Slow architecture - Future Baroque landscaping

[Photo of the Colonnade Park by Brett Milligan, via]

Slow place making in Seattle

To me, architecture is very much about making places more than spaces and technology (yes, despite this blog’s focus on architectural technology). I'd like to share a great article about a remarkable place, the Collonade Bike Park project in Seattle. A landscape developed over years in a leftover, urban space, the deeply-shaded underbelly of an elevated section of Seattle’s I-5 freeway. It is user-driven slow architecture and the authors compares its becoming with Baroque gardening that happens over centuries.

The project is the slow development of a bike park, built by volunteers and using only scrap materials collected bit by bit (or load by load). - The park has taken four years to build and is on-going.

About this ‘Future Baroque’, the authors Rob Holmes and Brett Milligan, write:

“But, as appealing as it is, the lo-fi aesthetic of these pragmatic and hand-made constructions is not the most important lesson of the Park. What Colonnade Park suggests is a re-orientation of the practice of landscape architecture away from faceless capital and towards creative and vested labor; away from design elitism and towards the participation of the users of a landscape in its construction; and away from standardization and mechanization towards difference, variability and the instantiated volition of the individual laborer.”

[Photo of the Colonnade Park by Brett Milligan, via]

As examples of aspects for a successful future baroque (user-involved) project, the authors name three factors that made the Bike Project possible:

• Someone had to recognize the latent potential of those couple of abandoned acres beneath I-5. In this case, that someone was a local bike shop owner and used the place anyway, sheltered from the Seattle weather.
• The site had no commercial value - in fact, the shadowed space was considered a safety hazard by the future park’s neighbors. The mere increase in safety for the neighbors was thus considered a benefit and aided the project to come through.
• The volunteers were specialists: the volunteers are experienced bikers who wanted to ride in the future park themselves. They possessed an innate and specific understanding of the physical geometry of the future uses of the park.

[Photo of the Colonnade Park by Brett Milligan, via]

Baroque fabric-formed architecture

I constantly deal with a paradox when discussing the future of fabric formwork for concrete. On one hand, the craftsmanship involved in the process of construction is what shows as the direct relation between principles, techniques, and material, on the other hand, this slow and low-tech architecture is simply too exclusive in its slowness and thus too expensive for conventional and industrialized construction, at least in the context of Northern Europe’s high cost labor. The issue of scale and time is at stake.
 


Meanwhile there are important and parallel investigations in construction, making things happening using community labor as well as scrap materials. In our reality in which raw materials are becoming scarce, dealing with waste is becoming gold - the economy of recycled or reused material is immense and, at least in the Bike Park project, its pragmatic aesthetics is wonderful on a number of levels because it is so closely connected to its place-making abilities and the result of something more.

As the article suggests: "the labor of knowledgeable and motivated ecological hobbyists could transform gardening from an individualistic and primarily ornamental practice into a communal effort, cultivating whole and diversified cities. Labor, which like the volunteer labor that built Colonnade Park, is uniquely motivated, local, and capable of imbuing its work with creative intent, falls outside the typical boundaries of landscape architecture as ‘professionally practiced’. And as these vested pools of labor fuse user, designer and builder they are more invested and broadly knowledgeable of its future use and how it will be occupied than the wage laborers of capital projects, opening diverse realms of possibility for the design of urban landscapes." via

[By the way, Yay – this is my blogpost number 100]

Formwork tectonics - to round a square column

[2-meter high fabric-formed concrete column]

Formal consequence

The use of flexible molds entails a direct formal relation between the tectonic principles of the formwork structure, the type of concrete pour, and its concrete consequence, so to speak. It is a potential to develop the details in formwork construction because they are technical as well as aesthetic/form giving. On the other hand, this formal consequence means that all mistakes show themselves as well with equal power, and this is a disadvantage of the building method unless you see mess-ups as a charm. The dilemma of course is that working meticulously in construction shows high-level craftsmanship. This comes at a price in hours and wages, in Denmark 70% of the cost of concrete elements go to wages.

