc. 2. Form (Aesthetics) I. Title. NA2760.B52 2008 721—dc22 2007015858 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Introduction ix Chapter One: Hong Kong 1 Chapter Two: New York 23 Chapter Three: Copenhagen 35 Chapter Four: Los Angeles 51 Chapter Five: Tokyo 79 Chapter Six: Scale Test 101 Credits 116
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book has been prepared in various countries: China, Denmark, the United States of America, and Japan, over the course of the last five years. Only in its final stage could I focus on this work full-time. Hence, I have to first thank the Japanese government for subsidizing my first years in Tokyo as an independent researcher by providing me with a fellowship. It is surprising that one of the most unaffordable and supposedly chaotic cities in the world turned out to be the most stable environment for gathering and developing my ideas. Debt is also owed to my former employers; Aaron Tan, Bjarke Ingels, Peter Eisenman, and Frank Gehry, for enabling me to develop my work on the side from different urban locations and diverse dogmatic approaches. Yet, in the serial, crafted, and siteless nature of this study, a greater deal of inspiration comes from the architects Iakov Chernikhov, John Hejduk, and Hermann Finsterlin. A number of individuals have also either encouraged or questioned my work with sharp criticisms, and pushed me to enhance its quality. Among them (in no specific order): Ali Tabatabai, Napoleon Meraña, Yoram Lepair, Michael Sorkin, Aida Mirón, Masashi Nagamori, Leopoldo Sguera, Tom Russotti, Vytautas Baltus, Tynnon Chow, Amadou Tounkara, and Siri Johansen managed to formulate constructive comments. In addition, the insights of Michael Wert and André Moore Guimond have been helpful in the editing of my manuscript. Finally, I must avow that the physical condition of Tokyo—a city that threatens to collapse at any time—is what forced me to publish this rather venturesome oeuvre without further delay. F. B., Tokyo, January 2007 vii
We think the more directions that architecture takes at this point, the better. — Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi Learning from Las Vegas, 1972
ix INTRODUCTION The body of work that follows aims to fill the expanding gap between a profession that glorifies morphological originality through media exposure and a more secluded field of architectural research which, unlike its scientific counterparts, paradoxically neglects experimentation and the manipulation of form through its sole focus on writing. Proposing a creative alternative to critical academic literature, this study develops a prospective series of forms that focuses on the nucleus of architecture, the building as a unit (whether touched by others or left aside), and on the clarity of expression of its generative idea. As a result, in the coming chapters, text has radically been replaced by form. In order to multiply the range of potentialities in architecture, this study accepts the physical aspect of buildings as its primary component (the periodic denial of which proving vain) and proceeds by trial and error. Rather than striving to identify a singular design method, it searches in as many directions as possible, then isolates a multitude of devices intended to differ from each other and to be open for further development. As a bank of ideas from which articles can be picked to fit particular sites and purposes, it embodies the desire to exceed the sum of concepts that come to mind when confronted with the overwhelming situation of an actual project. The traditional sequence “program plus site equals form” is here intentionally inverted: as in ancient column orders, schemes are conceived prior to site insertion and subsequent relationships or adaptations. Yet beyond archaic dogmas, although a number of these figures constitute mere criticisms of recurrent paradigms in the discipline, most aspire to innovate and envision a more diverse future; to the point that many require construction techniques not available to date, if not different gravitational values. In the absence of any given site, chapters are simply named after the locations from which the ideas they contain were conceived.
