IaaC Blog

a collaborative project created by Gian Matteo Cossu + Amleto Picerno Ceraso + Sergio Leone

Montreux is a small town in the shoreline of Leman lake , placed just in the middle of Europe. The city became very known in the 60’s when started to host the jazz festival, which is nowadays one of the most important  in the world. Montreux is next to Lavaux territory, which is since 2007 part of the world heritage of UNESCO
thanks to its beautiful wine yards landscapes.
When we to analyse the history of vinification that this land has, we discovered that here is an ancient tradition which contributed the transformation of the slopes that are facing the lake. From that fact we decide to create a new community where people can live organised around common values in a self sufficient way in order to create an eco district . The cycle of life of this community gives us the input data  in order to generate a functional program. In relation with our specific plot we understood  that for the right settlement we needed to design the program in three different layers: underground - services for the district-, ground - paths and public spaces- , above ground - housing.
Since the community should be self sufficient in many aspects we wanted to reuse the waste part of the vinification and the pruning  including the  normal urban waste, and besides that harvest water from the roofs and all the treatment of the grey water. From this point of view became very important for us the energy distribution systems and investigating on it results that the trees energy distribution system is the favourable one. We tried to translate it in architectural way and we get the plan distribution of the dwelling modules. The next step has been to find the best structure to translate the  idea we got in concrete terms. In order to keep the maximum permeability that our plot already has and moreover to get the best sight of the lake we needed to have a weightless structure and a low impact about the ground connections.
Once we analysed many different structural system, we focused in one specific: the tensigrity system, in witch Buckminster Fuller spent  many studies in the last century. This kind of structure allows us to achieve our aim in order to leave the ground permeable and to be weightless despite elevating from that, here the material organizations are considered as  networks organized and held in tension by the flow of energy between elements that never touch (like molecular structures or planetary systems). In the last years this system were used by Diller&Scofidio in the well known Blur Building pavilion in Switzerland. The shape adopted is the hexagon deformed symmetrically along one axe, in order to achieve a specific angle (35°) that came up from the research about the flows of energies in the trees as we mentioned in the previous panel.
About the typologies of dwellings we have chosen three different module dimensions, 37.5 sqm for a single person, 75 sqm for 2-3 persons, 112,5 for 4 persons, we give a response to what the contest rules required. The same hexagonal module is used as a connection system in an horizontal way and as a node of vertical and horizontal flows of people, besides the connection function those are opened so that allows the creation of  public areas 9 m. above the ground.

The framework is basically formed by a central column with horizontal beams held by a systems of tension cables, they are all made out of steel of course.
An ecodistrict is supposed to be eco friendly even in the sense of the construction materials used, in fact through some researches we decided at the end to use a strawboard wall, prefabricated elements, affordable and environmental friendly, thermal and sound insulation are optimal, emissions are free (formaldehyde is not used in the fabrication process), besides that we discovered they are spread in all the country.
For the horizontal panels insulation we would use recycled corkboards, reusing the cork caps of the wine bottle, their collection is organized by the community and there will be a factory for part of  the transformation process in specific spaces in the district.
In the facade we decide to use panels with an external wooden frame that contains a plot of wine grapes wood results from the periodical pruning of the plant.

We pay attention to the  ground level and the functions distribution underground, because as we already mentioned one of the layer of the initial proposal would be leave the ground empty and permeable physically and optically. First of all we wanted to restore the topography as much similar as it is now even after the construction process and the earth movement that concerns. The earth is moreover moved to specific areas that can eventually host the social life open air enjoying the beautiful sights all around. The locations where put the buildings came out from a mapping process that bring to light the best zones to place the volumes in terms of topography and the pre-existing nature elements, like some of the orchard trees, the forest in the top North-West area of the plot.
In the underground buildings take place the wine cellar where both persons of the community and externals work for the wine proccess, vineyard maintenance etc., an exposition space where events mainly connected with the wine may be represented, besides that there are a small library and a conference room capable to host 250 persons. In the upper part of the plot, where we have also  the protected green area, which is part of the ecological path, there we placed a leisure area for the children, in fact  we have an educational area with the  kindergarten and nursery school .
The parking area - exclusively for the residents - are underground also, and the main entrance is close to the main road in order to avoid the car to cross the plot and to park in the crossroad, another aspect that aim to consolidate the environmental behaviour  we want to assign to this area.
Here below you can download the pdf files of the final panels

panel 1

panel 2

panel 3

SNAP-SKIN is an experiment that works on standardized modules, creating a perfomative building skin, with the aid of digital tools.

