The sleeping pavilion
The mist of cloud, the smell of tropical rainforest will emerge as soon as the mist wall expose to the visitor.
Natural landscape emerge as an artificial urban infrastructure covering the city living’s cell.
The use of existing urban fabric and infrastructure as a scaffold for the pavilion nest, the swirls allow the circulation defining the undefined borders between the existing and the intervention, exterior and interior, deliver the natural landscape atmosphere to the congested artificial urban fabric.
The urban intervention not to mean as a neutralizer of the existing urban fabric, but to define the urban block as an integrated structure.
The pavilion intended to act as a shelter and an urban artificial retreat.
While the existing structure provides the nest for the new pavilion, the new intervention will act as a scaffold for the old structure to grow old largely.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Narrative
During the US Prohibition, nightclubs went underground as illegal speakeasy bars owned by the “mafia” and ruled by political interests. Al Capone, Mickey Cohen, Johnny Dio, John Gotti and Frank Costello dominate the nightlife scene. Gangsters used “bars” in order to discuss political aspects and business.
On 1933 the prohibition was finished and nightclubs in New York revived. Stork Club, El Morocco and Copacabana became famous places where politicians took their discourse. Few decades after the disco era took the magic and essence of partying. Studio 54 became the predilection place for celebrities, wealthy, aristocrats and politicians. Nevertheless nightclubs for this time became known for being hedonist places. Rampant promiscuity, public sex and massive quantities of drugs ingested in clubs.
The only aspect that has last through history at nightclubs is the political discussions. Nevertheless most of the clubs in the city don’t have ideal spaces to protect privacy discourse. Policlub (Political Club) at Howard St and Broadway emerges based on 3 principles: privacy (political discussions), security and freedom of speech.
The club is composed by three main pavilions: the dancing floor, bar - booth seating and the VIPS (political and regular). The political VIPS (4) are located in a secure place where the access is limited and controlled. In the other hand regular VIPS (4) face the dancing floor and their level of privacy isn’t so high.
The dancing floor and the booth seating are the core of the project surrounded by the VIPS and service areas. The skin of the project is a honeycomb (hexagons) mesh. Each pavilion is characterized by a different surface geometry and scale of the mesh. In order to hierarchy and characterize spaces hexagons change dimensions. Greater scale meshes to large spaces and vice versa. The Dancing floor envelops shape (cone) works as a thermo siphon cooling the air. This means hot air is vacuumed by a process of air pressure.
w.e.i.r.d
Sam emerged from the subway, exhausted from the work. In the distance, he saw the weird thingy again. Somehow, it looked different from what it was before in the morning.
He remembered that he was dreadfully late for work and decided to take the shortcut through the block on Washington Avenue. To his surprise, he found some membranous 'vines' blocking his path. He was too pressed for time, having been late twice already this week, so he ambled on, peeling through the foliage. He found that there was some peculiar order to the mess that he was in, some vines were in fact firm and rooted to the ground, whilst the others moved with his touch.
Now, passing through from the other entrance, the experience seemed totally different again, and while he was meandering around inside, he bumped into many people and talked to more strangers than he had ever had before.
It was a very bizaare, but interesting experience.
And, this was also how he met Sally.
He remembered that he was dreadfully late for work and decided to take the shortcut through the block on Washington Avenue. To his surprise, he found some membranous 'vines' blocking his path. He was too pressed for time, having been late twice already this week, so he ambled on, peeling through the foliage. He found that there was some peculiar order to the mess that he was in, some vines were in fact firm and rooted to the ground, whilst the others moved with his touch.
Now, passing through from the other entrance, the experience seemed totally different again, and while he was meandering around inside, he bumped into many people and talked to more strangers than he had ever had before.
It was a very bizaare, but interesting experience.
And, this was also how he met Sally.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Narrative
The Underground above the Ground.
In a Future not so far away……….
In the Garment District when the evening begins, on the corner of 29th street and 6th avenue a group of strangers standing on the sidewalk are laughing and talking about the world that rejects them. These strangers are the center of attraction of all the people walking by, which are staring at them surprised for the unsusual garments that they are wearing. Suddenly, after the sound of a siren they dissapear into the dark 29th street, leaving no traces to follow them. But after a few minutes, the dark 29th street turns into a colorful display of lights spreading all over the street inviting the people to walk into an unusual and new building that was not there a few hours earlier. On each side of the building, extended elevated ramps invites the pedestrians to walk inside leaded by the curiosity, the sounds and lights that are displayed from the center of this mysterious building. As they approach into the core of the building, they start to wonder about a strange event that is going on below them. They see people cheering to a group of contestants walking on a runway dressed with exuberant and colorful garments. These garments looks familiar, like if they were have been exhibit during the day on that same street.
A few minutes later after they carefully observed, they start to understand how Fashion and this underground culture are now settled down in a place where they combined together without knowing the potential and qualities in which they are connected. On the 29th street of the Garment District stands a building with an unpredictable function and form. During the day it exhibits the Fashion Culture on the busy streets of the Fashion District by diplaying fancy and exuberant garments. But at night the building takes off his mask and changes his outfit, becoming a place where the Ball Culture emerges wearing the garments that were displayed during the day. Selected cross-dressed competitors will compete to display a moment of “realness”, a realness that has been hidden in the underground for decades.