[Images of fabric-formed plaster model 1:4] 

Formwork tectonics

One of the student groups at the 2013 TEK1 workshop at RDAFA also concluded this from their preliminary experiments with fabric formed plaster casts. When attempting to literately tailor the fabric formwork the ruthless character of the poured plaster changed initial intentions to less controlled and little desired folds and bulges (not shown here). It took a long time to work with intricate principles and it still proved difficult to anticipate and achieve the results they desired. As a result, the students devised a formwork principle that, while simple to construct, would still result in sharp, controlled edges as well as soft curving surfaces. The principle was tested in the model shown above

  

Formgiver and structure

The storyboard shows the steps of constructing the column and the simplicity and tectonics of the structural formwork principle. The title is Compression and Expansion and refers to the role of the formwork sheets and the consequence on the poured fabric mold. I love how the interlocking and formgiving mdf-sheets are also what holds up the fabric tube. The principle means that the column has a square footprint and always two flat surfaces and two curved ones, i.e. quite a complex geometry.

 

[Left: the formwork structure ready for the pour. Right, detail of the formwork structure before stripping ; bits of cement has filtered through the fabric along with excess mix water during the pour.]

[Sketches from student report showing the principles and the steps of constructing the formwork]

 

Creases and shifts

Despite their work at simplifying the process for ultimate control, for the resulting fabric-formed concrete column, students were unhappy about little creases from the fabric as well as the asymmetry of the bulges. Especially the bottom has uneven bulges, which could have been avoided by adjusting the fabric tube before and during the pour, as well as working the concrete from outside the formwork – simply moving the fresh concrete by pushing against the membrane mold. Note, however, how identical creases can be found on the surface of the plaster model cast using the same principle.

This first meeting with concrete and principles formwork tectonics for first-year students is promising. If you are in Copenhagen, swing by the quay behind the RDAFA and check out the columns.

Credits

Work and drawings by: Oskar Mannov, Sidsel Petersen, Nora Ødegård, Cuong Tran, and Toke Ridderson.

TEK1 2013 concrete workshop organized and taught by Finn Bach, Tenna Beck, and Anne-Mette Manelius (yours Concretely) for the Institute of Architectural Technology at the RDAFASA

PS

I have written much more about formwork tectonics and stereogeneity (concrete as material and as process) in my PhD dissertation

Ensamble Studio's concrete sticks and bones

The Spanish architectural office Ensamble Studio uses concrete as a tectonic ensemble of elements or as a poured mass of liquid stone. Sticks and stones, in other words. -- enjoy a few videos of constructing the projects further down in this post.

Constructing solid space
For a while I was only familiar with their quirky project the Truffle. I like the conceptual approach to constructing space and structure. Bales of hay is used to construct the solid space, so to speak, and then concrete is poured all over it. - the main quirky part is the use of a neighbor's calf to feed off the hay and thus excavating the interior space over the summer. The cow grows as does the space.

[Image above by Ensamble Studio, 2010]

[Film about the cow Paulina and the project, YouTube link]

[This way of constructing space can be compared with the Bruder Klaus Kapel by Peter Zumthor. Here the space is constructed by wooded laths, cast in what appears to be a pisé technique - and finally the space is revealed by a fire burning away the wood.]

According to a lecture with an Ensamble Studio architect, the Truffle House was a prototype for another and much larger project to be cast in place and in which the different functions were conceived as spatial blocks connected by concrete pour. The studio did not win this competition but it would be great to see a scaled up version of this conceptual approach to casting, which is so bound to the process of construction and of very small projects.

Radical Sticks

Other projects use prefabricated and huge concrete elements, tectonic use of concrete sticks. - the Hemeroscopium House (2005) is pretty radical in its use of elements laying off eachother. And that's it - no cold bridges dealt with - and looots of concrete. I have seen images of livable spaces of the house. Images of the web site are more structural.