This is a contiuation of the previous studio project at IaaC. Here are some of the inspirations, for instance, patterns by bricks, size and density of perforations, and use of prevailing wind, from our site, Tunis, Tunisia.

The methodology of the project before is the base for this thesis project SNAP-SKIN. The control of the (spheres in the previous project) cups’ density is a key issue of digital tectonics, the computational parametric model by Grasshopper makes it possible.

In an attempt to making use of recycled materials, the module chosen is plastic cup owing to the low cost and high availiabity, answering to the unfavorable critiques on the previous spherical structure. Ideally, no glue is wanted in order to simplify the assembly process, the shape and size of the joints become critical.

While the distances among the cups change, different curvatures can be formed.

Various desirable profiles can be created by configurating different series of panels.

After the understanding of the distance in relation to the bending angle, by cutting on the 2D surface of paper, plastic or timer sheets, certain 3D geometry will be formed as a result when the skin is snapped in position by the cups.

The proposal is a tourist pavilion, providing information and exhibition for the Spanish Castle’s visitors on the Lac Nord of Tunis, since currently only a temporary booth exists to shelter some antiquities, mosiac. The opacity is affected by the approaching direction of visitors from the pier.

To achieve thermal comfort for hot climate, natural ventilation is used through the performative skin composed by the modules, reacting to the prevailing wind direction.

Not at all as a decorative system, each cup acts as a responsive machine towards parameters, for instance, prevailing wind, sun, opacity, while they align to certain direction, from the research on the joints and surface, the form of the pavilion is created as a result, skin is snapped, always normal, to the joints.

Programs are fit in to the different configuration of cups, inwards and outwards, open and enclosed, of different inclined angles, etc.

Some cups act as planters to provide shading, when it is positioned more vertically, more soil and seeds will be introduced into the cups, with an expectation that it is more favorable for the growth of plants and better shading would be required.

Cups facing the prevailing wind direction is cut out of different sizes so that wind could go via the skin by the some perforated cups, creating a cooling effect, which is also promoted by the patio typology  informed by the local context.

The density of cups, which is transparent as ’window’, control the amount of light getting into the sheltered space. The more towards the south, the lower the density it becomes, so as to reduce unwanted direct sunlight.

Each cup is a variation due to the interactions among the parameters, which demonstrates the complexity of the pavilion and the principle, while the environmental factors come into effect.

Feel free to download the full presentation by this link: presentation_alvin_screen

CONCEPT:
MEDINA, LOCATED IN THE CENTRE OF TUNIS IS AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ECONOMY, SOCIAL STRUCTURE  AND CULTURE OF THE CITY. IN THE SAME BREATH, THE HIGH DENSITY OF BUILT SPACE BRINGS ABOUT A CHAOS TO THE ACTIVITITES HAPPENING WITHIN AND IT SEEMS THAT THE MEDINA (OR THE CITY) IS IN NEED OF EXPANSION. THE PROJECT HERE LOOKS AT RELEIVING THIS PRESSURE OFF THE MEDINA BY PROPOSING A NEIGHBORHOOD  ADJACENT TO IT ON A HILLY TERRAIN. THE SELECTION OF THE HILL IS ALSO TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THE CITY CAN USE SUCH FEATURES (RATHER THAN FLATTEN THEM BY QUARRYING, WHICH IS CURRENTLY THE SITUATION) EFFICIENTLY TO CATER TO DENSITIES v/S OPEN SPACE AND TO HARNESS NATURAL RESOURCES OF ENERGY AND LOCAL MATERIAL. THE HILL NATURALLY  PROJECTS THE CITY ON AN ELEVATION THAT IMPARTS A FEEL OF IT BEING A COASTAL CITY THAT BECOMES A MIRRADOR TO THE MEDITTARANEAN - TO THE OTEHRWISE FLAT CITY OF TUNIS.