While at night people from everywhere comes to this camouflaged place to watch, to question and to support the mysterious and obscure underground culture, during the day the building will give a push forward to the significance and potential of the Garment District.
In a Future not so far away……….
In the Garment District when the evening begins, on the corner of 29th street and 6th avenue a group of strangers standing on the sidewalk are laughing and talking about the world that rejects them. These strangers are the center of attraction of all the people walking by, which are staring at them surprised for the unsusual garments that they are wearing. Suddenly, after the sound of a siren they dissapear into the dark 29th street, leaving no traces to follow them. But after a few minutes, the dark 29th street turns into a colorful display of lights spreading all over the street inviting the people to walk into an unusual and new building that was not there a few hours earlier. On each side of the building, extended elevated ramps invites the pedestrians to walk inside leaded by the curiosity, the sounds and lights that are displayed from the center of this mysterious building. As they approach into the core of the building, they start to wonder about a strange event that is going on below them. They see people cheering to a group of contestants walking on a runway dressed with exuberant and colorful garments. These garments looks familiar, like if they were have been exhibit during the day on that same street.
A few minutes later after they carefully observed, they start to understand how Fashion and this underground culture are now settled down in a place where they combined together without knowing the potential and qualities in which they are connected. On the 29th street of the Garment District stands a building with an unpredictable function and form. During the day it exhibits the Fashion Culture on the busy streets of the Fashion District by diplaying fancy and exuberant garments. But at night the building takes off his mask and changes his outfit, becoming a place where the Ball Culture emerges wearing the garments that were displayed during the day. Selected cross-dressed competitors will compete to display a moment of “realness”, a realness that has been hidden in the underground for decades.
While at night people from everywhere comes to this camouflaged place to watch, to question and to support the mysterious and obscure underground culture, during the day the building will give a push forward to the significance and potential of the Garment District.
narrative
“The ordinary practitioners of the city life are walkers whose bodies follow the thicks and thins of an
urban “text” they write without being able to read it.”
M. De Certeau
The recent advances in technology and subsequent ever increasing notion of human separation from
reality (and from each other) call for a new type of architecture which aims to gently reintroduce a
basic experience of interaction.
Traditionally an urban public square was designed to intermix people and different activities thus
achieving coincidental behavior and blending of social landscape in the city. The programmatical
open- endedness of a space provoked speculation and fantasy.
Today the physicality of urban square competes with virtual public spaces where dematerialized
encounters with strangers make up for real contacts.
Situated in the heart of West Chelsea the proposed Pavilion claims to have no programmatic destination
challenging the users to compose their own experience throughout the site by co-sensing and co-
creating new reality.
The pavilion aims to serve as an instrument of discovering different patterns of interaction of emergent
behavior of different groups of urban players with statics of conventional use of public spaces.
The formal qualities of the pavilion elements aim to provoke formation of different nodes of activities
and interlacing of different activities, and stress the tension created by opposing open and closed
spaces.
urban “text” they write without being able to read it.”
M. De Certeau
The recent advances in technology and subsequent ever increasing notion of human separation from
reality (and from each other) call for a new type of architecture which aims to gently reintroduce a
basic experience of interaction.
Traditionally an urban public square was designed to intermix people and different activities thus
achieving coincidental behavior and blending of social landscape in the city. The programmatical
open- endedness of a space provoked speculation and fantasy.
Today the physicality of urban square competes with virtual public spaces where dematerialized
encounters with strangers make up for real contacts.
Situated in the heart of West Chelsea the proposed Pavilion claims to have no programmatic destination
challenging the users to compose their own experience throughout the site by co-sensing and co-
creating new reality.
The pavilion aims to serve as an instrument of discovering different patterns of interaction of emergent
behavior of different groups of urban players with statics of conventional use of public spaces.
The formal qualities of the pavilion elements aim to provoke formation of different nodes of activities
and interlacing of different activities, and stress the tension created by opposing open and closed
spaces.
"Wild: past participle of to will, self-willed"
-Thoreau
the building does not belong to you. it does not concern itself with
your needs, your wants, your hopes. it is offended by any
pre-classified notion of what you think it should be or could be. it
has no desire to conform to any defined or suggestive program: bizarre,
normal or any combination of the two. it assumes that any predetermined
notion of how you will inhabit the space will only contribute to a
diminished experience.
rather, it more generally seeks to evoke deep within you a passion for
its wild nature. the kind of wild that frees your mind and ignites
ideas. instead of falling into cycles of recreated experiences, the
building assumes that through the sensations of its behavior you will
generate new ideas about the external world that spark spontaneous
reflection and innovation.
sprawled along vertical surfaces of the urban landscape, the building
reaches for stable soil below while bracing itself against existing
infrastructure and its cousin structures inhabiting the same site.
overwhelmed by the heat of the city, the building desperately opens its
pores in anticipation of the coming rain.
the rain collects in the pockets of its skin. when the weight of the
water becomes too great, the building drops the excess, keeping just
what it needs to stay cool until the next rainfall. In contrast to the
droplets of water continuously released from the clouds above, the
building releases water from its surfaces less frequently and in greater
volume, creating a storm of a different scale.
this storm within a storm is one example of how the building amplifies
the experience of natural phenomena, illuminating the subtle but
incredibly wild qualities of the world we inhabit; qualities that have
increasingly become hidden to us by modern development and a growing
industrial society.
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