interior architecture thesis vol. 2

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JESSICA HUMPSTON15382366

SUPERVISOR | ROZE WAEVOLUME TWO | THROUGH DESIGNINTERIOR ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH STUDIO 422 | 313652

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This Research Report contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university.

To the best of my knowledge and belief this Research Report contains no material previously published by any other person except where due acknowledgment has been made.

Signature

Date

Copyright - Jessica Paige Humpston - [email protected] rights reserved. No reproduction without permission.

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School of Built Environment

Department of Architecture and Interior Architecture

Mystery in the Built EnvironmentVolume Two

Jessica Paige Humpston

THIS RESEARCH REPORT IS PRESENTED FOR THE DEGREE OFBachelor of Arts (Interior Architecture)

ofCurtin University

November 2014

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Mystery in the Built Environment: Articulating the In-BetweenFigure 1 (Author’s Own 2014)

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To integrate an experience of mystery within the Built Environment.

To create an experience of mystery that encourages occupant’s engagement with space.

To provide a balance between the experiential qualities that creates an experience of mystery whilst simultaneously providing a functional space with a specific use and client.

To gain an understanding of the materiality and spatial composition that can facilitate an experience of mystery.

Research Proposition

Research Objectives

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To mum, dad, Ian, John, Roze, my fellow studio 225ers and my friends; thanks for all your much needed, and very much appreciated, support.

Acknowledgements

Please note: Images in this documant are the authors own unless otherwise stated. All unoriginal images are refereneced throughout.

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Building on previous research into what an experience of mystery is, this thesis explores the engaging nature of the unknown and its ability to shift habitual and routine behaviour. As we instinctively desire to know the unknown, mystery acts as a catalyst for engagement by providing spaces that challenge and encourage exploration of the Built Environment through the restriction of information, or a full sensory experience for the occupant. The application of mystery is investigated through a series of interventions situated within the urban fabric of Perth city that test the different ways in which mystery can be applied: enhancing and activating public space.

Abstract

“Mystery is the unknown. Something that implies a question and incites a questioning from each that encounters it.” (Humpston 2014, 7)

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ContentsGlossaryProject Introduction

1 | Volume 1 ReflectionManifestationsExperiencing Mystery

2 | Activation of SpaceThe In-betweenIn-between and BehaviourExemplarsActivating Space

3 | Design ProcessDesign IntentClientBrief

4 | Final Design Proposal

Volume ReflectionAppendix

911

141620

2224283034

36383946

72

100104

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Bio Art/Design The “harnessing [of] living materials” (Meyers 2012, 7) as a vital component of finished product or artwork.

CuriosityAn inherent desire to know.

DisengagementTo withdraw from interacting with space.

EngagementA meaningful interaction with space.

ImaginationA cognitive process that provides possibilities for what is not present.

Imaginative ProjectionThe transference of imagination to a place not currently inhabited.

ManifestationThe embodiment of something intangible.

MysterySomething unknown, ungraspable or difficult to understand.

NearnessAn emotional attachment to place.

Non-placeSpaces that are typified by monotonous architecture and lack of character that causes occupants to disengage.

Glossary

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The above quote by Albert Einstein was what sparked my interest in mystery and led to my exploration of what can bring about this experience for Volume 1 of my thesis. In it I outlined the need for mystery as a reaction to spaces that disengage, which make up much of our built environment. Growing up in suburban Perth where sameness pervades, I felt great frustration with the monotony that surrounded me and consequently felt little to no connection with my environment. There was no surprise in my surroundings; everything was obvious or apparent at a glance and was what can be described as Non-Space, the theory that certain spaces can discourage engagement between environment and person, both physically and mentally as it causes people to “plug in and pass through” (Sharma 2009, 131) public space (Humpston 2014).

