Table  of  contents

VIRTUAL  REALITY  AND  ITS  AFFECTS  ON  ARCHITECTURAL  LANDSCAPESSui  Ying  LOW

INTRODUCTION

ROLE  OF  EPHEMERAL  ARCHITECTURE  IN  SUSTAINABLE  BUILDINGYeo  Hui  WEN

FLEXIBILITY  IN  ARCHITECTURE:  QUINTA  MONROYLour  MASHI

WATER  AND  MOVEMENT  IN  ARCHITECTUREEzgi  TEZCAN

DO  TRACES  MAKE  ARCHITECTURE  SUBSIST?Hortense  PROT

FUN  PALACE  AND  EPHEMERAL  ARCHITECTURENhaila  CHIN  FOO

CAN  MUSIC  INFLUENCE  THE  PERCEPTION  OF  SPACE?Younes  EL  HAYANI

THE  RESISTANT  EPHEMERALPaula  JURAK

THE  ILLUSIONAL  PRESENCE  OF  WOOD  IN  BRUDER  KLAUSOlivia  KEMPF

HOW  DO  EPHEMERAL  AND  TRANSCENDENTAL  QUALITIES  OF  LIGHT  ALTER  AN  ARCHITECTURAL  SPACEGenevieve  GRIFFIN-GEORGE

DYNAMICS  OF  TUAREG  KEL  FERWAN  CAMPSNatacha  LANGEVIN

INTRODUCTIONThe  S5  course  entitled  Ephemeral  Architecture  at  the  École  Spéciale  d’Architecture  (ESA)  addresses  the  ‘limits’  of  architecture.    The  students  read  and  discussed  a  number  of  philosophical  and  theoretical  texts  questioning  the  boundaries  of  architecture.  They  ‘deconstructed’  it,  considering  the  different  assumptions  we  make  about  the  discipline  and  imagined  other  interpretations  and  possibilities.  They  explored  different  ways  in  which  architecture  may  be  ‘ephemeral’  –  addressing  materiality,  “lightness”,  “weakness”,  history  and  memory,  ruin,  questions  of  architec-

the  site,  sustainability,  deterritorializaition,  virtual  architecture  and  “cybers-pace”,  questions  of  temporality,  homelessness,  etc.  In  addition  to  the  

the  subject.  They  also  divided  into  groups  to  experiment  some  aspect  of  ‘ephemeral’  architecture  and  then  reported  back  on  these.  In  the  context  of  this  course  the  students  invite  a  speaker  every  semester  to  give  a  conference  on  a  related  subject.  This  semester’s  speaker  was  Pier  Schneider  of  1024  Architecture  (previous  speakers  have  included:  Peter  Greenaway,  Philippe  Rahm  and  raumlabor).  The  students  wrote  research  articles  related  to  the  theme  of  the  course,  resulting  in  a  diverse  range  of  ideas  about  the  ‘ephemeral’,  a  number  of  which  are  included  in  this  publication.  Brent  PattersonSpecial  thanks  to  Natacha  Langevin  for  the  layout  and  Pola  Jurack  for  designing  the  cover,  Grégoire  d’Amiens  for  the  printing,  and  to  all  the  S5  students  who  participated  and  made  this  an  epic  experience:Nicolas  ARAMANRobin  BELKenza  BENCHEKROUNAnthony  BOGUSZEWSKIAuguste  CHANTRELAlexis  CHAPPEYNhaila  CHIN  FOOVlad  DARABANPauline  de  VATHAIREYounes  EL  HAYANIMarc  Antoine  GALUPGenevieve  GRIFFIN  GEORGETristand  ISAAC  DOGNINPola,  JURACK  Jeremie  KATIDJO-MONNIER

Olivia  KEMPFGilles  KHARALLAHNatacha  LANGEVINSui  Ying  LOWLour  MAHSHIFrancesco  MESSINAMaja  PIECHOWIAKRomain  PLANTROUHortense  PROTManon  ROBERTAnne-Laure  SEREROPaul  SERIZAYEzgi  TEZCANEleanor  XUHui  Wen  YEO

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VIRTUAL  REALITY  AND  ITS  AFFECTS  ON  ARCHITECTURAL  LANDSCAPESSui  Ying  LOW

The  rapid  rate  with  which  technology  has  expanded  in  recent  years  has  greatly  changed  the  way  we  live,  with  the  most  noticeable  being  the  

telecommunication  networks  with  the  PC  to  give  rise  to  the  latest  phe-nomenon  –  virtual  reality.  The  widespread  usage  of  virtual  networks  and  tools,  whether  through  personal  computers,  televisions  or  mobile  devices  has  led  to  the  pervading  presence  of  user  interfaces,  for  which  our  phy-sical  landscape  has,  accordingly,  adjusted  itself.  There  is  thus  concern  about  the  future  of  architecture  as  the  world  turns  its  attention  to  the  

ourselves  with.  This  essay  will  attempt  to  reach  a  conclusion  by  studying  

design  and  by  discussing  philosophical  insights  and  predictions.

-tural  space,  where  focus  is  steered  away  from  the  habited  interior  space  and  onto  the  displays  on  monitors.  A  case  study  would  be  Silicon  Valley,  the  epicentre  of  the  new  technological  world1.    The  common  miscon-ception  is  to  imagine  a  vibrant  agglomeration  of  buildings  until  the  actual  

facades.2

1  Wright,  Gwendolyn.  “The  Virtual  Architecture  of  Silicon  Valley”,  in  Journal  of  Architec-tural  Education  (1984)  Vol.  54,  No.  2,  88-94.2  Ibid.

Silicon  Valley,  California,  USA3

There  is  little  concern  by  both  the  employer  and  employees  regarding  their  working  environments,  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  their  work  has  little  to  do  with  their  physical  surroundings.  A  functionalism  of  the  virtual4    has  

for  space  by  warranting  their  full  attention  in  a  virtual  world  comprised  of  intangible  traits  like  communication  and  information.  In  addition,  the  ne-glect  of  architectural  design  is  due  to  the  opposing  nature  of  technology  and  architecture  –  one  of  ephemeral  and  permanence.  Firms  dealing  with  technology  are  short-lived  as  new  technology  is  constantly  created  and  older  ones  outmoded  and  replaced  almost  instantly,5    hence  the  reluc-

the  “image  of  virtual  networks”  6    are  in  stark  contrast  with  the  dynamic  

be  ‘Second  Life’,  a  virtual  world  where  individual  players  are  free  to  build  and  organize  space  without  the  intervention  of  third  party  authorities.  In  contrast  to  plain  landscapes  like  that  of  the  Silicon  Valley,  Second  Life  is  a  world  dominated  by  tasteful  spaces,  where  the  aesthetic  aspect  is  greatly  valued,  and  the  ‘experience’  dimension  takes  precedence  over  all  others.7  

3  Photo  of  Silicon  Valley  |  South  Bay,  SRGliving,  http://www.srgliving.com/uploads/pro-perty_groups/images/921x306h/171/silicon_valley.jpg?13219533144  Baudrillard,  Jean.  “Truth  or  Radicality:  On  the  Future  of  Architecture.”  in  Francesco  Proto  (ed),  Mass.  Identity.  Architecture:  The  Architectural  Writings  of  Jean  Baudrillard  (Chichester:  John  Wiley,  2006)  5  Wright,  “The  Virtual  Architecture  of  Silicon  Valley”,  90.6  Baudrillard,  “Truth  or  Radicality,”147  De  Boer,  Joop.  “Spatial  Planning  –  Learning  from  Second  Life”,  in  Strategy,  Planning  and  Design  on  the  City,  Building  Innovation,  May  2007.

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This  occurrence  shows  that  the  aesthetic  of  spaces  is  still  highly  valued,  but  the  fact  that  the  time  and  energy  placed  in  our  physical  landscape  is  being  siphoned  off  into  a  foreign  dimension  shows  that  in  this  new  era,  people  are  beginning  to  ‘inhabit’  more  than  one  landscape.Furthermore,  with  the  creation  and  availability  of  new  technology,  a  new  generation  of  spaces  termed  screen  architecture  9  is  surfacing.  The  above  mentioned  Second  Life  is  one  such  example  of  three-dimensional  architecture  behind  a  screen.  These  spaces  that  are  represented  two-dimensionally  simulate  actual  spaces,  and  while  technology  is  constantly  evolving  to  increase  its  realism,  they  are  but  programs  comprised  of  

-rational  commands  that  have  no  need  to  be  rational.10    It  is  the  program-med  nature  of  these  spaces  that  leaves  little  to  be  discovered  that  is  not  

quality  of  the  space,  and  hence  poses  a  threat  to  the  innate  quality  of  architecture.11    8  Cerise,  Giovanna,   ,  November  2011,  Linden  Endow-ment  of  the  Arts,  JPG,  http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151346480283072&set=pb.84315643071.-2207520000.1354011615&type=3&theater,  accessed  Novem-ber  27,  20129  Baudrillard,  “Truth  or  Radicality,”12.10  Baudrillard,  Jean.  “Simulacra  and  Simulations”  in  Selected  Writings,  ed.  Mark  Poster  (Stanford:  Stanford  University  Press,  1988),  pp.166-184.  11  Baudrillard,  “Truth  or  Radicality,”15.

There  are  several  ideas  to  counter  this  trend  of  surface  architecture,  one  of  which  is  ‘Information  Decoration’.  12  This  has  arisen  to  counter  the  in-creasing  popularity  of  screen  architecture.  The  theory  goes  that  the  envi-ronment  is  there  for  the  observation  of  human  eyes,  and  if  there  is  exces-sive  attention  focused  solely  on  displays  and  interfaces  then  perhaps  it  is  time  for  the  outdated  landscape  to  imbibe  useful  information  well-suited  for  this  technological  age.  Thus,  there  are  two  standpoints  here  regarding  the  challenge  of  an  architect  in  this  new  age,  one  of  which  requires  a  shift  in  attention  from  the  technological  race  for  the  perfection  of  the  latest  innovation,  and  to  our  immediate  landscape  -  to  make  it  more  relevant  to  our  daily  lives.

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While  they  have  made  valuable  contributions  like  increased  accuracy  and  -

vely  or  otherwise  to  the  design  of  these  buildings.  The  convenience  with  which  components  can  be  copied  and  pasted  from  elsewhere,  where  conventional  shapes  13  and  forms  are  duplicated  with  ease  to  form  simple  and  pleasing  geometrical  designs,  have  resulted  in  a  landscape  of  clones.14    The  act  of  designing  is  distracted  by  the  availability  of  tes-

less  a  part  of  the  architect  than  a  part  of  a  generic  universal  perception.  Should  this  generalization  of  architectural  form  be  a  sustaining  trend,  it  would  erode  the  purpose  of  architectural  practice,  where  creations  are  no  longer  creative  expressions  of  the  individual.  There  are  however  strong  arguments  for  the  use  of  virtual  tools  to  ameliorate  the  architectural  landscape,  one  of  which  is  the  ability  to  simulate  reality  through  rende-rings,  to  provide  architects  with  the  opportunity  to  better  visualize  scenes  and  hence  adjust  outcomes  accordingly  without  incurring  high  construc-tion  costs.  15  This  however,  has  the  potential  to  cause  the  situation  to  deteriorate,  for  simulation  blurs  the  difference  between  the  ‘real’  and  the  

12  Van  Mensvoort,  Koert.  “ICarrier”,  in    (2007),  ed.  Gerritzen13  Antonioli,  Manola.  “Virtual  Architecture,”  trans.  Julie-Francoise  Kruidenier  and  Peter  Gaffney,  in  The  Force  of  the  Virtual:  Deleuze,  Science,  and  Philosophy,  ed.  Peter  Gaff-ney  (London:  University  of  Minnesota  Press,  2010),  169-190.14  Baudrillard,  “Truth  or  Radicality,”15.15  Ismail,  Izwan.  “Virtual  reality  adds  more  dimension  to  architecture,”  New  Straits  Times  (Malaysia),  October  16,  2006.

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‘imaginary’.  For  a  simulated  scene  produces  ‘true’  symptoms,16    resulting  in  a  visualized  scene  backed  by  real  elements  -  is  the  scene  portrayed  thus  supposed  to  be  a  true  one?  There  is  the  danger  that  too  much  

comprised  of  averaged  data  and  details.

On  the  other  hand,  all  is  not  as  bleak  as  it  looks  when  we  investigate  the  most  recent  breakthroughs.  One  of  which  is  that  the  more  time  people  are  given  to  adapt  to  the  usage  of  technology,  the  more  ways  of  using  and  complementing  it  can  be  found.  As  technology  becomes  widespread  and  more  easily  available  globally,  alternatives  and  competition  starts  to  surface,  and  with  competition  comes  the  general  improvement  of  things  

South  Korea’s  answer  to  California’s  Silicon  Valley:    Jeju  Province,  which  has  been  actively  encouraging  the  development  of  a  technology-based  

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modules.

Daum  Space,  Jeju,  South  Korea17  

16  Baudrillard,  “Simulacra  and  Simulations”,  166-184.17  Shin,  Kyungsub  and  Kim,  Yong-Kwan,   ,  October  2012,  dezeen  magazine,  JPG,  http://www.dezeen.com/2012/10/31/daum-space-by-mass-stu-dies/,  accessed  November  7,  2012

design  that  could  potentially  serve  as  the  architectural  grammar  for  the  entire  territory.18    This  new  development  is  one  of  many  instances  of  

management,  and  not  just  narrow-mindedly  focusing  on  the  work  present  behind  computer  monitors.  