x This chaotic sequence of places is employed to reveal a content that resists the primitive reaction of classification and thereby acknowledges the discontinuous nature of the creative process. Within a series that eventually generates its own context, scale—its a priori building material— is left to the imagination of the reader from one item to the next, with a range that can span from megastructure to cabin size. For the sake of versatility, the illustrations of this series have been drawn freehand. What could appear as a deliberate reaction to the quasi-unanimous computerization of both architectural representation and building design process is, in fact, a simple choice of convenience. Not unlike the way physical modeling materials influence form, operating systems turn out to induce software-specific shapes, to the extent that they become barriers to the production of diversity. Making room for various layouts, freehand drawings have been reduced here to their most neutral expression, in order to minimize the input of the gestural and to extract the essence of the concept in its most intelligible formulation. This abatement of representational effects is extended to the adoption of a constant viewing angle, which, in turn, enhances the perception of both peculiarities and kinships. In its layout, the present volume reproduces the graphic framework of a language. Not unlike the way a plurality of syllabaries cross each other in Japanese writing, several levels of character complexity are here juxtaposed with a quasi-absence of punctuation. Each entry is allocated the same amount of paper space (basically a square), whether extremely complicated (like kanji, or Chinese ideograms), simply curvy (like hiragana) or bluntly straight (like katakana). The parallel can be stretched to the reading experience itself, which can be carried out horizontally as well as vertically, and almost invariably from left to right or the reverse. Under each element though, captions, which in many cases preceded the drawings themselves, have been added to support or complete the depiction of their respective meanings. Like a centrifugal escape from the cycle of serial fantasy, the last chapter reconnects with the cultural realities of an existing site in Japan, and becomes a scale test. Literally rescuing this opus from art book shelves, it exploits and shows the ability of this series to morph
into proper building proportions with the outcome of a project, as the opposite of a conclusion. Selected for its median qualities in terms of size, program hosting capacities, and feasibility rather than for its demiurgical pretensions, a single scheme is released in the dense urban environment of central Tokyo to show the inherent flexibility that this set can offer. In return, this final part intends to reveal the sitelessness of all the other items by contrast. INTRODUCTION xi
CHAPTER ONE HONG KONG
swollen triangulation elbow tower zoning windows blown corners kneeling pyramid split column stretched arch column jam mosaic slab triangle bridge dissected facade panel globe 123 4 6 789 5 CHAPTER ONE HONG KONG 3
4 sigma building packed slab optician building windproof tower pixel circle pitched-roof dilemma pebble square physical sketch alternate cantilever acoustic slab inflatable floors sleeve towers 13 14 15 16 17 22 23 24 18 19 20 21
house arena pebble tower climbing pitched roof blown shafts window reel structural parasites genealogical tower stretched wire frame swollen tiling reduced high-rise fan slab pinned-down tower 25 26 27 28 29 32 34 35 36 30 31 33 CHAPTER ONE HONG KONG 5
6 dissected plan minced cantilever columnless arcades recycled yards double-Y tower 37 38 39 40 41 44 46 47 48 42 43 45 hula hoop cone base pleat hopping frames continuous wire frame fingerprint windows cushion landscape tentacle columns
CHAPTER ONE HONG KONG 7 underground program split building courtyard splash lava slab skin = circulation cone lanes buoy structure creeping tower palm block sphere cross lifted halls seismic columns 49 50 51 52 53 56 58 59 60 54 55 57
8 P tower magnetic portholes grid line defragmented tower high-rise plot liquid cuts garland tower concentric columns hinge slab napkin structure topo column volume vs. lines 61 62 63 64 65 68 70 71 72 66 67 69
bubbling tower pillar crown cracked towers infinite tower vegetal shafts giraffe tower cross tower burried square translation block program falls stretched referential meteor facade 73 74 75 76 77 80 82 83 84 78 79 81 CHAPTER ONE HONG KONG 9
10 tripod house ground-floor stretch paw columns S cuts double-loop tower paper slab butterfly block permanent scaffoldings tower mime skewered origami sliced floors cardioid arena 85 86 87 88 89 92 94 95 96 90 91 93