Project Introduction

“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer marvel, no longer wonder, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed.” (Einstein as quoted in Trombley 2012, 31)

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Figure 1-2 Author’s Own 2014)

Mystery | Questioning | Imagination

Partial information | Unique imaginings

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In Volume 1, I proposed that mystery, or an experience of the unknown, can act as a catalyst for this much-needed engagement between occupant and environment. An experience of mystery triggers our “inborn trait” (Loewy 1998, 288) of curiosity “to investigate” (Loewy 1998, 286) and our cognitive process of imagination to “suggest possibilities” (Loewy 1998, 288) for unanswered questions or “vagueness” (Pallasmaa 2009, 115) in our surroundings. How these questions are ‘answered’ differs with each individual’s encounter, allowing for a “multiplicity of other viewings” (Dufrenne 1973, 396) depending on their unique imaginings of the mystery. The result of this mystery, curiosity and imaginative process is a “nearness” (Sharr 2007, 25) to space that fosters an emotional connection between occupant and their environment (Humpston 2014). Engagement with space is a meaningful interaction that leads to a connection with space and invites reflection. The intention for Volume 2 of my single topic research project with a Through Design project, is to create an experience of mystery that breaks the sameness and monotony found in much of the Built Environment, and the disengaging behaviour it invites (Humpston 2014).

Nearness | Imaginative projectionFigure 3 (Author’s Own 2014)

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Volume 1. Reflection

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What brings forth an experience of mystery can be varied and hard to define, but in Volume 1 I came to some conclusions about how mystery could be manifested physically through either materiality or spatial composition.

Interiority and external experience; when encountering a moment of mystery it can often feel as if we are on the exterior, the outside of knowing. Mystery has a complex interior/exterior relationship that invites us inside yet denies us full access to its unknown interior. It is not always necessary to enter into a space to experience its interiority; it can be hinted at, or implied, and the denial of physical access, or full vision, to the interior can heighten the occupant’s experience of mystery as the imagination is ignited.

Depth and distance can be the measureable distance, but also an obstacle of sorts to overcome, something between you and what lies beyond, something to be discovered that encourages exploration from the occupant.

Manifestations of Mystery

“There is something unswervingly sublime about the hidden” (Dufrenne 1973, 399)

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Depth and distance

Interiority and external experienceFigure 4

Figure 5

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Peripheral space and blurred vision produces an immediate interiority through experiencing a space that is just within, while being simultaneously just beyond the reach of our sight. Peripheral and unfocused vision has the ability to “envelop us in the flesh of the world” (Pallasmaa 2005, 10), in contrast to focused and frontal vision that causes us to feel like “outsiders” due to its “poverty in the field of peripheral vision” (Pallasmaa 2005, 13).

Fragmentation of space; a fragment being “an isolated or incomplete part” (Oxford Online Dictionary, 2014) of a larger whole, implying a partial experience that to be comprehended needs to be “explored and filled out, but only in succession [and] never all at once” (Levin 1997, 273) (Humpston 2014).

Peripheral space and blurred vision

Fragmentation of space

Figure 6

Figure 7

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These manifestations - depth, distance, blur, periphery, interiority and fragment - all employ a restriction of full sensory experience for the occupant; something that is not revealed in its entirety, restricted yet also disclosed. This is different from something completely concealed, which would suggest an ultimate denial of experience for the occupant. Kevin Lynch in The Image of the City also states there is “value in mystification, labyrinth, or surprise in the environment” (Lynch 1960, 5), but not so much that the occupant withdraws from the experience. Lynch outlines two conditions for integrating ‘mystification’ or mystery into the built environment: first that “orientation” and “basic form” must be maintained; and second, that the “surprise” occurs in small areas of the “visible whole” (Lynch 1960, 6). These elements of mystery or ambiguity in the environment must allow and invite exploration and comprehension for the occupant as “complete chaos without a hint of connection is never pleasurable” (Lynch 1960, 6). What is required is a balance between what is revealed and what is not; an enticement, denial and discovery as the occupant engages with the tension of encountering mystery, and physically and psychologically explores this feeling in the hope of dispelling it.

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Experiencing MysteryMystery is not always about experiencing something immense in scale; it can also be found in the everyday, in something that may be small and intimate yet can raise a questioning or curiosity from the occupant. This could be, for instance, heading into the afternoon sun that momentarily blinds you, or walking past a building that bids you to enter by indicating there is more to discover, prompting our imagination as to what might be on the other side of these moments of the unknown. These small everyday moments of mystery situate us somewhere between the known and the unknown; a suspended state where the questioning that occurs in this in-between lengthens our experience and lingers in the memory, resulting in a meaningful engagement between occupant and space.