In  addition,  as  society  begins  to  recognize  the  importance  of  fusing  design  and  technology,  rather  than  allowing  either  to  take  dominance,  architectural  schools  are  updating  their  school  curriculums  to  introduce  technical  inquiry  into  the  design  curriculum.19    Design  ability  is  now  mea-sured  by  the  capacity  to  develop  the  design  from  idea  to  realization,  with  technology  pursued  imaginatively  as  learning  through  making.20    This  is  to  produce  architects  who  will  be  able  to  translate  their  ideas  and  creativity  into  reality  with  the  aid  of  technological  tools.  One  such  visionary  archi-

established  as  a  creator  of  virtual  realities,  with  their  most  notable  client  being  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange,  they  have  gone  on  to  translate  vir-tual  realities  into  ambitious  architecture  like  the  award-winning  Hydra  Pier  pavilion  in  the  Netherlands,  which  they  constructed  by  outsourcing  to  a  Dutch  jet  manufacturer.

Virtual  New  York  Stock  Exchange  21                  Hydra  Pier  Pavillion,  Netherlands22  

18  “Daum  Space”  19  Watson,  Donald.    “ ”,  in  Journal  of  Archi-

 (1984),  Vol.  51,  No.  2  (Nov.,  1997),  119-126.20  Watson,  “ ”,  123.21   .  Asymptote,  1999-2000,  Columbia  Edu,  JPG,  http://www.columbia.edu/itc/architecture/wright/6769_2001/images/week12/week12.html,  Accessed  November  27,  201222  Karpathios,  Jonathan,  Hydra  Pier,  MIMOA  Mi  Modern  Architecture,  JPG,  http://www.mimoa.eu/projects/Netherlands/Hoofddorp/Hydra%20Pier,  Accessed  November  27,  2012

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Their  laudable  creativity  brings  much  optimism  that  the  newer  generation  may  yet  envision  virtual  reality  in  more  ways  than  its  functional  qualities  and  translate  its  ‘impossible’  environments  into  our  real  world.

In  conclusion,  although  architecture  for  a  physical  landscape  may  seem  to  have  been  rendered  obsolete  by  a  new  virtual  landscape  which  trans-ports  its  users  into  another  dimension  visually,  it  will  still  grow  in  impor-tance,  when  used  as  leverage  above  other  competition  and  when  we  

its  conventional  monumental  characteristic,  one  of  permanence  that  is  incongruent  with  the  highly  versatile  virtual  realm.  Should  its  monumental  status  be  forgotten  momentarily,  we  will  be  able  to  ascribe  it  with  spatial  qualities  as  well  as  a  temporal  characteristics,  as  an  architectural  ‘event’  that  will  be  more  well-suited  to  our  current  era.23  To  end  with,  here  is  a  quote  that  while  projecting  the  dire  state  of  our  architectural  landscape  

-ner.  “This  romanticizing  of  an  earlier  time  as  ‘simpler,’  fails  to  grasp  that  it  is  in  the  realization  of  complexity  and  contradiction  that  we  begin  to  

Thomas  Mayne.24

23  Antonioli,  “Virtual  Architecture,”  170,  175-17724  Antonioli,  “Virtual  Architecture,”  169

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Antonioli,  Manola.  “Virtual  Architecture,”  trans.  Julie-Francoise  Kruidenier  and  Peter  Gaffney,  in  The  Force  of  the  Virtual:  Deleuze,  Science,  and  Philosophy,  ed.  Peter  Gaffney  (London:  University  of  Minnesota  Press,  2010),  169-190.

Baudrillard,  Jean.  “Truth  or  Radicality:  On  the  Future  of  Architecture.”  in  Francesco  Proto  (ed),  Mass.  Identity.  Architecture:  The  Architectural  Writings  of  Jean  Baudrillard  (Chichester:  John  Wiley,  2006)

Baudrillard,  Jean.  “Simulacra  and  Simulations”  in  Selected  Writings,  ed.  Mark  Poster  (Stanford:  Stanford  University  Press,  1988),  pp.166-184.

“ ”  Dezeen  Magazine,  31  October  2012,  http://www.dezeen.com/2012/10/31/daum-space-by-mass-studies/

De  Boer,  Joop.  “Spatial  Planning  –  Learning  from  Second  Life”,  in  Stra-,  May  2007.  

Ismail,  Izwan.  “Virtual  reality  adds  more  dimension  to  architecture,”  New  Straits  Times  (Malaysia),  October  16,  2006.

Van  Mensvoort,  Koert.  ,  in  Artvertising:    (2007),  

ed.  Gerritzen  

Wright,  Gwendolyn.  “The  Virtual  Architecture  of  Silicon  Valley”,  in  Jour-nal  of  Architectural  Education  (1984)  Vol.  54,  No.  2,  88-94.

Watson,  Donald.    in  Journal  of  Architectural  Education  (1984),  Vol.  51,  No.  2  (Nov.,  1997),  119-126.

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ROLE  OF  EPHEMERAL  ARCHITECTURE  IN  SUSTAINABLE  BUILDINGYeo  Hui  WEN

What  role  does  ephemeral  architecture  play  in  the  critical  discourse  of  sustainable  architecture?

Sustainability  in  architecture  has  long  been  a  debated  issue.  The  de-

agreed  upon.  There  is  a  gamut  of  buildings  that  claim  to  be  sustainable,  employing  different  innovations  and  design  approaches,  and  each  are  

a  sustainable  building.1

This  essay  aims  to  investigate  the  role  of  ephemeral  architecture  in  sus-tainable  building  beyond  the  conventional  perception,  in  challenging  the  stereotype  of  sustainable  architecture.  For  the  purposes  of  this  essay,  the  

without  compromising  the  ability  of  future  generations  to  meet  their  own  needs”  will  be  utilized.

1 Farmer,  Simon  Guy  and  Graham.  «Reinterpreting  Sustainable  Architecture:  The  Place  of  Technology.»    (1984-)  (Associate  of  Collegiate  Schools  of  Architecture)  54  (2001):  140.

Role  of  Technology  in  SustainabilitySustainable  architecture  is  increasingly  becoming  synonymous  with  ‘green’  architecture  and  the  image  of  the  quintessential  sustainable  archi-

-ted  and  operated  to  minimize  impact  on  the  environment  by  the  use  of  sophisticated  systems.  This  stereotype  is  perpetuated  by  a  top-down  view  of  environmental  and  technological  change  in  which  a  “progressive  process  of  innovation  mitigates  the  adverse  effects  of  development.”  The  basic  assumption  is  that  the  development  of  new  technologies  that  

the  environment  of  past  practices.  More  often  than  not,  industrialization  and  technological  development  is  believed  to  be  a  panacea  for  the  ailing  environment.2

The  most  pertinent  issue  of  unsustainability,  in  line  with  global  concerns,  3  The  negative  impacts  of  buildings  are  believed  to  be  

process  and  operation  such  as  favoring  of  a  building’s  appearance  over  -

nical  and  electrical  equipment  et  cetera.4    As  a  result,  many  buildings  are  designed  to  be  modern,  high-technology  structures  that  maximize  

unsustainability  are  undoubtedly  shaped  by  different  social  stakes,  based  on  different  understanding  of  the  issues,  ergo  culminating  in  different  approaches  toward  a  variety  of  sustainable  futures.  “Sustainability  can  be  humble:  sourcing  natural  and  passive  solutions  energy  needs;  and  it  can  be  extravagant:  using  customized  and  computer-enhanced  systems  that  detect  environmental  conditions  and  respond  accordingly  to  the  buil-ding’s  needs.”5

Measuring  SustainabilityThere  are  attempts  to  quantify  the  ‘sustainability’  of  a  building,  and  many  countries  have  their  own  rating  system.  For  example,  the  United  States  Green  Building  Council  (USGBC)  implemented  LEED  (Leadership  in  Energy  and  Environmental  Design),  a  program  that  provides  third-party  2  Ibid.3  Ibid.4  Lovins,  Amory.  «Ithat  is  now  causing  widespread  energy  waste.»  In    (1993):  16.5  Vinnitskaya,  Irina.  ArchDaily.  August  27,  2011.  http://www.archdaily.com/159232  (ac-cessed  November  06,  2012).

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 designed  to  “lower  operating  costs  and  increase  asset  value,  conserve  energy  and  water,  reduce  harmful  greenhouse  gas  emissions”  among  other  things.6

The  LEED  awards  points  for  energy-saving  features,  but  it  has  been  cri-ticized  in  the  past  by  those  who  consider  some  features  (like  bike  racks)  

Gehry  said:  “A  lot  of  LEED  is  given  for  bogus  stuff.”  The  costs  of  making  a  green  building  are  “enormous,”  he  said,  and  “they  don’t  pay  back  in  your  lifetime.”7  Even  though  one  could  argue  that  there  can  be  money  paybacks  and  costs  savings,  an  initial  capital  is  still  necessary  to  make  it  happen.8

Ephemeral  ArchitectureEphemeral  architecture  is  one  branch  of  architecture  that  has  been  ne-glected  in  the  discourse  of  sustainability.  A  variety  of  factors  contribute  to  the  ephemerality  of  architecture,  including  but  not  restricted  to  program,  material,  mobility,  climate,  budget  and  actions  of  users.  Through  the  analysis  of  Shigeru  Ban’s  projects,  this  essay  aims  to  demonstrate  the  

Ban  is  most  well  known  for  building  with  recyclable  materials.  The  Paper  Tube  Housing  built  for  the  refugees  of  the  Kobe  earthquake  in  1995  is  an  instance  of  architecture  that  is  constructed  with  material  is  reusable  and  recyclable.  All  the  materials  for  the  Paper  Tube  Housing  were  prefabrica-ted  and  assembled  at  the  site.  The  foundation  was  made  of  Kirin  Beer  

constructed  with  plywood  and  lined  at  the  edges  with  plywood  pegs.  The  main  structure  of  the  house  comprised  cardboard  tubes  that  were  sealed  at  the  joints  with  waterproof  sponge  tape,  and  were  held  together  horizontally  with  steel  rods.  Each  of  the  houses  are  cost-effective,  costing  less  than  $2000  each,  and  easily  erected.  The  housing  was  so  effec-tive  that  similar  shelters  were  used  in  Turkey  in  2000  and  India  in  2001,  customized  for  the  local  climate.  “To  protect  against  the  Turkish  winter,  

6  Source:  USGBC  Website  https://new.usgbc.org/leed7  Singh,  Timon.  

-  Sustainable  Design  Innovation,  Eco  Architecture,  Green  Building  .  November  05,  2010.  http://inhabitat.com/frank-gehry-calls-sustainable-design-political/  (accessed  Novermber  06,  2012).8  Redden,  Elizabeth.  Sustainability  Failures.  July  23,  2008.  http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/07/23/sustainability#ixzz2BSipNuli  (accessed  November  06,  2012).

Indian  climate,  the  roof  construction  was  transformed  by  blending  paper  tubing  and  local  materials  like  bamboo.”9

Paper  tube  housing

Despite  being  commissioned  as  a  temporary  structure  for  refugees,  the  Paper  Tube  Housing  did  not  become  useless  once  it  was  demolished.  The  materials  themselves  could  have  been  reused  and  recycled,  but  the  success  of  the  architecture  allowed  it  to  be  constructed  in  the  same  way  

made  minimal  impact  on  the  environment  and  can  be  considered  ‘sustai-nable’  even  without  the  intensive  use  of  technology  in  both  the  building  construction  and  usage.

Ban  had  also  built  a  Paper  Church  for  the  refugees  of  the  Kobe  earth-quake  whose  house  of  worship  had  been  destroyed.    The  plan  is  en-closed  within  a  skin  of  corrugate,  polycarbonate  sheeting,  within  which,  paper  tubes  were  placed  in  an  elliptical  design.  Similarly,  despite  being  

9  Meta,  Agim.  Paper  Tube  Housing  by  Shigeru  Ban.  Febuary  11,  2011.  http://www.de-sign4disaster.org/2011/02/12/paper-tube-housing-by-shigeru-ban/  (accessed  November  6,  2012).

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Paper  church

designed  and  built  as  a  temporary  structure  for  disaster  refugees,  the  Paper  Church  lasted  long  after  it  was  planned  for  and  was  present  for  10  years,  before  it  was  disassembled  and  all  the  materials  sent  to  a  city  in  Taiwan  where  it  was  reassembled  as  a  permanent  structure  and  called  the  Puli  Paper  Dome.

For  Ban,  sustainable  architecture  is  about  more  than  saving  energy  or  using  recycled  materials.  It’s  about  people’s  emotional  connection  to  the  buildings  they  occupy,  and  about  making  buildings  that  may  have  diffe-rent  identities  at  different  times”,  one  of  the  factors  that  make  architecture  ephemeral.  “Some  buildings,  he  says,  should  be  built  as  disposable.  They  can  still  be  green  so  long  as  they  don’t  require  more  energy  to  take  down  than  they  did  to  put  up.”10

Paper  buildings  might  be  viewed  as  wasteful  and  not  sturdy,  but  Ban  explains  that  a  concrete-and-steel  building  can  also  be  temporary  if  taken  down  or  destroyed  by  natural  disaster.  Ban  says  of  his  paper  architecture,  “paper  can  last.  It’s  a  question  of  love.  My  paper  church  was  still  around  after  10  years.  If  a  building  is  loved,  it  becomes  permanent,  although  buildings  don’t  always  need  to  be  permanent.  People  are  more  noma-

the  way  they  used  to.  Families  grow,  they  need  to  move,  then  children  leave,  and  they  move  again.  It’s  always  about  designing  for  the  particular  situation.”11

10  Kimmelman,  Michel.   May  20,  2007.  http://www.ny-times.com/2007/05/20/magazine/20shigeru-t.html?pagewanted=all  (accessed  November  6,  2012).11  Ibid.