LOCATION OF SITE:
THE SITE IS LOCATED ON A HILL (OF AREA 10.4 Ha.) IMMEDIATELY SOUTH OF THE MEDINA. IT  OVERLOOKS THE  NORD/SUD LAKE  TOWARD EAST. THE HIGHEST POINT ON THE HILL RISES 85M ABOVE THE LAKES.

DESIGN STRATEGY:
THE CLUSTERS ARE ARRANGED ALONG THE CONTOURS AND ARE SHAPED AS PER THE LINES (IN BLUE )OF INFLECTION (WHERE CONTOURS CHANGE CURVATURE FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE ). THE CLUSTERS ARE FURTHER SUBDIVIDED INTO RADIAL GRIDS (IN RED) OF APPROX. 8M SPACING ON LARGER SIDE AND 4M ON THE SMALLER. THIS BECOMES THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE BUILDING BLOCKS THAT FOLLOW A PATTERN AKIN TO  THE CHAOS OF THE MEDINA. WITHIN EACH CLUSTER, THE BLOCKS PILE HIGHER IN ELEVATION TOWARD THE NORTH ALLOWING FOR MAXIMUM SOLAR ENERGY THAT CAN  BE  HARNESSED.  EACH CLUSTER IS APPROPRIATELY EXCAVATED THAT PROVIDES FOR STONE AS A PRIMARY BUILDING MATERIAL.

Please click the following link for the presentation:

slc-presentation3

An intention was to develop A TOWER consideration of sustainable and bioclimatic way. This design approach, the low energy imperative is achieved through passive means(such as through shaping the built configuration, placement of the building components and selection of material) rather than through the use of electro-mechanical devices and system.To aid this, physical biological continuity achieved in ‘vertical landscaping’ in A Tower. Vegetation from street-level spirals upwards as a continuous ecosystem facilitating species migration, engendering a more diverse ecosystem and greater ecosystem stability and to aid ambient cooling of the facades.Species are selected not to compete with others within surroundings.Rainwater-collection system comprises of ‘façade water collection ‘ and layersof ’sub channels’ located at the building’s facade to catch rain-water running off its sides. And second layer of solar energy panels are added to directradiation face to achieve extra energy.

City_Flash

Architectural Definatons

sustainability

Prespectives

In recent years connections between fashion and architecture have become increasingly evident. The two practises are not only working in parallel, but they are also exchanging techniques, methods of working, vocabulary and typology, making it hard to define the limits between one and the other.

Firstly, fashion and architecture share common methods of development. From sketching, drawing or pattern making, fitting or model making, to sewing, building or fabricating, the process of designing a garnment and a building deals with the same task: produce a 2D drawing that can later form 3D space.

In addition to that, both garnments and buildings serve two puproses. Their most profound role is that of a shelter, one covering the body and protecting it from weather conditions, to unwanted looks, and the other surrounding the person, providing a safe environment to exist and live in. But aside from this, both fashion and architecture are used as a form of expressing one’s self. Clothes are used to advertise one’s status, taste mood and identity. And it seems that architecture is following the same course. From the strict rule form follows function, architecture has made a leap towards more aesthetic paths, seeking to become iconic, to project an image or a certain status outwards, in other words to advertise and sell itself as much as possible.

The moment when architecture becomes more than a sheleter, the moment it gains prestige and becomes an icon is perhaps when is is being published for the first time, when it first opens to the public, or the moment it becomes an award winning proposal at a competition.

But when it comes to fashion, it is quite different. Although publicity through advertising and magazine covers is helpful, fashion reaches its most unique and expressive moment on the runway. A fashion show is an event that is almost a performance, where clothes become objects of praise and admiration and the brand name becomes almost mythical. At this time, architecture becomes a tool in the hands of fashion. The architecture of a fashion show is that of a catwalk, a place whose basic assignment is to emphasize the clothes, but whose typology is that of a simple long strip.

