final layout

final renders

main room plans

folly

siteplan

site and exterior renders

Fluid Atmospheres

The project explores the interplay between two distinct architectural languages in relation to the outdoor versus indoor experience.
On the exterior the architecture resembles artificial faceted hills, while on the interior the language takes on a viscous fluid character.
The project maintains a clear continuity in architectural language and organization throughout the entire campus, as each area develops its own intricate relationship to the site and contributes to creating diverse atmospheres.

On the exterior the faceted architecture blends into the clam landscape, giving only limited clues of what is happening within.
In contrast, the interior has a dense liquid language, which is interacting with the faceted mass, creating openings where the two matters intersect.
The viscous architecture is multifunctional, on one hand creating furniture, balconies and private pockets. On the other, it accommodates technical elements, such as lighting, sound system and projection screens, as well as building systems.

The campus is organized into a network of villages, sharing a basic logic in organization.
In each cluster the program is organized around a central outdoor room,
These outdoor rooms are interconnected through a system of straight paths. Each junction has a specific function, distinguishing between integral nodes, approach and entry situations, and points of reorientation.
The paths are submerged at key points, where follies lead up to the plateaus creating specific views of the site.
Beneath the folly forms a small room that gives the opportunity for moments of rest and protection from the weather.

Each village serves a different function and exhibits a specific identity:
The main hall, holding dining and event spaces, is located at the heart of the campus. It is a space with the most activity and program for the entire community to gather.
Another central node is the administrative part, drawing in visitors from the entrance and marking a transition from the lively dining hall to the academics part.

The academic area is pushed to the southern shore creating a calm environment for better concentration.
The student residence is located on the opposite shore, broken up into interconnected islands, in order to create a more intimate atmosphere.
The main part of the sport complex is located towards the front, providing space for parking and easy access for visitors to events.
Some of the program however is pushed to the back of the site, creating a connection to the Lower Mill Estates for possible shared use.

This interior viscosity and exterior facets give the entire campus a continuous language, while each environment develops its individual intricate relationship to the site and program.
The classic part to whole relationship is explored in this project and utilized at many scales to generate interior and exterior room relationship, as well as to provide transitions and continuity across the project.

site plan

model experiments with wire mesh and wax

mid term models

mid term

Our project focuses on the interrelationship of three different types of mass and their inherent morphogenetic potential.
We based this exploration on a specific scenario, a story of impact.
A heavy mass, made up of a strong brittle shell enclosing a tough liquid, is shot onto the site, leaving a trace behind. The impact disrupts the ground, causes the shell to brake and the liquid to splash out. Alike the rebound of a water drop prior to its entry, the object bounces off the ground, while the liquid continues to escape through the cracks and spread into the newly shaped landscape, forming paths and outdoor spaces. In this moment the scene is frozen in mid-action and thus, the liquid hardens and turns into architecture. It acts as a dynamic system, organizing itself as necessary. We think of it as a matter in continuous variation: while following basic principles of organization, it morphs heterogeneously into elements of circulation, structure, and interior as needed, creating a fluid connection between figure and ground.
What is more, the matters influence each other, taking on each others behavior. Hence, the liquid looses part of its freeflow and takes on some of the tension and rigidity of the hard solid. The solid becomes in turn more elastic, leading to softer edges at the cracks.
The ground becomes soft and malleable, when in contact with the two matters. The impact leaves a long trace behind and pushes the earth aside into hills. The liquid paths mold their way through the landscape more smoothly, pressing it up in certain places and cause plateaus and outdoor rooms to form. Similarly, smaller splashes merge with the landscape and create follies.
The folly is a moment of rest, inviting the people to halt and observe or leading them off the path into a more isolated environment. These moments are strategically used to create vistas. Through positioning and changes in elevation, the view to the large hall is at parts blocked and gradually revealed as one approaches the building. The paths take on an element of discovery and surprise.

plan, section and landscape section

fluid aesthetics

model experiments with wax, silicon, honey

references

splash-rebound of a viscoelastic drop













memory-foam

reading list

UmBau 23: Das Diffuse im Fokus | Focus on Blur

Kari Jormakka: Blur Blur Blur

The Spheres of Peter Sloterdijk
Andreas Leo Findeisen

R&Sie reading Bataille’s “Formless”
Ingrid Böck

Das Entgleiten der Form
Manfred Russo

kickoff

Blur

Blur generally refers to the appearance of an unfocused image. We are interested in translating this effect to the context of landscape and architecture, by applying various methods such as layering, merging, playing with depth and size, distortions in perception through time or light. The blurring of the object as well as its relationship to the environment can create very strong moods and atmosphere in and outside the architecture.



Organisation

In a boarding school the interplay between open and intimate spaces is of utmost importance. There is the need to be able to separate from the group but still feel as a part of the whole. So, while it is important to have a clear overview and organisation, in a smaller scale there should be room for play hide and seek.
The volumes of the buildings fall like heavy and clear cut volumes onto a moldable landscape that ripples and crumples under their weight and creates a complex, layered interface.
While the outer shape of the volumes is clearly defined,
on the interior the walls are diffused.
Contrast

By combination of natural and artifically looking materials
we would like to investigate their respective qualities.
Another focus is the design of light conditions and colour application.

Particles

A way to create a blurred vision is to group a large number of small pieces so the eye looses focus.