ConclusionEphemeral  architecture  is  often  associated  with  being  wasteful;  the  quintessential  sustainable  building  is  traditionally  not  a  temporal  struc-ture,  but  rather  a  long-lasting  structure  whose  presence  makes  minimal  

result,  many  countries  have  issued  guidelines  for  environmentally  friendly  implementations  or  add-ons  to  buildings  to  certify  the  sustainability  of  a  building.  Hence,  many  of  the  ‘sustainable’  buildings  of  this  era  employ  sophisticated  machinery  and  techniques,  both  passive  and  active  sys-tems,  in  order  to  reduce  impact  on  the  environment.12

The  aim  of  this  essay  is  not  to  discredit  technology-based  environmental  innovations  but  rather  to  acknowledge  that  different  stakeholders  may  embody  vastly  different  perceptions  of  what  sustainability  is  about,  and  may  share  a  commitment  to  sustainable  design  but  are  likely  to  differ  greatly  in  their  interpretation  of  the  causes  of  and  ergo  the  solution  to  unsustainability.

The  parameters  of  sustainability  in  this  discourse  are  often  limited  to  the  physical  attributes  of  a  building,  but  by  broadening  perspectives  to  include  the  social  and  political  aspects  of  sustainability,  it  is  possible  that  ephemeral  architecture,  through  its  presence  and  impact  on  people,  can  be  a  form  of  sustainable  architecture  in  a  metaphysical  way,  on  top  of  the  environmentally  friendly  construction  methods  and  materials,  as  seen  through  Shigeru  Ban’s  projects.

12  Lovins,  Amory.  «that  is  now  causing  widespread  energy  waste.»  In    (1993):  16.

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BILIOGRAPHY

Farmer, Simon Guy and Graham. «Reinterpreting  Sustainable  Archi-tecture:  The  Place  of  Technology.» Journal of Architectural Education (1984-) (Associate of Collegiate Schools of Architecture) 54 (2001): 140.

Vinnitskaya, Irina. ArchDaily. August 27, 2011. http://www.archdaily.com/159232 (accessed November 06, 2012).

Singh, Timon. Frank Gehry Slams LEED, Calls Sustainable Design «Political» Read more: Frank Gehry Calls Sustainable Design «Poli-tical» | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building . November 05, 2010. http://inhabitat.com/frank-gehry-calls-sustainable-design-political/ (accessed Novermber 06, 2012).

Redden, Elizabeth. Sustainability  Failures. July 23, 2008. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/07/23/sustainability#ixzz2BSipNuli (accessed November 06, 2012).

Meta, Agim.  Paper  Tube  Housing  by  Shigeru  Ban.  Febuary 11, 2011. http://www.design4disaster.org/2011/02/12/paper-tube-housing-by-shi-geru-ban/ (accessed November 6, 2012).

Kimmelman, Michel. . May 20, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/magazine/20shigeru-t.html?pagewanted=all (accessed November 6, 2012).

Lovins, Amory. « In

Context 35 (1993): 16.

FLEXIBILITY  IN  ARCHITECTURE:  QUINTA  MONROYLour  MASHI

In  a  world  where  social,  economic  and  environmental  changes  are  taking  

becomes  of  growing  interest,  especially  in  the  case  of  buildings  that  are  in  need  of  evolving  and  adapting  continuously  with  time.  Regarding  the  social  housing  project  Quinta  Monroy  (2004),  situated  in  the  district  of  Iquique  in  Chile,  by  the  architects  of  the  agency  Elemental,  the  problem  of  providing  adequate  social  dwellings  for  a  hundred  poor  families  living  on  illegal  land  was  met  with  an  original  idea  that  involved  building  houses  that  can  be  adjusted  and  improved  in  time  and  according  to  the  families’  desires  and  needs.  How  does  the  Quinta  Monroy  project  incorporate  the  notion  of  changeability  and  temporality  in  its  architecture?

The  architects  of  Elemental  cleverly  remodeled  the  principles  of  social  housing  to  work  with  budgetary  limitations  while  keeping  in  mind  the  needs  of  the  residents  themselves.  In  the  Quinta  Monroy  project,  one  of  the  main  aspects  that  was  put  forth  in  their  solutions  was  Chile’s  culture  of  self-construction,  where  “half  of  a  good  house”  is  provided,  instead  of  “all  of  a  bad  house”.1  This  meant  that  the  main  unit  of  the  house  was  built,  leaving  enough  free  space  for  each  family  to  make  their  own  addi-tions  later  on.  The  architects  realized  that  the  structure  and  massing  of  a  

1  “May  23rd  2010,  http://www.helsinkidesignlab.org/essays/elemental#  

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1.Satellite  snaphshot  before  construction  2.Satellite  snaphshot  after  construction

-ned  and  constructed.  Thus,  more  is  invested  in  the  structure  of  a  unit  in  order  to  support  a  newly  self-constructed  expansion.  The  “half  of  a  good  house”  concept  offered  to  the  families  what  they  needed  most,  right  at  that  given  moment  and  left  the  building  with  the  opportunity  to  be  impro-ved  upon  as  their  wealth  increased  or  their  needs  changed.    Analyzing  the  project  on  a  deeper  level,  Elemental  have  used  a  basic  concept  that  the  author  Bernard  Leupen  called  the  “frame  concept”.2  In  his  thesis,  “Frame  and  Generic  Space”,  Leupen  developed  the  notion  of  the  changeability  of  dwellings  based  on  the  use  of  permanent  elements  which  he  termed  as  “the  frame”.  The  importance  of  the  development  of  the  frame  concept  does  not  lie  in  what  can  be  changed,  in  what  is  considered  as  ephemeral,  but  rather  in  what  stays  permanent.  Hence,  opportunities  can  be  created  to  deal  with  future  unpredictability  due  to  this  permanent  part  of  the  building  which  enables  various  adjustments  to  be  made  without  requiring  such  adjustments  to  be  precisely  determined  in  advance.  

This  is  the  case  with  Quinta  Monroy,  where  the  architects  have  construc-ted  neutral-looking  buildings  of  equally  sized  units  placed  at  the  same  intervals  from  each  other  on  the  site.  These  units  are  the  permanent  2  Bernard  Leupen,  “Towards  Time-Based  Architecture”,  in  Time-Based  Architecture,  Bernard  Leupen,  René  Heijne,  Jasper  van  Zwol  (eds.),  (Rotterdam:  010  Publishers,  2005),  p.  18.

elements,  the  frame.  The  uniformity  and  minimalism  of  these  elements,  along  with  the  void  provided  next  to  each  house  unit,  encourages  the  families  to  make  future  adjustments  with  ease  and  as  needed.  

The  frame  is  not  only  the  permanent  part  of  the  building,  for  it  also  re-

damaging  its  essential  character.  Therefore,  a  certain  harmony  is  maintai-ned  in  the  social  housing  project  throughout  the  many  additions  that  have  been  made  over  time,  because  the  main  permanent  frame  of  the  building  has      preserved  the  identity  of  the  place,  it  gave  freedom  to  changeability  

-tures  of  how  the  settlement  used  to  be  before  the  creation  of  the  project).    –In  the  article  “Time-Based  Buildings”,  by  Herman  Hertzberger,  perma-

permanent,  or  the  frame  of  the  building,  is  considered  as  the  lucid  and  neutral  part  of  the  structure  that  produces    ‘polyvalency’  in  the  building.3    Polyvalency  occurs  because  the  form  of  the  building  suggests  different  interpretations  by  the  different  users.  A  polyvalent  form  is  a  form  which  can  be  put  to  different  uses  without  having  to  undergo  structural  changes  itself.  

This  is  why,  in  the  case  of  the  frame  concept,  the  frame  is  an  open-ended  structure  that  is  free  for  different  uses  and  different  meanings  through  the  various  interpretations  that  it  brings  about  by  its  simple  forms  that  are  used  as  the  base  for  further  adjustments.  In  addition  to  this,  the  pre-sence  of  voids  that  contrast  clearly  with  each  unit  encourages  individual  interpretation  and  freedom  of  expression  without  disturbing  the  uniform  organization  of  the  houses.4  

Going  into  more  detail  on  the  organization  of  the  units,  each  base  unit  is  composed  of  three  stories  comprising  of  an  area  of  36  squared  meters  that  contain  the  kitchen,  the  bathroom,  and  the  stairs,  which  are  the  main  service  utilities,  disposed  in  such  a  way  as  to  provide  easy  future  expan-sion,  up  to  70  squared  meters  of  space.  The  different  units  were  positio-ned  in  such  a  manner  on  the  site  as  to  create  an  enclosed  area  between

3  Herman  Hertzber,  “Time-Base  Buildings”,  in  Time-Based  Architecture,  Bernard  Leu-pen,  René  Heijne,  Jasper  van  Zwol  (eds.),  (Rotterdam:  010  Publishers,  2005),  p.  82.4  Herman  Hertzber,  “Time-Base  Buildings”,  in  Time-Based  Architecture,  Bernard  Leu-pen,  René  Heijne,  Jasper  van  Zwol  (eds.),  (Rotterdam:  010  Publishers,  2005),  p.  82.

20 21

 3.Existing  settlement  situation  before  construction.

a  certain  number  of  families  and  create  sub-communities  to  enhance  interactions  and  bring  support  between  the  neighbors,  creating  common  public  spaces  in  each  enclosure  and  providing  a  sense  of  security  for  the  children  to  play  on  the  shared  grounds.  

-tects  have  managed  to  solve  social  issues  as  well  as  create  buildings  that  have  a  long  life  span  and  that  evolve  continuously  in  time.  These  concepts  are  that  of  constructing  half  a  home,  in  order  to  leave  the  other  half  to  be  self-constructed  in  time,  that  of  using  the  frame,  implying  the  importance  of  having  permanency  in  the  structure  to  maintain  long-las-ting  sustainability,  and  that  of  organizing  the  houses  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  interpreted  and  adjusted  freely  by  the  users  through  time  and  to  give  identity  and  enclosure  to  the  dwellings  that  are  well  in  need  of  solidarity  of the  community.

Flexibility  and  changeability  in  architecture  does  not  always  have  to  mean  

elements  in  a  building  are  temporary,  the  building  in  itself  will  lack  in  co-herency  and  will  have  too  much  freedom  in  its  changeability  to  last  long  in  time.  The  fewer  interventions  needed  on  the  building,  the  more  adequate  and  adaptable  its  use  will  be  in  the  uncertain  future.

Development  of  the  house  extensions  from  2004  to  2006

Project  information:5

Architects:  Elemental  –  Alejandro  Aravena,  Alfonso  Montero,  Tomás  Cortese,  Emilio  de  la  Cerda  Location:  Iquique,  Chile.  Client:  Gobierno  regional  de  Tarapacá  /  Programa  Chile-Barrio  del  Go-bierno  de  Chile.  Engineering:  Juan  Carlos  de  la  Llera  &  José  Gajardo.  Contractor  and  Services:  Proingel,  Abraham  Guerra,  Constructora  Loga  S.A.  Budget:  US  $204  /sqm  Project  Year:  2003  Construction  Year:  2004  Execution  time:  9  months  Materials:  Concrete  &  Cement  bricksSite  Area:  5000  sqm  Constructed  Area:  3500  sqm  Photographs:  Elemental  –  Cristóbal  Palma  –  Tadeuz  Jalocha

5  Saieh,  Nico,  “ l”,  31  Dec  2008.  ArchDaily,  last  accessed  on  6th  

of  Nov.  2012,  http://www.archdaily.com/10775/quinta-monroy-elemental/

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

-Herman  Hertzber,  “Time-Base  Buildings”,  in  Time-Based  Architecture,  Bernard  Leupen,  René  Heijne,  Jasper  van  Zwol  (eds.),  (Rotterdam:  010  Publishers,  2005),  p.  82.

-Bernard  Leupen,  “Towards  Time-Based  Architecture”,  in  Time-Based  Architecture,  Bernard  Leupen,  René  Heijne,  Jasper  van  Zwol  (eds.),  (Rot-terdam:  010  Publishers,  2005),  p.  18.

-Bernard  Leupen,    (Rotterdam:  010  Pu-blishers,  2006).

-“ ”,  Justin  W.  Cook  &  Bryan  Boyer,  Version  1.0,  -

says/elemental#    

-Saieh,  Nico,  “ ,  31  Dec  2008.  ArchDaily,  last  accessed  on  6th  of  Nov.  2012,  http://www.archdaily.com/10775/quinta-monroy-elemental/

-Luke  W.  Perry,  2008,  http://incrementalhouse.blogspot.fr/2008/10/chile-quinta-monroy.html

WATER  AND  MOVEMENT  IN  ARCHITECTUREEzgi  TEZCAN

The  aim  of  this  research  is  to  explain  how  architecture  can  be  ephemeral  by  creating  a  sense  of  movement.  The  use  of  water  in  architectural  de-

liquid  behavior.  Water’s  role  in  creating  a  sense  of  movement  in  archi-tecture  will  be  presented  by  investigating  two  World  Expo’s  projects  in  which  water  is  considered  as  a  main  element  of  the  design  process.  One  of  these  projects  is  the  Digital  Water  Pavilion  by  Carlo  Ratti  and  the  other  

chance  to  gain  a  better  understanding  of  the  transformation  process  and  the  usage  of  water  in  architecture.  