[Hemeroscopium House (2005) with the 'G point' rock on top. Via]

The office describes how: "It took us a year to engineer but only seven days to build the structure, thanks to a total prefabrication of the different elements and a perfectly coordinated rhythm of assembly. All of our effort oriented to develop the technique that would allow creating a very specific space. And thus, a new astonishing language is invented, where form disappears giving way to the naked space. Hemeroscopium house materializes the peak of its equilibrium with what in Ensamble Studio we ironically call the “G point”, a twenty ton granite stone, expression of the force of gravity and a physical counterweight to the whole structure."via

[Hemeroscopium House (2005) with the prestressed 'swimming pool profile' element. Via]

[4 minute movie of the construction, YouTube link]

Transformation of space and program

Reader's House is my favorite project and is the transformation of an old market hall to a cultural purpose. Here, long pre-streesed U-shaped elements, introduces a different orientation of the space, as well as the opportunity of a variety of programs on these bridge-like slabs. The slabs span the entire space in a simple and remarkable way.

[Images of the Reader's House, via]

"The Reader’s House project is the result of a competition that took place in 2006, in which Ensamble Studio won the first prize. The purpose of the competition was to restore the warehouses 13, 14, 17b and 17c of the Old Slaughterhouse to incorporate a new educational program.

The proposal made by Ensamble Studio maintains and enhances the original character of the industrial complex, by imposing a new order to the one of the pre-existent buildings. The confluence and relationship of the new system and the existing one forms a new space.

Two physical, perceptual and activity levels are defined forming a mutable scenario. The upper level, constructed with precast concrete beams of 40 Tons each, is a space for research and study. These beams are bridges, aerial streets, vectors of activity. In opposition to the basilica-like structure of the warehouses, longitudinal, light and metallic; the new structures are inserted through the windows and sew the space transversally, giving unity to the complex formed by the warehouses 13 and 14, which were previously independent buildings. The lower level participates, without losing its essence, of the rhythm marked by the upper level. Dynamic and mutable, this level will host the educational and cultural diffusion activities, enabling their future redefinition."From the Ensamble Studio website 

[Building the Reader's House, Youtube link]

Watch this video of the construction process - It's hard to explain and hard to believe the simplicity of the construction process, really - the accompanying music plays on this in Buster Keaton type way, I guess... I mean, Keaton and Ensamble do have some high precision planning in common if you think of this famous movie clip.

Concrete poetry in the rain

The development of beautiful concrete surfaces was the aim of a collaboration between the Danish textile designer Line Kramhøft and industrial concrete partner Spæncom.
My favorite of Kramhøft's surface designs is a combination of a surface treatment technique and graphics.
When dry, the concrete appears as is - and only when wet, the graphic pattern is brought to life.
See images of Kramhøft's exclusive concrete surfaces here.

[Images of wet/dry concrete surfaces by Line Kramhøft. Images photographed by yours Concretely at the 2008 exhibition at the Aarhus School of Architecture]

Dutch Solid Poetry

I suspect The Netherlands to experience grey skies as well - nevertheless, Dutch designers Frederik Molenschot and Susanne Happle have developed a similar technique which embraces wet concrete surfaces. They call the principle Solid Poetry. I love it and I want it.

Liquid affection and solid poetry

Susanne Happle writes about her 2004 graduation project: "Whenever the weather change the landscape transforms, the light becomes different and the whole atmosphere changes. All materials seem to alter. In my project I explore the possibilities for hidden design appearing as the environment changes. I applied techniques to enduring and solid materials as glass (liquid affection) and concrete (solid poetry), so that natural processes like differences in temperature causing condense reveal patterns on windows. Rain uncovers decoration on a city square. The possible applications of solid poetry and liquid affection are various: either at home in the bathroom, in the garden, in saunas and dance clubs, where the humidity is high or public spaces like bus stops or pavements. All forms of solid poetry have in common that they change the whole setting; they are surprising and have a life of their own."via where she also shows suggestions of writing that appears on your foggy bathroom mirror etc. 