By keeping all the above in mind, I tried to combine both practices, in order to produce a trademark catwalk for the greek designer Sophia Kokosalaki. Sophia Kokosalaki was born in Athens in 1972 and after studying literature at the University of Athens she attended Central Saint martins College of Art and Design, where she became a fashion designer with her own label based in London.

Her main influence when it comes to design is Greek history and mythology and her trademark techniques are those of appliqué, pintucking, cording, plaiting, ruching and patchwork, on a range of fabrics including her signature leather and silk jersey.

In 2004 she was assigned to design the costumes for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games held in her home town of Athens. She has also received the Elle Designer award and Art Foundation Award for Fashion in 2002 and New Generation Designer award in 2004, and receives regular editorial from Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and W magazines. In autumn 2006 she was appointed Creative Director of the leading Vionnet fashion house but resigned in May 2007, stating that she will solely concentrate on the development of her own label instead.

Cities in the gulf region have transformed rapidly into their current urban conditions due to the so-called modernization. These transformations have led to severe social implications as communications between people, neighbours, the community have slowly disintegrated. Environmental aspects such as shading and natural ventilation have been neglected as people move around in their air conditioned cars from one fully enclosed air-conditioned space to another.

re| transform aims to revitalise street urban activity by enhancing an existing market area within the coastal city of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. By revisiting the traditional configurations of souqs in the Islamic world and the environmental aspects of a natural ventilation system used since the 13th century in the middle east region, a re-transformation will occur.

Mathematical transformations of reflection, rotation, moving and scaling will provide the basis of the patterns of change to be implemented in the re-tranformed souq. 

Materiality is the core of re| transform as an indigenous local material; palm fronds are being reconfigured based on the reciprocal grid structure. Reciprocal grids provide the possibility of spanning large areas using members of limited lengths as the members mutually support each other by weaving them.

The reciprocal grid system is a framework of patterns consisting of nodes and polygons which are easily deformed into spatial enclosures or surfaces dependent on a number of parameters. Investigations of the patterns and their potentials in physical models led to a palette of possible scenarios of implementation.

Re| transform will create shaded walkways, imply connections, redefine the souqs, and can be reconfigured wherever needed. People can choose to walk, to sell, to buy, to participate and to interact. They are no longer confirmed to the enclosed air-conditioned spaces, they have the freedom of movement within the fields of patterns spread across the site.

The project consists in the redesign of the most important building in a urban proposal in the center of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The idea of this project is to concentrate the construction areas from almost a hundred buildings into 8, in order to create new public spaces to the city. Different from the previous idea, the design takes shape considering the idea of self-sufficiency, where the macro and micro scale of the geometry is thought to act as a machine to compensate some of the energy requirement for such project.

Itself, the project is an 80 floors skyscraper, with a total of 382,346 square meters, destined to commercial (42,865 sq. mts.), office (110,647 sq. mts.) and residential use (47,997 sq. mts.) By the advantages in having more facade area, and the need to redirect and incline the shape, the tower was transformed into a three leg tower that separates in two between the 22nd and the 42nd floor, creating a hole that increases the wind flow thru the structure.

Because of the location of the project, the caribbean, the need to take advantage of  their main weather factors became the main idea. The wind and the sun are the parameters for to generate the design.  In the big scale design the sun became the principal parameter, the idea started by creating a simple rounded geometry that could follow the sun path and identifies the area where the most radiation is perceived. Following this concept in a vertical element some studies where done in order to get the most out faÁade. In the specific case of Santo Domingo, the optimum sun angle is 16 degrees due to the latitude, which is 18 degrees. This almost perpendicular direction towards  the ground became a factor to contemplate different forms of collecting the sun in the vertical part of the tower. 

A ring that surrounds the elliptical shape of the plants was designed as a machine that could redirect the wind throughout the whole tower both vertically and horizontically, and at the same time could take account a micro scale design to get the most out of both the wind and sun condition of the place.

This rings became the facade element, that changes depending on the hour  of the day, they work as an exterior curtain that can be folded, depending on the condition of sun radiation.

here is the link for the presentation urban-bifurcation