Ephemeral  Architecture  and  Movement

Ephemeral  means  “not  permanent,  lasting  a  day”.  It  is  used  for  changing,  

it  offers  a  chance  to  change,  prevents  stability  and  adds  dynamism.  “Mo-vement  is  found  in  nature  in  every  organism,  even  static  elements  change  in  time  and  offer  a  sense  of  movement”.1

itecture,  “it  applies  to  a  building  with  the  potential  to  move”.2  The  main  concern  is  what  kind  of  movement  we  are  talking  about.  Technologic  

1  Verónica  Estremadoyro,    Virginia  Poly-technic  Institute  and  State  University,  (October,  2003)2  Brian  D.  Chappel, ,  (December,2004),

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developments  not  only  facilitate  creating  physical  movement  but  also  they  lead  us  to  create  mental  experiments  of  movement.  It  is  possible  to  perceive  movements  even  if  the  buildings  themselves  do  not  move.  To  create  a  sense  of  movement  without  actual  motion,  architecture  may  use  and  transform  natural  elements  such  as  water.

Nature  of  Water

The  nature  of  water  offers  many  aspects  to  architecture  to  use  in  design.  

feature  of  water,  even  in  stable  structures  it  is  possible  to  create  a  sense  of  movement.  Considering  waterfalls  and  water  waves  architects  try  to  create  aesthetic  effects  in  their  design.  The  usage  of  water  not  only  offers  aesthetic  designs  but  also  contributes  to  a  sense  of  movement.  Water  

movement  is  detected.  In  addition  to  this  water  as  a  transparent  mate-rial,  it  allows  us  to  see  what  is  behind  of  it.  Combining  transparency  and  

special  qualities  of  water,  architecture  can  transform  and  use  it  to  provide  dynamism  in  designs.  «Water,  actuated  by  gravity,  has  traditionally  been  the  most  dynamic  element  in  architectural  and  urban  space,»  said  William  J.  Mitchell.3  Two  World  Expo  buildings,  Digital  Water  Pavilion  and  the  Blur  Building,  will  be  analyzed  in  order  to  present  different  ways  of  usage  of  water.  The  possibility  of  creating  the  illusion  of  movement  without  actual  motion  in  structure  is  explored.  

Digital  Water  Pavilion

The  Digital  Water  Pavilion  was  designed  for  Expo  Zaragoza  2008,  Spain  by  MIT  architects  and  engineers.  It  is  an  interactive  structure  made  of  digitally  controlled  water  curtains.  “The  water  walls  that  make  up  the  structure  consist  of  a  row  of  closely  spaced  solenoid  valves  along  a  pipe  suspended  in  the  air.  This  produces  a  curtain  of  falling  water  with  gaps  at  

of  illuminated  points  on  a  screen.  The  entire  surface  becomes  a  one-bit-deep  digital  display  that  continuously  scrolls  downward.”4  

3  Patti  Richards,  MIT  News,  

4  D  (10  November,2011),  http://www.okeanosgroup.com/blog/water-as-art/digital-water-pavilion/

1:1  Water  curtains  of  Pavillion

The  water  walls  separate  the  interior  and  the  exterior  of  the  building  as  a  barrier.  “But  of  course,  the  terms  “inside”  and  “outside”  hardly  apply  to  this  building,  because  the  spectacle  of  a  water  wall  invites  bystanders  to  investigate,  and  the  ephemeral  barrier  acts  more  as  an  invitation  than  a  restriction.”    And  the  water  walls  can  also  create  pattern  and  shapes.  The  roof  of  building  is  also  covered  by  water  and  supported  by  large  pistons.  As  the  vans  closed,  the  roof  is  able  to  move  vertically  and  the  whole  buil-ding  disappears.

1:2  Water  walls  create  a  pattern                      1:3  Roof  on  the  ground

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The  Blur  Building  

The  Blur  Building  is  an  exhibition  pavilion  built  for  the  Swiss  Expo  2002  on  Lake  Neuchatel  in  the  town  of  Yverdon-les-Bains,  Switzerland  by  Diller  

To  add  to  the  effect,  building  stands  several  meter  above  the  lake  by  a  metal  framework  and  the  entire  building  acts  as  a  cloud.

2:1  The  Blur  building  spays  water                  2:2  Vapor  generate  a  sense  of  movement

like  a  cloud  and  it  creates  a  sense  of  movement.  It  is  hard  to  realize  the  building  itself  beyond  the  vapor.  “The  architecture  is  impressive,  but  it  becomes  impossible  to  directly  appreciate  the  structure  because  onloo-kers  can’t  actually  see  any  of  it.  Even  after  stepping  foot  onto  the  Blur  Building,  visibility  doesn’t  improve  much.”5

  “This  project  managed  to  interrogate  every  environment  --  built,  

visual,  cognitively  mapped,  and  perceptually  oriented  culture  that  sur-rounds  us  today.  The  Blur  Building  produces  different  spacing  and  tem-porality  from  those  of  the  modern  world,  hovering  uncertainly  at  the  limit  or  at  the  end  of  the  world.”6

To  conclude,  water  has  an  essential  role  in  architecture  in  order  to  add  a  dynamic  effect  in  design.  By  taking  into  account  the  World  Expo’s  futurist  and  experimental  character  these  two  buildings  interpret  the  common  materials  in  a  different  way.  “World’s  Fairs  have  offered  hope  of  a  better  

5  Walking  On  Clouds  At  The  Blur  Building,  (10  November,2011),  http://www.okeanos-group.com/blog/water-as-art/blur-building/6  Ulrik  Ekman,   -ding,  University  of  Copenhagen,  (1  January,2009)

future  by  showing  how  things  can  be  done  differently.”7  In  Digital  Water  Pavilion  new  technology  controlled  and  shaped  the  water  curtain.  Even  if  it  acts  like  a  waterfall  or  if  pixels  are  shaped  by  digital  technology,  the  building  is  completely  dynamic.  The  Blur  Building  uses  the  lake  and  trans-forms  it  into  the  water  vapor.  It  presents  a  blurred  image  as  a  soaring  cloud.  It  is  possible  to  see  it  as  a  mobile  structure  blown  by  the  wind.  Although,  water  is  used  in  different  ways  in  the  two  buildings,  the  aim  is  similar.  It  is  perceived  as  a  tool  to  create  dynamism.  Despite  stable  positions  of  the  buildings  a  sense  of  movement  is  obtained.  These  Expo  Buildings  are  examined  to  present  how  architecture  uses  water  and  how  water  contributes  to  dynamic  design.  The  role  of  water  in  architecture  is  unlimited;  there  are  thousands  of  different  possibilities  that  architecture  can  experiment.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Estremadoyro,  Verónica  “ ”,    Virginia  Polytechnic  Institute  and  State  University,  (October,2003)Chappel,  Brian  D.    “ ”,  (December,  2004),  4Richards,  Patti  “Water  Walls“ ”,(10  Novem-ber,2011)  http://www.okeanosgroup.com/blog/water-as-art/digital-water-pavilion/“Walking  On  Clouds  At  The  Blur  Building”  (10  November,  2011)http://www.okeanosgroup.com/blog/water-as-art/blur-building/Ekman,  Ulrik  “s  Blur  Building,  University  of  Copenhagen,  (1  January,2009)“ ”  http://unitec.researchbank.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10652/1234/fulltext.pdf?sequence=1Eyre  ,  Jim  “Bridging  Art  and  Science”,  Movement  and  Geometry,  (2001)

Images1:1  http://www.okeanosgroup.com/blog/water-as-art/digital-water-pavi-lion/1:2  http://www.okeanosgroup.com/blog/water-as-art/digital-water-pavi-lion/1:3  http://www.alaninnes.com/studio999/crossroads/Entries/2012/7/14_

7   y,  http://www.crystalpalace51.org/

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DO  TRACES  MAKE  ARCHITECTURE  SUBSIST?Hortense  PROT

Do  traces  make  architecture  subsist?  How  the  traces  of  the  Palais  des  

do  they  have  today?  

In  this  essay  I’m  interested  in  what  can  subsist  after  a  building’s  disap-pearance  and  what  does  it  mean  for  the  notion  of  permanence  in  archi-tecture.  That’s  why  I  chose  to  study  The  Palais  des  Tuileries.  It  burned  down  in  1871  and  was  destroyed  in  1883,  but  traces  of  different  natures  remain.  Focusing  on  three  of  them  I  will  precise  the  notion  of  ‘trace’,  ana-lyzing  their  relation  with  the  destroyed  building  in  order  to  discover  what  role  they  play  today.      

displaced  and  installed  in  courtyards  and  gardens  like  ESA’s,  or  reused  in  constructions  like  that  of  the  Chateau  de  la  Punta.  The  second  example  includes  images,  iconographic  documents  representing  the  Palais  des  Tuileries.  The  third  example  is  the  site  itself,  the  location  in  the  city  of  the  former  Palais.  These  three  examples  refer  to  different  aspects  of  the  notion  of  trace.  The  point  is  that  according  to  Paul  Ricoeur,  himself  deve-loping  Marc  Bloch  theory,  trace  is  a  general  term  which  includes  as  well  testimonies  and  remnants  of  the  past.1

1  Paul  Ricoeur,    Paris,  Seuil,  2000,

notion  it  is  impossible  to  classify  them  but  we  can  differentiate  them,  be-ginning  with  the  difference  between  written,  and  non-written  forms.  In  the  sense  of  Ricoeur,  written  traces  are  all  documentary  traces,  written  tes-timonies,  and  non-written  traces  are  clues,  both  opposed  by  their  posi-

2    

The  second  one  is  not  literally  written,  but  the  fact  it  implies  a  transcrip-tion  and  what  Ricoeur  called  the  “moment  of  the  archive”  enables  us  to  consider  that  it  is  closer  to  written  traces,  and  more  precisely  to  written  

can  differentiate  them,  indeed  this  one  is  closer  to  the  notion  of  a  foot-print,  the  mark  of  a  former  presence  in  the  city,  the  remaining  borders  of  the  site,  unchanged,  and  the  absence  of  any  new  construction.

By  specifying  the  examples,  we  determined  these  three  traces  have  particular  natures  thereby  relations  they  maintain  with  the  former  buil-

this  point  on  the  trace  implies  a  notion  of  belonging,  that  there  is  a  set  in  which  the  clue  has  a  place.  Moreover,  the  status  of  stones,  columns,  and  pediments,  which  were  moved  to  new  sites  or  reused  in  new  construc-

architectural  set  it  became  an  object.  I  mean  that  taking  them  out  of  their  context  transforming  them  into  examples  of  ancient  architectural  models  or  into  artifacts  in  the  landscape.  It  seems  to  me  that  in  this  meaning,  they  become  an  immediate  object,  a  sign  in  the  sense  of  Peirce’s  semio-tics  as  explained  by  Nicole  Everaert-Desmedt.3

 

The  site  of  the  building  as  a  footprint  refers  more  to  the  notion  of  ab-sence.  In  fact,  if  a  footprint  exists,  it  automatically  means  the  author  (human,  animal,  and  architecture  as  well)  of  the  mark  is  no  longer  pre-sent.  With  the  notion  of  footprint  we  can  say  that  architecture  is  no  longer  present  as  such  but  more  as  a  form,  or  the  boundary  of  a  form  which  has  disappeared.  Aldo  Rossi  writes  in  “architecture  of  the  city”  that  it  is  not  

-borhood’s  architectural  footprint  its  history.  I  guess  that  this  is  the  same  2  Ricoeur,   ,  2213  N.Everaert-Desmedt,  Peirce,  Liège,  Mardaga,  1990,  p.52

30 31

sense  of  the  trace  expressed  here  and  in  this  point  of  view  it  is  possible  to  consider  that  architecture  evolved  as  a  historical  witness,  a  layer  of  patina  in  the  city,  as  well  as  a  tool  for  comprehension  and  rediscovery  of  the  city.  Given  they  can  be  considered  as  non-written  traces,  these  

Iconographic  documents,  which  through  the  notion  of  transcription  of  a  testimony,  install  a  double  distance  between  the  original  objet  and  its  representation.  In  fact,  there  is  the  interpretation  of  the  one  who  transcri-bed  and  the  critique  of  it  by  the  one  who  has  looked  at  it.  In  this  sense  it  gets  closer  to  the  symbol,  in  the  three  levels  of  relations  between  the  objet  and  its  representative  described  by  Nicole  Everaert-Desmedt.4  Ico-nographic  documents  may  then  match  with  the  idea  of  the  source  used  in  history,  but  as  well  in  architecture.  Indeed,  describing  the  process  of  the  architectural  project,  Olfa  Meziou  Baccour  in  “the  architectural  project  as  a  genesis  thesis,  semiotic  status  of  traces”,  explains  the  relevance  of  archives  in  architectural  project  demarche.5  In  parallel,  J.-C.  Daufresnes  shows  that  they  can  play  the  role  of  an  aid  to  memory  and  the  imaginary,  gathering  together  the  multitude  of  projects  that  have  been  drawn  for  the  Palais  des  Tuileries.6

Through  the  examples  I  have  chosen,  the  link  between  traces  and  the  original  object  is  not  a  notion  of  resemblance  or  double.  They  maintain  more  distant  relations  in  which  interpretation  is  involved.  Thus  can  we  say  that  permanence  in  architecture  is  possible,  or  rather  that  architecture  

leaves  traces.  

