layers of reference

Text references:

Loo, S 2012, My Island Home, Architecture Australia, Pg 59-64, Vol 101, No. 5

Sardo, D, Seixas, LD & Tuñón, E 2005, Aires Mateus, Centro Cultural de Belem, Lisbon.

Zilka, L 2011, Interview with Manuel Aires Mateus, Architecture Australia, Pg 68, Vol 100, No. 4 

figure ground, solid void

The graphic figure ground perception is predominantly explored in two-dimensions. When the third dimension is added it becomes a solid void relationship. The idea of layering between a solid and void seems so obvious but is something many of us do not even recognise. 

figure 5

www.architecturality.wordpress.com

figure 6
www.materialicious.com

I read an article on Manuel Aires Mateus at the beginning of the year. He designs using the idea of the void and talks about the understanding of different volumes and their seamless attachment to our experience. The use of negative material takes on new weight with spaces being designed using subtraction of the solid rather than addition. This is evident in many of the practices figure ground diagrams which show spacial relationships and the idea of the 'habitable wall' that exists in many of their projects (fig 5). They often work with pre-existing buildings but unlike Scarpa, instead of using strong detailing to delineate the old and new, Aires Mateus absorbs the old structure into the new. The solid void experience gives the perception of layering rather than the materials themselves. In both the house at Alenquer (fig 6) and at Brejos De Azeitao volumes are created, utilising the old and new structures though neither is given precedence. The homogenisation of materiality serves to strengthen the rhythm of the structure, another concept of layering.

I have not yet explored all ideas concerning ‘layering’ but the myriad of ways in which to understand it depends on what you perceive as important in architecture. This will be built on what you have previously learnt or experienced but hopefully I have given you more information and added another layer of understanding that will be useful in the future.

graphic and photographic

With the physical layering of materials in mind, the overlaying of a graphic image seems like a logical continuation. 

figure 3
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I remember seeing some of Herzog and De Meuron’s work an architectural history lecture; both the Ricola storage building (fig 3) and the Eberswalde library utilize graphic images on their facades and John Wardle has also made use of a cropped photographic image on the Education building at RMIT in Melbourne. The graphics displayed on all of these buildings give clues to the buildings programme but the idea of the photo as decoration, on its own seems two-dimensional to me. It has however lead me into some interesting territory.

Moving on from investigating the photographic image as a cladding, I have decided to read briefly about the production of a photo and the mechanisms used to capture an ephemeral moment. Can this make architecture?

My exploration has led me to the Arab institute in Paris by Jean Nouvel. The southern façade of this building is made up of 30 000 apertures which detect the light outside and either constrict or dilate to control the solar penetration. Though high-tech facades don’t enthrall me, the simple idea of the aperture and consequential exposure caught my attention.

I don’t know if you have ever done this, but standing inside a building and trying to take a photo through a window capturing some of the frame is a trying task. The camera heightens the contrast of the shot so something that to the naked eye may look like figure 4a when photographed, develops more like figure 4b. The idea of aperture and exposure is apparent in this photograph at Warrock shearing shed. This task also made evident the instance of the figure ground relationship created as a result and heightened in figure 4c. 

figure 4a

figure 4c

figure 4b