[Solid Poetry, via]

Ipanema in Copenhagen?

Living in Copenhagen - it is raining right now - I'd just love if bad weather brought forth something poetic, a little treat to make you smile. On a wall or on the concrete pavement. I wonder if the appearance of the iconic pattern from the Rio de Janeiro sidewalks would make Copenhageners dance in the rain instead of frowning?

[Sidewalk on Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro. Via]

PS - in reality, I am dreaming of sipping a caipirinha on Ipanema beach - no concrete - no rain.

898 - Fabric-formed concrete couch

Inspired by the previous post about Nacho Carbonell's soft concrete, here's a few images from my own backyard.

898 (kg)

Carbonell's 'soft sofa' reminded me of something that I haven't shared with you - so here's another one - a couch cast by my students during a TEK1 workshop in 2011. The focus in the workshop was on exploiting sharp edges and curved surfaces. The theme was benches but this piece is more of a couch-thing than a bench.

The 898 is cast in fabric-formed concrete. The edges of the furniture is controlled and cut out of rigid plywood. Its surface, on the other hand, is made to appear soft and cast in fabric restrained with a garden fence netting.

[898, couch. From TEK1 concrete workshop at the Royal DK Academy, School of Architecture]

The title of the piece, 898, refers to its calculated weight... The really attentive Concretely reade, may recognize the surface. The students who made the 898 were inspired by the expression of an earlier fabric-formed piece for which the forming method was also its expression.

[Fabric formed concrete surface from 'Wall de Mort'. I discuss the project in my PhD dissertation - and regret to admit that I changed its funky title to the Net Wall... ]

898 couch by:  Cisse Bomholt, Philip Messmann, Michael Sivertsen, Maja Kozak Dehlin, Amanda Lilholt, Mathias Rasmussen, Søren Rosendahl Svare and Kenni Bruun Rasmussen.

Wall de Mort by: Siri Reisæter Rasmussen, Astrid Asmussen, Rasmus Gosvig, Christian Bencke Nielsen

TEK1 teachers, 2011: Anne-Mette Manelius, Finn Bach, and Johannes Rauff Greisen

Dutch concrete sofa

Continuing to share old news, this piece of old news (to me) is still much more recent than Mr Englund's 60's work. The Dutch designer Nacho Carbonell designed the prototype for a concrete couch cast on site in flexible formwork. - back in 2007. - it is in fact more a designed process than an object.

[Soft Concrete by Nacho Carbonell, 2007, image via MatandMe]

See more images of the piece at the designer's website. 

Carbonell writes about the prototype: "The idea of the process defining the final shape of the object, is something that has always interested me. You cannot have total control, the materials are alive and do what they want. I just give them boundaries, against which they can react with freedom, always surprising me. They are my best partners and my source of inspiration. Experimentation is my way of translating a concept into an object. Here I created bags of different shapes. Once the bags are filled up with concrete they reveal their final shape and function, in this case a proposal for a bench for outdoor purposes. The concrete is first colored, then poured into the bags. Once these are ripped off, the furniture  achieves a friendly, funny and soft look as well as a beautiful texture imprinted on it by the material of the bags. Another aspect that is very interesting about the project is the possibility of creating it on the spot, allowing it to be integrated better into the surroundings." via

While discovering Carbonell through the fabric-formed lens, I admit to enjoy the development of his work away from the solid to the more spatial, it is so much tighter. He has made some collections of spatial and communicative structures that are light and textured and architectural sculptures that I would love to experience live. Check them out here.

[Communication Line by Nacho Carbonell, via]

898 in Copenhagen
Pardon the jump but Carbonell's sofa reminded me of something in my own backyard that I haven't shared with you - so see the next post here.