4  Everaert-Desmedt,  Le  processus  interprétatif5  Olfa  Meziou  Baccour, -

   [  en  ligne  ].  NAS,  2008,  N°  111.Disponible  sur  http://revues.unilim.fr/nas/document.php?id=21326  Jean-Claude  Daufresnes,  Louvre  &  Tuileries:  architectures  de  papier,  Editions  Mardaga,  1987

BILIOGRAPHY

-  Paul  Ricoeur,   ,  Paris,  Seuil,  2000,  p8-18  et  p209-230-  Pierre-Nicolas  Sainte  Fare  Garnot,  Emmanuel  Jacquin,  Le  château  des  Tuilerie,  Herscher,  1988-  Nicole  Everaert-Desmedt,  

           Liège,  Mardaga-  Aldo  Rossi,    Paris,  livre  &  communication,  1990-  Olfa  Meziou  Baccour,

   [  en  ligne  ].  NAS,  2008,  N°  111.Disponible  sur  http://revues.unilim.fr/nas/document.php?id=2132  -  Jean-Claude  Daufresnes,Editions  Mardaga,  1987

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What  is  behind  Cedric  Price  and  Joan  Littlewood’s  notion  of  the  epheme-

Ephemeral  architecture  revolutionizes  our  perception  of  space,  time  and  

able  to  adapt  to  the  changing  needs  of  our  society.  When  societies  grow,  the  value  of  space  increases.  As  a  consequence,  society  requires  a  more  

ideas  started  a  series  of  projects  such  as  the  Fun  Palace  designed  by  Cedric  Price  and  Joan  Littlewoods.  Even  if  it  was  never  realized,  the  Fun  

and  21st  centuries.  This  experimental  project  changes  dramatically  our  

For  that  purpose,  I  will  study  the  Fun  Palace,  an  emblematic  case  of  ephemeral  architecture,  to  see  if  it  achieved  the  objective  of  its  author.  By  looking  at  this  case  study,  I  will  also  review  and  critique  some  of  Price’s  

-

FUN  PALACE  AND  EPHEMERAL  ARCHITECTURENhaila  CHIN  FOO

lity  of  architecture  comes  from  the  aesthetic.

  The  Fun  Palace  was  born  of  a  collaborative  work  between  the  theatre  director  Joan  Littlewood  and  the  architect  Cedric  Price  in  the  

a  reaction  to  traditional  theatre  in  England.  She  argued  that  traditional  theater  was  no  longer  adapted  to  society.  Therefore,  she  did  everything  to  break  the  formalism  of  theater  and  reinsert  entertainment  into  everyday  life.  She  wanted  to  set  up  a  new  kind  of  art  center,  a  place  where  people  could  come  and  practice  different  activities;  a  place  where  people  could  dance,  sing,  watch  a  play,  read;  a  place  where  people  would  have  the  option  of  being  active  or  could  just  looking  at  other  people  doing  those  activities.  Another  concern  that  Littlewood  held  was  regarding  the  British  educatio-nal  system.  According  to  her,  the  educational  system  at  that  time  was  not  appropriate  to  society  anymore.  She  said  that  it  was  too  elitist  and  also  too  traditional.  Her  idea  was  to  develop  an  exploratory  aspect  of  educa-tion,  emancipate  and  democratize  it  by  abolishing  boundaries  between  education,  work-time  and  leisure.  While  Littlewood  had  all  these  radical  

her  ideas.  Her  meeting  with  Cedric  Price  was  crucial  to  the  concretiza-tion  of  her  plans.  In  fact,  Price  accepted  to  help  her  to  develop  a  sort  of  experimental  social  project  that  will  revolutionize  people’s  perception  of  the  environment.  This  is  how  the  Fun  Palace  was  created.  What  Price  did  was  to  translate  Littlewood’s  ideas  into  spaces,  into  a  building.  But,  theoretically,  what  does  it  mean  for  architecture?  

  It  is  simply  revolutionary  for  the  theories  of  architecture.  The  fusion  of  ideas  between  Price  and  Littlewood  showed  a  new  relationship  between  the  architect  and  a  work  of  art.  The  classical  scheme  of  the  construction  of  a  building  was  somewhat  inverted.  Here,  the  architect  is  just  an  employee  who  works  to  make  possible  the  realization  of  social  project  with  other  employees.

To  implement  a  project  like  the  Fun  Palace,  Price  and  Littlewood  had  to  deal  with  the  ephemeral  aspect  of  their  program.  According  to  them,  it  is  impossible  to  create  a  building  that  lasts  forever  because  the  needs  of  society  evolve  over  time,  therefore  programs  needs  to  change  too  to  be  able  to  respond  to  those  needs.  The  shape  of  a  building  should  not  

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-titude  of  different  programs  over  time.  It  would  be  non-permanent,  easy  to  dismantle,  move  and  reassemble.  In  other  words,  the  architect  does  not  create  a  project  that  is  spatially  or  temporally  frozen.  The  Fun  Palace  

The  interesting  thing  here  is  to  see  how  the  architect  shapes  a  building  

depends  on  the  program  it  contains.  

According  to  Price  and  Littlewood,  it  is  possible  to  create  a  building  with  

the  space  in  several  possible  ways.  It  will  give  the  users  a  skeletal  fra-mework  within  which  they  can  practice  the  activities  of  their  choice.  They  can  thus  shape  their  environment  according  to  their  needs.  The  architect  

exterior  spaces  and  the  general  form  of  the  building:  services,  activities,  frequency  of  use,  thermal  comfort,  acoustic  and  light  among  others.  For  example,  a  library  doesn’t  require  the  same  acoustic  qualities  or  lighting  as  a  theater.  A  library  would  need  a  certain  calm  while  a  restaurant  would  be  noisier.  That  is  why  they  don’t  have  the  shape,  size  and  don’t  use  the  same  material.  Therefore  is  it  really  true  that  the  more  functions  your  buil-

  I  think  that  the  opposite  effect  will  happen.  By  trying  to  adapt  to  many  different  functions,  the  Fun  Palace  is  not  adapted  to  any  of  them.  

does  not  develop  spatial  qualities  in  which  each  program  could  happen.  We  will  look  at  some  examples.  The  metal  structure  that  Price  proposes  

parts  of  the  building  like  the  plans,  walls  and  stairs.  Cranes  will  be  used  to  move  the  different  elements  and  the  users  will  control  the  cranes.  The  critique  made  by  Newby  is  that,  1)  the  cranes  that  move  elements  around  take  too  much  space  and  2)  that  vertical  circulation  like  cranes  as  well  as  

-

lity  of  the  building  is  nothing  like  Price  pretends  that  it  is.

We  note  that  Price  rejects  any  aesthetic  elements  in  the  Fun  Palace  buil-ding.  The  building  has  neither  a  door,  nor  a  façade  or  any  sign  of  orna-mentation.  Only  the  metal  structure  appears  and  leaves  visible  air  condi-tioners,  vents,  etc.  By  refusing  ornament,  Cedric  Price  doesn’t  put  its  personality  into  the  building.  However,  this  refusal  of  ornamentation  is  still  an  aesthetic:  an  industrial  aesthetic.  In  a  way,  it  also  seems  to  be  Price’s  intention  not  to  highlight  his  personality  in  the  building.  In  fact,  According  to  Isosaki,  Price  rejects  “all  that  is  designed”  and  instead  assembles  common  industrial  elements.  Therefore,  by  being  as  neutral  as  possible,  

    I  looked  at  the  context  of  the  emergence  of  the  Fun  Palace  with  the  objective  to  understand  what  was  behind  Price’s  notion  of  ephemeral  architecture.  By  following  Price’s  logic  and  trying  to  apply  his  theory  to  the  real  word,  I  tried  to  show  that  Price’s  theory  had  both  good  and  bad  points.  

reduces  it.While  an  industrial  aesthetic  -  absence  of  ornamentation  –  prevents  the  

the  building.  In  addition,  if  we  look  at  the  remnants  of  the  industrial  age,  we’ll  see  that  rehabilitated  abandoned  factories  are  a  good  example  that  

36 37

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arata  Isozaki,   ,  in  Re  :CP  by  Cedric  Price  Ed.  Hans  Obrist  (with  contributions  by  Arata  Isozaki,  Patrick  Keiller  and  Rem  Koolhaas)  2006

Hans  Ulrich  Obrist,   by  Cedric  Price  Ed.  Hans  Obrist  (with  contributions  by  Arata  Isozaki,  Patrick  Keiller  and  Rem  Koolhaas)  2006

Stanley  Mathwes    in  From  Agit-          Prop  to  Free  Space  :  The  Architecture  of  Cedric  Price,  

Ed.Black  Dog  Pub.,  2007

Stanley  Mathews   »,  in  From  Agit-Prop  to  Free  Space  :  The  Architecture  of  Cedric  Price,  Ed.Black  Dog  Pub.,  2007

CAN  MUSIC  INFLUENCE  THE  PERCEPTION  OF  SPACE?Younes  EL  HAYANI

Perception,  in  architecture,  is  the  vector  of  an  immaterial  ephemerality.  

detection  of  the  stable  permanent  framework  of  the  environment.1

Merleau-Ponty  showed  us  that  to  rediscover  the  world  of  perceptions,  one  has  to  analyze  the  role  senses  play  in  the  formation  of  knowledge.2  And  as  Mikel  Dufrenne  wrote,  art  is  the  apotheosis  of  the  sensuous  in  the  way  that  it  contains  the  other  aspects  of  the  aesthetic  object  experience  

3  The  relation  between  the  subject  (auditor)  and  the  aesthetic  object  (piece  of  music)  becomes  inter-subjective4  and  the  experience  of  the  subject  becomes  a  synthesis  between  passion  and  rationality,  emotion  and  understanding,  and  body  and  spirit.5

These  statements  about  perception  of  space  and  art  help  to  understand  1  Gibson,  James  J.  “The  Senses  Considered  as  Perceptual  Systems”.  Boston:  Hough-

2  Merleau-Ponty,  Maurice.  “The  World  of  Perception”.  London  and  New  York:  Routledge,  2004.  p.  95.,  Used  by  MACEDO  (6)3  Dufrenne,  Mikel.  “ ”:  Northwes-tern  University  Press,  1973,  p.  11.,  Used  by  MACEDO  (6)4Ferrara,  Lawrence.  “ ”.  The  Musical  Quar-terly.  Volume  LXX.  No.  3.  New  York:  Schirmer,  1984.,  Used  by  MACEDO  (6)5  Ferrara,  Lawrence.  “Form,  and  Reference”.  Westport,  CT:  Greenwood  Press,  1991.,  Used  by  MACEDO  (6)

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what  we  are  going  to  focus  on,  which  is  the  aural  perception  of  spatiality,  

on  the  sound  (diffraction,  acoustic  shadows,  echoes  and  reverberation),  

sound.6

concept  of  musical  space,  then  link  it  with  sounds’  spatiality.  But  to  

concepts.

In  order  to  make  the  concept  of  musical  space  clearer,  Frederico  Macedo  gives  four  senses  of  it.7  First,  he  talks  about  musical  space  as  a  meta-phor,  used  to  describe  different  aspects  of  music  like  structure  or  rhythm  that  can  be  “high”  or  “low”.  The  second  sense  is  the  performance  space,  which  describes  effects  of  the  built  environment  on  sound.  Ancient  buildings,  like  the  St  Peter’s  Basilica  in  Rome  has  special  sound  phenomenon  that  are  simple  conse-quences  of  the  geometry  of  the  space.  Indeed,  the  whispering  gallery,  at  the  base  of  its  dome,  provides  an  effect  allowing  people  to  speak  very  softly  against  its  wall  and  be  heard  35  meters  away.8  But  many  buildings  

better.  The  third  musical  space  concerns  sound  spatiality,  which  we  are  going  to  focus  on.  The  fourth  sense  of  musical  space  is  the  soundscape.  

a  city  soundscape.Musical  space  as  sound  spatiality  is  “any  kind  of  music  in  which  the  sound  sources  are  dispersed  throughout  the  performance  space.”9  When  it  is  different  from  the  traditional  front  oriented  relationship  between  spec-tators  and  the  musicians,  like  in  contemporary  music  with  some  compo-sers  (Stockhausen,  Boulez,  Xenakis)  who  place  musicians  and/or  other  sound  sources  in  a  way  that  the  sound  comes  from  different  directions.  It  can  be  an  “instrumental  spatial  music”,  with  only  instrumental  or  vocal  6  Macedo,    Frederico,  “Phenomenology,  spatial  music  and  the  composer:  prelude  to  a  phenomenology  of  space  in  electroacoustic  music”,  Proceedings  of  the  International  

7  Macedo,    Frederico,  “Phenomenology,  spatial  music  and  the  composer:  prelude  to  a  phenomenology  of  space  in  electroacoustic  music”,  Proceedings  of  the  International  