CHAPTER ONE HONG KONG 11 rounded corners foundation free cubical dome pitched cross hollow girder fractal pyramid pumpkin block hollow tower crafted corners circular cantilever pyramid teepee moment balconies 97 98 99 101 106 107 108 102 103 104 105 100
12 oblique floors translated hall skin vs. volume slide tower racquet tower continuous block mosaic lasso sliced balance roof column continuous balconies cubic jaws pebble facade 109 110 111 112 113 116 118 119 120 114 115 117
CHAPTER ONE HONG KONG 13 digital slab global slabs compressed path stem towers fiber program pitched floors locked tower hatched floors district tower bipolar block flake slab milled portholes 121 122 123 124 125 128 130 131 132 126 127 129
14 pyramid shield lotus globe dried panels cone dome comet structure program dodge fractal heap introverted tripod simple top atomic towers sunken erasure gill windows 133 134 135 136 137 140 142 143 144 138 139 141
balcony pyramid opus tower solid wire frame WTC proposal recycled tower pitched stair timber windows revolving bundle lifted diagonal inflated disk chalky cantilever peeled facade 145 146 147 148 149 152 154 155 156 150 151 153 CHAPTER ONE HONG KONG 15
16 double roof checkered portholes checkered arch floor stretch flat circus telescopic corner node hub limp corridors stalactite structure forced grid hirsute facade hunched cross 157 158 159 160 161 164 166 167 168 162 163 165
CHAPTER ONE HONG KONG 17 city-block stack hatch building tower jet crawling slab double arch pyramid tower wall projections armor tower scalped dome horseshoe tower crumpled regulation window stretch 169 170 171 172 173 176 178 179 180 174 175 177
18 diagonal sphinx city-block chain column boa dancing column cavity yard crumpled disk jiggling grid spilled structure spool tower radar tower shrunk plot floor loop 181 182 183 184 185 188 190 191 192 186 187 189
CHAPTER ONE HONG KONG 19 planted arena slab splits echo block square trap centrifugal columns pitched-roof column soundwave corner middle settling facade sheets eroded program mineral crop evaporative tower 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204
20 tower node wood slab forced towers fractal bridge lambda floors fiber columns double U block stellar column inertial windows huddled slab drain tower radial hall 205 208 210 211 212 206 207 209 213 214 215 216
CHAPTER ONE HONG KONG 21 jaw slab orientation tower half-moon tower buried star 3/4 cantilever forensic housing elastic block Paris plan windows 217 220 222 223 224 218 219 221
CHAPTER TWO NEW YORK
tuning tower ignited slab ripped corridor walking circuit hanging antenna pitched crown roof crack tome stack tectonic floors buttress towers musical openings crunched corners 225 226 227 228 229 232 234 235 236 230 231 233 CHAPTER TWO NEW YORK 25
26 reciprocal floors sparkling block projected park structural heroism disk hops prop block shelf building lying towers pitched corner globe stretch Z building filled outline 237 238 239 240 241 244 246 247 248 242 243 245
cantilevered trunk expansive windows wrestling slabs checkered pitched roof split disks corner wedges lying totem rotary cantilever outlined windows blown pyramids bark facade facade surplus 249 250 251 252 253 256 258 259 260 254 255 257 CHAPTER TWO NEW YORK 27
28 extruded ruin program knuckles circumventing towers mesh building circulation tower amoeba windows pennant slab split tower pixel meteor dotted block calendar panels globular tower 261 262 263 264 265 268 270 271 272 266 267 269
courtyard triangle quartered globe expanded block chapped column bifurcated balconies slalom structure inverted ruin radial facades floor hook pinecone flats caryatid towers tamped cone 273 274 275 276 277 280 282 283 278 279 281 284 CHAPTER TWO NEW YORK 29
30 lopsided stack program bondage causeway towers structural sheet can flats packaging top trimmed heap roaring pilotis column jaw brushstroke building rolled circle rubber facade 285 286 287 288 289 292 294 295 296 290 291 293
corner hubs wrung city block dotted frame dotted-marks tower dry curtain walls square vs. tower floor trap flat curve barrel square prop cantilever glowing square facade drag 297 298 299 300 304 306 307 308 302 305 301 303 CHAPTER TWO NEW YORK 31
32 floor container lifted ground floor flat column projected slab program overload block jam sky seizure floor press switchboard block bicephalous tower ramp ring evanescent tower 309 310 311 312 313 316 318 319 320 314 315 317
shutter bulge attached tower I attached tower II O plan N section corner traction spiral trench circus towers dome vs. cupola open plan horizontal stalactites 322 324 325 326 327 321 323 328 329 330 CHAPTER TWO NEW YORK 33
CHAPTER THREE COPENHAGEN
fingerprint urbanism finger-frame towers star vs. square XYZ megastructure pentagon tower oblique twist volume simulacrum open city block medallion slab cornet slab foliate facades ramified tower 331 332 333 334 335 338 340 341 342 336 337 339 CHAPTER THREE COPENHAGEN 37