New concrete love from hinsidan (Sweden)

I’m really excited to share with you some really old news. Casting in membrane molds has been done before. The interesting aspect of this fact arises when the old practice hits your radar. Today, mid-1960’s work by Swedish artist Lars Englund hit my radar and blew me away!

[Image of Swedish artist Lars Englund in a concrete factory in Gröndal, 1967. via]

It is a thrill to browse through (web)pages of a long sold out mastodon catalogue of his 2005 exhibit at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden. For the fabric formwork experience it is obviously his work Volume 1964-67. The images shown here are from the artist’s web site and show piece made from materials such as rubber, plastic, concrete, and even bronze.  The pieces are thus inflated (rubber) and cast as positives or negatives over either flexible membranes, plastic sheets (?) or solid casts.

[Images of the Volume series, 1964. top "Tool for Volume", plastic, and bottom "Volume" in bronze. Via]

Space, architecture, sculptural form

Born in 1933, the artist has had a long carreer exploring scales and techiques that bridges space, architecure, and sculptural form. His work is exciting for the Concretely blog because he combines organic formal language with geometric abstractions (as described here, in Swedish)

“Lars Englund went his own way when he, like the American 1960s minimalists was inspired by the new industrial materials. When his organic forms met rubber, plastics, carbon fiber and concrete he created works that still seem hyper-modern. The materials have always been allowed a life of their own in Englund’s art, from the early swelling rubber volumes to the sensual experiments in plastic and spring steel.” Via

[Lars Englund at the Trelleborg Rubber Industri, 1965]

[Volume, rubber, 1965]

Structure, space, material

Originally coming from the world of painting, he transferred his ideas to the three-dimensional realm, and yet line remains a decisive element in his work. It defines a corpus by making visible the limits that mark its separation from its surroundings, thus placing emptiness and space in a tense relationship to one another. In so doing, he repeatedly seems to question in a frame visually perceptible to the beholder what and how much (material, for example) is necessary to make the limits of space visible. Here, Englund not only raises questions about an aesthetic engagement with the subject of space and the void and a dialogue with the surroundings, but also opens the field for questions on the importance of space and limits in the territorial context. An additional facet is the philosophical dimension of “empty space” in the sense of leeway or room to develop in every sense. His work thus reveals a sensitive topicality and offers delicate room for interpretation, without having to stand at the foreground, for his reduced vocabulary of forms is striking in its clarity and unobtrusiveness and operates independently. Via

[Surface Support Structure, small sphere, 1968-74. Via. The Swedish title of this series is Bärverk, which could translate to grid structure or system. Verk, however means 'work' as both action and structure]

[Surface Support Structure, detail, Huddinge Hospital, 1973]

[Bärverk: Prototypes and sketches for Spatial Surface Support Structure are presented at Galerie Burén in Stockholm in 1974]

[Bärverk. Studies for Surface Support Structure, the Torpedo workshop, Skeppsholmen, Stockholm, 1970s]

Pardon the art gallery talk. Yours Concretely is a formwork nerd and I love the temporary spatial aspects of formwork structures before a pour. A part of creating space is to construct it. Constructing fabric formwork structures (not that I am talking about the actual formwork and not the concrete) can be about creating simple means and simple formwork-tectonic principles and then testing them against the concrete pour.

[Volume, plastic concrete, 1967. I think this piece must consist of concrete elements and not inflatable rubber but who knows... A contemporary version of this can be seen in Andrew Kudless' Seed P_Ball]

So—I love Englund’s playful focus on tectonic structures that combine various materials and levels of control and deformation. They are structures in space and they have themselves an inner space with degrees of materiality, transparency and rigidity. - do go explore sketches, prototypes and art pieces at Englund's extensive website.

[Pars pro toto, polycarbonate, 1979. Via]

       

Thanks again to my NYC formworks friend Josh Draper for the link to your Swedish dobbeltgänger.