8  Grenelle,  Marc,  «  Toucher,  audition  et  odorat  en  architecture”,  Editions  Seripia,  2001,  p.609  Macedo,    Frederico,  “Phenomenology,  spatial  music  and  the  composer:  prelude  to  a  phenomenology  of  space  in  electroacoustic  music”,  Proceedings  of  the  International  

resources,  “electroacoustic  spatial  music”,  with  loudspeakers  dispersed  throughout  the  performance  place,  or  “mixed  spatial  music”,  with  both  instrumental  and  electroacoustic  sources.  Beyond  sound  sources,  their  effects  are  also  important  to  understand  their  potential  to  create  different  types  of  perception  of  space.  Stream  segregation  is  a  spatial  separation  that  allows  making  a  differentiation  between  different  sources  and  can  be  used  for  both  instrumental  and  electroacoustic  sources.  The  second  effect  is  motion  of  sound.  Using  a  multi  channel  technology,  it  can  give  an  impression  of  movement  of  the  source  whereas  it  is  actually  stationary.10  

With  the  evolution  of  technology,  some  projects  were  made,  using  these  tools,  such  as  the  Philips  Pavilion  built  at  the  Brussels  World’s  Fair  in  1958  by  Le  Corbusier  for  the  Netherland  Pavilion.  The  architecture  design  was  completely  done  by  Iannis  Xenakis,  while  Le  Corbusier  created  images  to  be  projected  on  the  curved  walls  inside  the  pavilion.  Varese  was  asked  to  write  music  to  be  played  in  it.  This  multisensory  project  was  design  based  on  “Metastasis”,  a  musical  piece  written  by  Xenakis  using  mathematical  rules  and  theories.11  He  was  indeed  inspired  by  Aristoxe-nus’  “Treaty  of  harmonics.”12

The  building  was  made  with  5  cm  concrete  curves,  without  any  column,  10Macedo,  Frederico,  “Phenomenology,  spatial  music  and  the  composer:  prelude  to  a  phenomenology  of  space  in  electroacoustic  music”,  Proceedings  of  the  International  

11  Xenakis,  Iannis,  «   -»,    Editions  Parenthèses,  2006,  p.  142-149

12  Xenakis,  Iannis,  «   -»,    Editions  Parenthèses,  2006,  p.  22

40 41

and  could  hold  500  people  inside.  The  sound  installation,  in  order  to  provide  a  completely  new  musical  spatiality  experience,  was  composed  by  400  speakers  on  the  walls  that  plays  Poèmes  electroniques,  a  piece  

created  using  music  notes.  People  were  completely  surrounded  by  these  “organized  sounds”,  wherever  they  were.13

In  the  1980’s,  Luigi  Nono,  an  Italian  music  composer,  tried  to  decompose  directions  of  sounds,  using  electroacoustic  sounds,  used  as  antimaterial  of  the  instrumental  sound.  The  result  is  a  new  perception  of  space  for  au-ditors.  Moreover  he  uses  moving  sound  in  order  to  create  an  impression  of  movement  surrounding  the  auditor.  To  create  an  exploded  spatiality,  he  uses  heterogeneous  musical  layers  so  that  one  cannot  feel  any  begin-ning,  source,  or  direction  of  the  sounds  in  space  and  time.14  He  applied  these  principles  and  researches  in  “Prometeo”,  an  opera  that  he  realized  with  Renzo  Piano  in  1982  in  the  St  Venezio  church  in  Venice.  Piano  has  

no  ceiling,  made  of  glulam,  inside  the  church,  using  the  principle  of  imbri-cations  of  both  ark  and  church  spaces  all  in  all.15  It  works  with  a  double  process:  musicians  play  in  the  ark  and  speakers  play  electroacoustic  music  outside  the  ark,  using  the  reverberation  of  the  church  walls.

Refusing  the  classical  relation  between  inside  and  outside,  social  and  private,  he  uses  a  high  tension  so  that  the  audition  is  oscillating  between  inside  and  outside  the  ark.  He  also  dissociates  different  sensorial  expe-riences  (audition  and  visual).  Sound  and  space  are  indeed  interlaced  and  space  doesn’t  have  the  function  of  reverberation  anymore,  with  its  walls,  

-

16

We  have  seen  that  musical  experience  in  space  is  more  and  more  com-13  Xenakis,  Iannis,  «   -

 »,    Editions  Parenthèses,  2006,  p.  154-17814  Dautrey,  Jehanne,  Article  «  Une  hétérotopie  musicale:  la  collaboration  entre  Renzo  Piano  et  Luigi  Nono  sur  Prometeo  »,  «  Musique,  architecture  »,  Rue  Descartes,  2007,  p.13-15    15  Feher,  Etienne  Article  «   »,  «  Musique,  architecture  »,  Rue  Descartes,  2007,  p.3316  Dautrey,  Jehanne,  Article  «  Une  hétérotopie  musicale:  la  collaboration  entre  Renzo  Piano  et  Luigi  Nono  sur  Prometeo  »,  «  Musique,  architecture  »,  Rue  Descartes,  2007,  p.16-18

-vances.  Indeed,  Xenakis  said  that  the  future  of  listening  to  music  is  in  the  progress  of  modern  technology.17  For  example,  in  1996,  the  Hypersonic  Sound  System  (HSS)  was  invented,  allowing  to  remotely  chose  direc-tion  of  sound.  Controlling  the  sound  waves,  one  can  project  music  to  a  

this  kind  of  innovation  will  be  able  to  make  perception  of  space  by  music  progress.18  These  new  ways  to  create  sound  spaces  will  help  architec-ture  to  integrate  it  in  the  built  environment  in  order  to  produce  invisible  soundscape  ambiances,  space  separations,  or  even  music  immersion,  in  controlled  and  ephemeral  ways.

17  Xenakis,  Iannis,  «   -»,    Editions  Parenthèses,  2006,  p.  24

18  Norris,  Woody,  TED  talk:  http://www.ted.com/talks/woody_norris_invents_amazing_things.html

42 43

BIBLIOGRAPHY

DAUTREY,  Jehanne,  Article-

 Rue  Descartes,  2007,  p.13-18

FEHER,  Etienne,  Article   -,  Rue  Descartes,  2007,  p.33

GRENELLE,  Marc,    Edi-tions  Seripia,  2001,  p.60

MACEDO,  Frederico,  “Phenomenology,  spatial  music  and  the  compo-ser:  prelude  to  a  phenomenology  of  space  in  electroacoustic  music”,  Proceedings  of  the  International  Computer  Music  Conference  2011,  

XENAKIS,  Iannis,  «,    Editions  Parenthèses,  2006,  p.  22-24,  142-178

Video:

NORRIS,  Woody,  TED  talk:  http://www.ted.com/talks/woody_norris_in-vents_amazing_things.html

THE  RESISTANT  EPHEMERALPaula  JURAK

in  the  future  of  architecture  such  as  in  the  façade  of  ‘cloud  9’s  media-tic  on  the  22@barcelona  project?

Membrane  structures  date  back  to  early  nomadic  people  (North  Ameri-cans,  North  Africans  or  East  Asians)  requiring  shelter  that  was  lightweight,  portable  and  structurally  strong  enough  to  stand  climatical  extremes  such  as  sand  storms  or  monsoons.

Today,  the  applications  and  capabilities  of  membrane  structures,  espe-

structures  replace  durable  constructions  in  the  future  of  architecture?

One  of  the  most  important  people  for  the  development  of  membrane  constructions  was  Walter  Bird.  In  1955,  he  founded  his  own  company  Birdair,  specialized  in  such  structures.  Later,  in  the  1960s,  experimen-

44 45

ting  on  materials  for  space  travel,  NASA  invented  a  strong,  lightweight,  1  Not  only  its  high  resistance  

-cial  project,  a  membrane  roof  construction  for  the  University  of  La  Verne  in  California,  that  is  still  in  use  today.  From  then  on,  the  extensive  use  

capacities  and  inventions  of  materials,  institutional  facilities  like  museums,  stadiums  or,  for  instance,  retail  centers.

According  to  Sir  Michael  Hopkins  ‘’increasingly  we  are  exploring  highly--

sure,  light  and  thermal  transmittance  are  combined  in  a  single  element.  2

Currently,  such  membrane  constructions  are  relating  to  new  digital  production  process  methodologies,  such  as  3D  modelling  and  numeric  

-gible,  membrane  structures  can  span  great  horizontal  distances  and  faci-litate  the  creation  of  dynamic  forms.  Such  complex  construction  methods  

to  implement  afterwards.  Even  though  membrane  structures  depend  on  a  primary  support  structure  made  of  steel  and/or  cables,  the  essential  interaction  with  this  support  structure,  makes  it  possible  to  create  minimal  surfaces  that  enable  an  economic  use  of  the  material.

Corresponding  to  both  new  technological  and  environmental  require-ments,  Enric  Ruiz  Geli  (cloud  9)  designed  the  so-called  Media-Tic  building  as  a  socially  open  civic  space,  set  up  in  the  southern  part  of  Barcelona,  El  Poblenou.  The  district,  known  as  22@Barcelona,  is  situated  next  to  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  where  buildings,  organized  in  clusters,  are  clas-

design.3

1

 NASA  Spinoff,  accessed  November  5,  2012.  http://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2009/ip_2.html2  Tensile  membrane  Structures’,  Birdair,  MakMax  –  maximizing  membrane,  accessed  November  6,  2012.  http://dc391.4shared.com/doc/NnH6ZHqj/preview.html3  ‘Media-TIC  /  Enric  Ruiz  Geli’,  Arch  daily  selected  works,  accessed  November  3,  2012.  http://www.archdaily.com/49150/media-tic-enric-ruiz-geli/

For  more  than  ten  years,  around  14.000m2  of  industrial  ground  of  Spain’s  second  largest  city  are  in  a  constant  state  of  reorganisation.  The  urban  initiative  pursues  an  improvement  of  the  social  and  economic  situation  by  shared  utilisations,  new  buildings  and  landscaping,  with  the  aim  of  increased  amenity  values.

According  to  its  name,  the  Media-TIC  itself  combines  the  range  of  media  with  technologies  of  information  and  communication,  like  an  ‘’icon  in  the  digital  world  and  a  vehicle  for  the  dissemination  of  new  technologies’‘.4  On  its  eight  levels  comprising  23.104m2  of  utilisable  space,  the  building  offers  space  for  companies,  educational  research  and  training  as  well  as  a  restaurant  and  an  auditorium.  Enric  Ruiz  Geli,  well  known  for  his  intel-ligent,  prototype-like  architecture,  tried  to  realize  ecological  and  energy  

the  temperature  and  the  natural  lightening  of  the  interior,  the  most  sun-

5

The  North-South  façade  is  composed  of  tessellated,  convex  and  concave  -

brane  structure  designed  for  high  corrosion  resistance  and  strength  over  a  wide  temperature  range.  Not  only  its  remarkable  material  capacities,  such  as  its  high  melting  temperature,  its  excellent  chemical,  electrical  and  high  energy  radiation  resistance  properties,  but  also  its  climatic  and  heat  isolation  as  well  as  the  proof  and  absorption  of  sound  justify  the  physical  use  of  ETFE  membranes  as  durable  constructions.Being  attached  on  the  steel  framed  cubic  assembly  of  the  Media-TIC,  

4  ‘ ’,  22@Barcelona,  accessed  November  5,  2012.  http://www.22barcelona.com/content/view/41/427/lang,en/5  Ibid.

46 47

building,  by  independent  pneumatic  mechanisms  controlling  the  permea-bility  of  UV  light  from  the  middle  to  the  external  or  internal  membrane.  De-pending  on  the  momental  solar  irradiation,  these  so-called  ‘luxor’  sensors  

Whereas  parts  of  the  steel  assembly  stay  visible  on  the  South-East  fa-

Apart  from  the  Media-TIC  building,  established  in  2010,  there  is  already  a  numerous  range  of  similar  projects  to  mention.  The  Beijing  National  Aquatics  Center  (2008),  for  instance,  or  the  famed  Eden  Garden  project  of  2001  by  Grimshaw  Architects.

trampolines,  designed  by  AZC  Architecture  Studio.

Space  as  shell  –  space  as  membrane.  ‘’Architecture,  evolving  on  a  broad  working  basis,  relates  to  the  human  body  more  directly  than  ever,  as  a  

-vironment;  from  being  the  handmaid  of  the  technical  arts,  it  has  become  

thank  it  for  a  new  sphere  of  activity  that  expands  its  previous  technical  and  intellectual  boundaries.’’  Siegfried  Eberling6    Already  in  1926,  when  Siegfried  Eberling,  studying  at  the  University  of  

vision  of  architecture.  In  his  manifesto,  he  describes  space  as  a  ‘material  extension  of  the  human  skin’,  an  ‘epidermic  space’  or  ‘building  skin’,  that,  as  a  result  of  connection  and  combination,  creates  a  ‘global  mem-brane’.  Even  today  there  is  a  string  of  projects  in  which  contemporary  artists  work  on  this  topic.  One  of  them  is  a  very  recent  installation  ‘On  Space  Time  Foam’  by  Tomás  Saraceno,  Argentinian  artist  and  architect.  Opening  his  exhibition  in  October  2012  in  Milan,  Saraceno  creates  a  multidimensional,  air  supported  membrane  structure.  The  construction  

be  discovered  by  the  visitors  like  a  parallel  universe.7

6  Ebeling,  Siegfried,   ed.  Spyros  Papapetros,  transl.  Johnston,  Pamela  (Belgium:  AA  Publications,  2010),  Orig.    publ.  Duennhaupt,  C.  (Dessau:  1926)7  ‘Tomás  Saraceno  –  On  Space  Time  Foam’,  HangarBicocca  Milan,  accessed  October  30,  2012.  http://www.hangarbicocca.org/exhibitions/On-Space-Time-Foam-Tomas-Sara-ceno/

48 49

-port  structure.  But  regarding  the  constant  improvement  and  development  

-ring  durable  objectives.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

books:Seidel,  Michael,  Tensile  Surface  Structures  –  a  practical  guide  to  cable  and  membrane  construction  (Berlin,  Germany:  Ernst&Sohn  Verlag,  2009).

Teyssot,  Georges,    in  ed.  Reto  Geiser,  Explo-rations  in  Architecture  (Switzerland:  Birkhäuser  Verlag,  2008),  166-175.

Ebeling,  Siegfried,  ed.  Spyros  Papapetros,  transl.  Johnston,  Pamela  (Belgium:  AA  Publications,  2010),  Orig.    publ.  Duenn-haupt,  C.  (Dessau:  1926)

Charre,  Alain, ,  Paris:  Archibooks  +  Sautereau  Éditeur,  2012)

ed.  Ishii,  Kazuo, ,  transl.  Watanabe,  Hiroshi  and  Miyachi,  Koki  (Japan:  Shinkenchiku-sha,  )

articles:Mialet,  Frédéric,  „ “  in  amc  –  le  moniteur  architecture  (May  2011)  no.  197,  72-76

Webb,  Michael,  ‘The  Breathing  Building’  in  AZURE  (Sept.  2011)  vol.  27,  no.  210,  44-45

‘  (photographs  and  plans)  in  ARKINKA  (Dec.  2011)  vol.  15,  no.  193,  

48-55

websites:  Arch  daily  selected  works,  accessed  No-

vember  3,  2012.  http://www.archdaily.com/49150/media-tic-enric-ruiz-geli/

,  P.A.T.I.  S.p.A.  -  thermoplastic  

50 51

,  22@Barcelona,  accessed  November  5,  2012.  http://www.22barcelona.com/content/view/41/427/lang,en/

‘Tomás  Saraceno  –  On  Space  Time  Foam’,  HangarBicocca  Milan,  accessed  October  30,  2012.  http://www.hangarbicocca.org/exhibitions/On-Space-Time-Foam-Tomas-Saraceno/

 -  Originating  Technology/NASA  Contribution’  NASA  Spinoff,  accessed  November  5,  2012.  http://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2009/ip_2.html

 Birdair,  MakMax  –  maximizing  mem-brane,  accessed  November  6,  2012.  http://dc391.4shared.com/doc/NnH6ZHqj/preview.html

pictures:‘ ’,  Mei-guoxing.com,  Your  Ultimate  Guide  to  Beijing,  China,  accessed  November  3,  2012.  http://www.meiguoxing.com/images/National_Aquatics_Cen-ter_at_night.jpg

‘asz  bridge  in  paris’,  yes  future  france,  accessed  November  5,  2012.  http://yesfuture.fr/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/azc-bridge-in-paris-1.jpg

THE  ILLUSIONAL  PRESENCE  OF  WOOD  IN  BRUDER  KLAUSOlivia  KEMPF

  “The  wood  grows  wings”1,  Peter  Zumthor  pronounces  as  a  closing  statement  after  receiving  the  Spirit  of  Nature  Wood  Architecture  Award  in  2006.  Perhaps  this  muted  thought  took  root  and  grew  into  a  

chapel  for  a  German  farming  town  in  2007.    In  this  work  Zumthor  em-phasizes  process  as  essential,  from  inception  to  destruction,  focusing  on  human  perceptive  senses.  The  literal  construction  process  of  Zumthor’s  Bruder  Klaus  Field  Chapel  fabricates  metaphorical  purpose  for  wood.The  chapel  takes  the  negative  form  of  112  tree  trunks  propped  together.  Twenty-four  layers  of  rammed  concrete  were  poured  around  the  tree  fra-mework,  which  were  ignited  and  left  to  burn  slowly  for  three  weeks.2  For  Zumthor,  the  void  is  the  difference  between  architecture  and  art.  Architec-ture  has  constraints  because  it  must  be  inhabited  and  used.3The  interior  becomes  architecture  through  the  construction  process,  a  place  for  the  individual  to  join  the  collective.  Wood,  as  structure,  becomes  architecture.    

1  Peter  Zumthor.  “  (2006),  13.  2  John  Armitage  &  Adam  Sharr,  “Slipstream,”  (2011),  46.3  Peter  Zumthor.  “ ,”  (2008),  69.

52 53

Zumthor  views  material  as  something  given  purpose  from  form.  The  void  is  the  space  to  be  occupied,  but  also  the  primary  void  for  light  to  enter,  throwing  the  texture  of  the  scorched  walls  into  relief.   Capturing  light  becomes  the  wood’s  vocation,  the  presence  of  light  proportionate  to  the  wood’s  absence.  This  resonates  strongly  with  

sought  to  bring  them  from  darkness  to  light.4The  light  above  emphasizes  a  sheer  verticality,  while  the  pinpoints  of  light  along  the  scarred  walls  hold  

light,  this  chapel  seems  to  have  its  own  temperature;  one’s  psyche  per-ceives  visible  warmth  radiating  from  the  long-since  extinguished  walls  yet  physically  cold  because  of  its  open  roof.  This  is  Zumthor  drawing  our  at-tention  to  how  wood  has  the  capacity  to  interact  with  the  temperature  of  bodies,  drawing  in  heat  to  create  a  space  independent  from  the  exterior.  5Fire,  usually  seen  as  a  destructor  to  the  carefully  built  world,  fosters  an  

and  create  fertile  soil,  this  construction  was  rid  of  its  “primitive”  structure  to  make  way  for  a  modern  concrete  version  of  itself.6

4  John  Armitage  &  Adam  Sharr,  “Slipstream,”  (2011),  50.5  Peter  Zumthor.  “ ,”  (2008),  33.6  Joanita  Goei.  “ ”  (Nov  2012),  53.

  On  the  subject  of  materiality,  Zumthor  observes  that  materials  are  not  inherently  poetic  but  rather  have  a  language  that  can  be  formed  into  a  conversation.  As  an  architect,  he  has  compared  his  work  to  that  of  a  composer  of  music,  with  plans  and  diagrams  holding  the  same  rigid  literality  as  sheet  music,  and  physical  architecture  being  a  sensual  oc-currence,  just  as  music  must  be  heard  to  be  experienced.7  His  choices  

at  the  same  time  to  expose  the  very  essence  of  these  materials  which  is  beyond  all  culturally  conveyed  meaning.”8  In  this  way,  wood  is  not  so-mething  venerated  as  an  object,  but  merely  a  medium  given  purpose  and  

--

rything  is  only  inside  mankind;  a  logical  interaction  between  living  beings  and  existing  things.9

understanding  and  the  singular  instance  where  he  allows  the  wood  to  control  the  design.  Raised  in  a  carpenter  family,  he  has  an  extensive  body  of  knowledge  of  wood  and  uses  it  carefully  in  his  projects  to  remind  users  of  its  inherent  and  natural  qualities.  Because  the  allegorical  logs  in  Bruder  

  The  biomorphic  process  of  the  Bruder  Klaus  Chapel  has  not  

of  decay.  In  its  lifespan,  decay  began  early  and  at  a  greatly  exaggerated  with  the  burning,  and  it  continues  to  change  at  an  exponentially  slower  

7Mikesch  Muecke  &  Miriam  Zach.  “ -ture,”  (2007),  262.8  Friedrich  Achleitner,  Peter  Zumthor,  &  Hiroshi  Nakao.  “Peter  Zumthor,”  Architecture+Urbanism,  (1998),  8.9  Peter  Zumthor.  “ ,”  (2008),  23.

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human  feet,  and  the  burnt  smell  is  fading  from  the  walls.  This  is  the  kind  of  beauty  that  occurs  by  circumstance,  much  like  the  form  created  from  the  original  logs.10  Rachel  Whiteread,  an  artist  who  has  surveyed  negative  space  by  pouring  concrete  into  everyday  items  and  spaces,  

Fiona  Bradly  attempts  to  clarify  Whiteread’s  goals.  She  observes  that  -

drobe.  The  destruction  of  this  space,  of  course,  is  what  gives  us  back  the  wardrobe,  both  formally-  the  sculpture  looks  like  a  wardrobe-  and  conceptually-  wardrobes  exist  in  order  to  give  us  the  space  inside  them,  the  space  trapped  by  the  sculpture.”11  The  Field  Chapel  similarly  respects  the  unobstructed  form  of  an  object,  using  destruction  to  explore  occu-pied  space.  The  difference  is  the  lack  of  process  of  Whiteread’s  work.  For  Zumthor,  this  is  not  architecture,  and  he  marks  the  difference  by  genera-ting  space  through  material.

by  its  nonexistence,  capturing  the  unmistakable  process  of  construction.  Solid  wood  symbolically  gives  way  to  light,  a  reminder  of  the  purifying  yet  

of  sound,  smell,  and  temperature  unite  to  remind  habitants  of  the  most  glaringly  absent  material.  The  logs  are  given  meaning  only  through  these  conscious  applications.  As  other  change  is  brought  to  the  chapel  by  the  constant  of  time,  the  space  will  take  a  new  meaning,  folding  into  its  landscape  as  its  materiality  crumbles.  Time  here  is  the  constant,  percep-tion  the  application.  Wood  is  merely  prone  to  these  forces,  given  wings  by  that  which  moves  us.  Beyond  this,  the  building  is  nothing  more  than  a  stinking  pile  of  burnt  ruin.

10  John  Armitage  &  Adam  Sharr,  “Slipstream,”  (2011),  53-60.11  Wendy  Steiner.  “ ,”  (2001),  233-234.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Friedrich  Achleitner,  Peter  Zumthor,  &  Hiroshi  Nakao,  “Peter  Zumthor,”  Architecture+Urbanism  (1998):  8.

Clemence,  Peter.  “  Architizer.  N.p.,  n.d.  Web.  6  Nov.  2012.  <http:/   www.architizer.com/en_us/blog/dyn/5878/chapel-for-mystics-bruder-klaus/#   UJou3Y45Xao>.  

Joanita  Goei,  “ -ture,”  (PhD  diss.,  Victoria  University  of  Wellington,  2012),  53.

Mikesch  Muecke  &  Miriam  Zach,  and  Architecture  (Ames:  Culicidae  Architectural,  2007),  262.

John  Armitage  &  Adam  Sharr,   -tecture  of  Slipstream  (London:  Polity,  2011),  46-60.

Wendy  Steiner,  Century  Art  (Chicago:  University  of  Chicago,  2001),  233-234.  

Peter  Zumthor, (Basel:  Birkhäuser  Verlag  AG,  2008),  23-69.

Peter  Zumthor,  Zumthor  Spirit  of  Nature  Wood  Architecture  Award    (Helsinki:  Wood  in  Culture  Association,  2006),  13.

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HOW  DO  EPHEMERAL  AND  TRANSCENDENTAL  QUALITIES  OF  LIGHT  ALTER  AN  ARCHITECTURAL  SPACEGenevieve  GRIFFIN-GEORGE

How  do  the  effects  of  light  and  shadows  on  Le  Corbusier’s  Ronchamp  cathedral  create  a  sensation  of  ephemeralness?

world  is  determined  by  light.  Light,  or  absence  of  light  transforms  a  space  and  our  perception  of  space.  It  is  dependents  on  time.  

Le  Corbusier  went  as  far  as  to  say  that  “architecture  is  the  wise,  correct  

“Light  and  shadow  reveal  form.”  (Eiler  Rasmussen  2000)1  

Depending  on  how  light  is  used  it  can  transform  the  spatial  content  and  context  of  a  space.  Light  has  the  ability  to  create  an  atmosphere  and  to  change  a  space  from  being  pleasant  to  unpleasant,  happy  or  sad,  mo-ving  or  ambiguous.  Light  and  shadow  play  with  scale  and  our  perception  of  shapes.  Our  perception  can  be  skewed  by  light.  What  we  believe  we  

1  Eiler  Rasmussen,  Steen.    .  Cambridge:  2000.

may  be  seeing  may  not  exist.

In  1950  the  Arch-bishop  of  Besancon  commissioned  Le  Corbusier  to  rebuilt  the  chapel  of  Ronchamp.  Le  Corbusier’s  Chapel  of  Notre  Dame  du  Haut,  is  sited  on  the  top  of  a  hill  overlooking  the  small  village  of  Ron-champ.  This  site  has  enjoyed  a  symbolic  role  for  centuries  and  is  now  a  centre  of  pilgrimage  not  only  for  Christians  but  for  architects.    

In  the  Chapel  at  Ronchamp  Le  Corbusier  has  created  a  space  that  evokes  a  spiritual  emotion  through  the  relationship  of  form,  space  and  light,  without  using  any  obvious  church  typology.  Le  Corbusier  was  not  a  religious  man  himself  yet  he  alluded  to  the  spiri-tuality  in  art  through  his  use  of  such  phrases  as  “l’espace  indicible”.  He  was  in  search  of  a  cosmic  dimension  in  touch  with  the  visible  and  the  invisible  forces  of  nature,  especially  through  the  medium  of  light.  

The  interior  of  the  Chapel  can  be  likened  to  a  maternal  place,  offering  warmth,  silence  and  peace.  He  wanted  the  space  to  be  meditative  and  

-ment  of  the  chapel  and  to  intensify  the  light  entering  the  space.  The  

towards  the  alter  and  the  benches  are  angled  away  from  the  altar.

of  some  Gothic  churches.  The  human  eye  requires  certain  levels  of  light  to  be  able  to  see  clearly.  It  takes  time  for  the  eye  to  adjust  to  altered  light  levels  and  Le  Corbusier  has  taken  full  advantage  of  this  knowledge  and  used  it  to  great  effect.  The  lack  of  light,  or  presence  of  darkness  empha-sises  the  drama  of  light  that  appears  as  the  eyes  adjust  and  accentuates  the  mystic  light  and  the  sacredness  of  the  space.  As  the  light  enters  the  chapel  it  defuses  giving  a  washed  out,  ethereal  atmosphere.    The  use  of  light  in  this  manner  effects  and  alters  the  atmosphere  and  mood  of  the  space  heightening  the  spiritual  and  emotional  sensation  evoked  within  the  space  and  placing  the  space  in  tune  with  its  religious  purpose.

The  irregular  windows  are  scattered  over  the  walls  of  the  chapel.  (See  Figure  1)

58 59

Figure  1

They  are  tapering  into  the  wall  cavity  at  different  angles.  Light  is  refracted  at  different  angles  through  clear  and  coloured  glass  and  fades  gently  to  within  the  chapel  providing  warmth  and  life.  (See  Figure  2.)

Behind  the  altar,  small  puncture  hole-like  windows  create  a  speckled  light  pattern.  These  windows  create  an  intense  direct  light  which  emulates  a  starry  night  sky  or  perhaps  heaven.  

Figure  2

Le  Corbusier  placement  of  light  above  the  cross  at  the  centre  of  the  

space.  Yet  another  sourced  of  indirect  light  comes  from  the  chapel  apses.  (See  Figure  3.)  In  this  case  the  light  enters  and  is  diffused  across  the  rough  surfaces  of  the  curved  walls.  The  height  of  the  apses  and  the  type  of  light  

Figure  3

on  things,  is  so  moving  to  me  that  I  feel  almost  a  spiritual  quality.  When  

and  casts  its  light  on  things,  it  doesn’t  feel  as  if  it  quite  belongs  in  this  world.  I  don’t  understand  light.  It  gives  me  the  feeling  there’s  something  beyond  me,  something  beyond  all  understanding”)  2

lights  of  an  interrogator.  They  confuse  and  weaken  those  exposed  to  them.  Le  Corbusier  on  the  other  hand  uses  the  placement  of  light  to  en-hance  the  chapel’s  appearance  and  evoke  a  ‘godly  like’  atmosphere.“Light  is  of  decisive  importance  in  experiencing  architecture.  The  same  

2  Zumthor,  Peter,  Atmospheres.  Birkhauser,  Switzerland,  2006

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room  can  be  made  to  give  very  different  spatial  impressions  by  the  simple  expedient  of  changing  the  size  and  location  of  its  openings”3

For  Monet  the  effects  of  light  on  the  subjects  became  more  important  than  the  objects  themselves.  In  his  series  paintings  of  the  Rouen  Ca-thedral  he  paints  the  changing  character  of  the  cathedral  dependant  on  the  time  of  day,  the  year,  the  atmosphere,  and  the  weather.  He  illustrates  the  importance  of  light  in  our  perception  of  a  subject  at  a  given  time  and  place.  Even  though  Monet  paints  the  same  view  of  the  cathedral  he  vi-sually  demonstrates  the  ever-changing  and  transient  qualities  of  light  and  how  this  changes  the  atmosphere  and  mood  of  the  building.  

 “By  focusing  on  the  same  subject  through  a  whole  series  of  paintings,  Monet  was  able  to  concentrate  on  recording  visual  sensations  them-selves.  The  subjects  did  not  change,  but  the  visual  sensations  –  due  to  changing  conditions  of  light  –  changed  constantly”.4

James  Turrell  plays  with  that  idea  that  art  is  not  an  object  but  an  expe-rience  in  perception.  He  manipulates  light  rather  than  painting  or  sculp-ting  with  a  material.  He  examines  the  way  in  which  we  see  the  world  around  us.

or  affect  the  medium  of  perception.  I  feel  that  I  want  to  use  light  as  this  wonderful  and  magic  elixir  that  we  drink  as  Vitamin  D  through  the  skin—and  I  mean,  we  are  literally  light-eaters—to  then  affect  the  way  that  we  see.  We  live  within  this  reality  we  create,  and  we’re  quite  unaware  of  how  we  create  the  reality.  So  the  work  is  often  a  general  koan  into  how  we  go  about  forming  this  world  in  which  we  live,  in  particular  with  seeing.

As  light  is  every  changing  the  space  and  environment  within  the  chapel  is  never  the  same.    The  sense  of  ephemerality  is  created  by  light.  Light  is  the  protagonist  of  the  building.  Unlike  material  objects  light  and  spirituality  

of  light  within  the  chapel.The  ephemerality  of  light  and  spirituality  within  the  chapel  takes  the  viewer  into  transient  dimensions.  

3  Eiler  Rasmussen,  Steen.    .  Cambridge:  2000.4  Robert  Pelfrey,  in    1996,  Page  166

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Flora  Samuel,  Le  Corbusier  in  Detail,  New  York  Elsevier  Limited,  2007

James  Turrell:  The  Art  of  Light  and  Space,  Boston,  Craig  Adcock.

Jean-Louis  Cohen,  Le  Corbusier,  1887-1965:  The  Lyricism  of  Architec-  Germnay,  2005

Larsen,  Henning  in  Made  of  Light.  The  Art  of  Light  and  Architecture,  Boston,  MA:  Birkhäuser  Basel,  2005.

MIT,  Lived-in  Architecture.   ,  trans.  G.  Onn,  Cambridge:  MIT  Press,  1979

Nancy  Marmer,  «James  Turrell:  The  Art  of  Deception,»  Art  in  America,  May  1981

Piano,  Renzo  in  Made  of  Light.  The  Art  of  Light  and  Architecture,  Bos-ton,  MA:  Birkhäuser  Basel,  2005.

Robert  Pelfrey,  in    (Kendall/Hunt,  1996)

Turrell,  James,   ,  New  York,  NY:  Peter  Blum  Editions,  1987.

William  Curtis,  Le  Corbusier ,  NY:  Rizzoli,  1986,  p.  175.

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DYNAMICS  OF  TUAREG  KEL  FERWAN  CAMPSNatacha  LANGEVIN

-

ephemerality  represented  in  the  life  of  the  Kel  Ferwan  Tuaregs?

  The  Tuareg  are  a  nomadic  people  who  live  in  Western  Sahara.  The  Kel  Ferwan  tribe  is  situated  in  Niger.  Each  camp  among  the  tribe  is  a  group  of  people  who  live  and  move  together.  The  camp  is  constituted  of  several  families.  They  live  in  tents  that  are  transportable.  Their  mobility  shapes  their  way  of  life  and  each  camp  is  related  one  to  another  due  to  dynamic  social  rules  that  change  the  composition  of  the  camps  through  

camps?  How  is  mobility  an  ephemeral  characteristic  of  nomad  architec-ture?

The  Kel  Ferwan  tent  is  made  with  Acacia  roots  bent  into  arches.  The  ma-jor  arcs  are  oriented  into  a  north-south  axis  and  the  transverses  laths  are  attached  with  cords  to  the  principal  ones.  It  works  like  a  human  body:  the  arcs  are  the  vertebral  column;  the  transverse  laths  are  the  ribs.  The  entry  

in  the  west  is  the  head.  The  east  is  closed  and  reserved  to  prayers.  The  tent  is  covered  with  palm  matts.1  During  the  trips  the  tent  is  dismantled.  Then,  the  structural  elements  play  a  second  role:  they  are  use  to  build  the  palanquins  on  which  the  women  and  children  ride.  The  tents  become  a  moving  structure  but  their  function  stays  similar:  to  protect  the  inhabitants  from  outside  elements  like  wind,  dust  or  rain.  Their  tent  is  like  a  snail’s  shell.  

-tall  their  habitat  is  to  set  into  a  particular  place  the  bed  and  the  trestles.  Those  two  elements  are  the  symbols  of  their  home.  They  create  the  spa-tiality  of  the  tent,  before  the  structure  is  rebuilt.  The  tent  is  built  with  very  

up  and  down  very  often.  It  is  mobile  and  transportable.

Camel  saddle  in  acacia  wood

For  the  Kel  Ferwan,  the  tents  entirely  depend  on  women:  they  build  it  and  own  it.  Every  woman  obtains  a  tent  when  they  emancipate  themselves  from  their  mother  and  get  married.  The  mother  gives  some  elements  of  her  tent  to  her  daughter  so  the  line  of  descent  is  kept.2

1  p.101-102  Prussin,  Labelle  “African  Nomadic  Architecture:  Space,  place  and  gender”  Smithsonian  Institution  Press,  19952  p.40-45  Casajus,  Dominique  “Le  Campement  chez  les  Touaregs  Kel  Ferwan”    

,  Volume  32,  1981

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The  tent  is  ephemeral  because  its  existence  starts  with  the  emancipation  of  a  woman  and  ends  when  she  dies.  However  the  tent  is  sustainable  du-ring  its  lifespan:  it  shelters  the  same  woman  and  her  family.  The  tent  dies  with  its  owner  but  some  parts  are  always  passed  through  generations  and  leave  a  continuous  mark.  The  tent  is  a  symbol  of  the  longevity  of  a  family.  Even  if  they  don’t  live  in  the  same  camp  anymore  they  will  always  recognize  their  siblings  through  their  tents.

June,  the  rainy  season  begins,  it  generates  the  growth  of  grass.  They  -

veral  camps  to  cohabit  together.  In  October  the  dry  season  arrives:  the  camps  move  into  riverbeds.  In  December  the  nights  get  colder  and  the  wind  blows:  the  nomads  look  for  steep-sided  riverbeds  or  groves  to  take  shelter.  The  resources  get  scarce.  Then,  in  February  the  wind  gets  hot  

grass.  They  wait  for  the  rain:  their  life  is  much  simpler  during  this  season.3  In  all  they  move  six  or  seven  times  a  year.  When  they  come  back  to  the  same  territory  they  install  themselves  near  the  old  camp  but  not  at  the  same  place:  they  have  to  wait  until  the  last  traces  of  their  previous  pre-

and  mobility  of  the  camp.

A  camp  of  nomads  is  a  division  of  a  tribe.  It  is  established  around  a  chief.  His  camp  is  composed  of  his  sons  and  their  family,  his  children  that  are  not  yet  independent.  When  a  woman  gets  married,  she  installs  her  tent  in  her  husband’s  camp.  Divorce  is  common  among  young  couples,  so  the  tent  moves  with  her:  it  creates  a  dynamic  between  camps.  Also  when  

the  nomads  spread  and  attach  themselves  to  other  camps.  There  is  a  large  freedom  of  movement  among  this  organization  that  is  implemented  by  the  social  interactions  between  tribe  members.  Social  life  interferes  with  the  dynamism  of  the  camp  and  its  longevity.  While  the  geographical  mobility  is  permanent  and  continuous,  the  camp  is  ephemeral  and  fragile  because  the  social  life  interferes  with  its  dynamism.  People  who  have  lived  in  the  same  camp  for  years  can  be  separated  very  radically  and  might  not  see  each  other  again.  3  p.102-103  Casajus,  Dominique  “Le  Campement  chez  les  Touaregs  Kel  Ferwan”    Re-

 Volume  32,  1981

The  Tuaregs  Kel  Ferwan  have  a  particular  way  of  life  where  ephemerality  is  present  at  different  scales.  At  the  scale  of  the  tribe,  a  camp  is  a  fragile  structure  that  can  cease  to  exist  at  any  moment:  a  tribe  is  constituted  of  an  uninterrupted  movement  of  apparition  and  disappearance  of  camps.  At  the  scale  of  the  camp,  its  ephemerality  is  due  to  its  ability  to  adapt  to  geography  and  the  mobility  of  the  structures  in  which  nomads  live  in.  The  tent  is  ephemeral  because  its  transportability  enables  the  camp  to  move  and  it  has  a  short  lifespan  but  in  parallel  it  is  a  very  steady  element  that  marks  the  line  of  descent  of  people  and  the  continuous  space  in  which  they  live.

A  noble  Tuareg  woman  under  a  protective  canopy

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Prussin,  Labelle  “African  Nomadic  Architecture:  Space,  place  and  gen-der”  Smithsonian  Institution  Press,  1995

Bidault  Jacques  &  Giraud   ”    J.  Susse,  1946

Casajus,  Dominique  “Le  Campement  chez  les  Touaregs  Kel  Ferwan”    ,  Volume  32,  1981

Faegre,  Torvald  “Tents:  Architecture  of  the  Nomads”   ,  NY  Anchor  Press,  1979

Rhodes,  Geoffrey  “Tents  and  tentlife  from  the  earliest  ages  to  the  pre-sent  time”  London:  Smith,  Elder  &  Company,  1858

Cowan,  Gregory    “ -ment  and  Collaboration”  Dissertation  submitted  to  the  school  of  archi-tecture,  landscape  architecture  and  urban  design  at  the  University  of  Adelaïde  in  candidancy  for  the  degree  of  master  of  architecture,  2002  http://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/37830/1/02whole.pdf

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