Known Unknown

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Suspended State

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Activation of Space

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The In-betweenInitial site investigations saw me exploring the city, where I found myself continually drawn to small, forgotten and inaccessible spaces. These included sites such as underground parking lots, drains, holes in walls or forgotten corners of the city and were all what could be described as ‘in between’ spaces. Like the in-between experience of mystery that is somewhere between the known and the unknown, these spaces were often disused or underutilised areas between spaces with a specific function.

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The experience, and spatial arrangement, of the in-between is a subject discussed by architect Bernard Tschumi, who describes in-betweeness or residual spaces, as having the ability to “generate productive encounters in ways that centralized space cannot” (Khan and Hannah 2008, 56). In-between spaces are the areas between formal spaces that have defined names attached, such as the “office, lecture room [or] café”, all spaces with “labels [that] suggest the activity that should take place there” (Weinthal 2013, 148). In-between spaces are ambiguous and informal (Weinthal 2013, 149), as they have no labels assigned to them and therefore do not dictate to the occupant the activity or behaviour that is to take place within them. This allows the occupant a freedom of sorts and provides a “space of encounters – maybe unexpected encounters” (Khan and Hannah 2008, 56) not only between occupant and space but also occupant and occupant (Humpston 2014).

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In-between and BehaviourThe mysteriousness of these in-between sites is found in the way they don’t reveal themselves immediately or completely. These sites have restricted access and hidden depths that invite discovery and exploration, even if it is only to take a few steps around a corner or even to lean in a little closer. When encountering mystery and ambiguous spaces, behaviour changes as “the individual constructs rather than responding in pre-established ways” and considers “different possibilities or alternatives of future action in a given situation” (Reynolds and Herman-Kinney 2003, 258). This behaviour breaks the conforming and normative behaviour that occurs when the occupant is engaged in habitual and routine actions, and is behaving in a programmed way and disengaged from their surroundings. The delayed response that occurs when encountering these sites is referred to as Minded Behaviour and is described as arising around problems such as “novel situations” and “ambiguous alternatives” (Reynolds and Herman-Kinney 2003, 258) in the environment. The delayed response of Minded Behaviour “enable[s] reflective conduct” and this “delayed reaction is necessary to intelligent conduct” (Reynolds and Herman-Kinney 2003, 258) (Humpston 2014). These moments of minded behaviour brought about by ambiguity or mystery in the environment engage people in actions outside the norm as they question what is around the corner or what might be beyond the wall. This breaking of habitual and routine behaviour can encourage engagement with space through the actions of the occupant and the reflective conduct occurring in the suspended state.

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Gordon Matta-ClarkGordon Matta-Clark was an architect and artist whose work consisted mostly of large architectural interventions by way of making cuts into derelict buildings. He exposed the buildings interior and liberated (Lee 2000, 28) what was once an impenetrable façade, creating in-between spaces where there previously were none. He strived for complexity and avoided creating works “that could be apprehended from one viewpoint or even at onetime” (Attlee 2003, 79) inviting exploration and numerous revisits in order for them to be understood. He was fascinated with “alternative and abandoned spaces” (Attlee 2003, 25) within cities, often taking his friends on journeys through the hidden and unseen spaces of the city (Attlee 2003, 60) such as abandoned buildings and sections of the New York subway system; the “metaphoric gaps, leftover spaces” (Attlee 2003, 59) and undeveloped spaces. He viewed contemporary architecture as controlling in the way that its enclosures dictated to the occupant whether they were either inside or outside of a structure and left “no room for halfway or in between states” (Attlee 2003, 57). The cuts he made into buildings opened up “unexpected vistas” (Attlee 2003, 29) and blurred the line between interior and exterior, viewer and participant, which made the participant/spectator relationship interchangeable - the observer can become observed at any moment (Attlee 2003, 29).

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Figure 8

Figure 10Figure 9

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MONATasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art, or MONA is buried three levels underground, providing through the hidden depth of the structure a “cinematic and suspenseful” (MONA 2014) experience for the occupant full of anticipation. The complexity of the space that houses a video-art cinema and two artist-specific pavilions is not immediately evident upon entry, as the building recedes into its surroundings. It is not until the occupant begins their “unorthodox circulation” (MONA 2014) into the building by descending into the building and toward the darkness that the complexity of the structure becomes clear. The intentionally “labyrinthine” (MONA 2014) interior spaces use pools of light for wayfinding throughout the shadowy interior and allow for acoustics from unseen areas of the building to overflow transitions spaces. By providing a space for “people to get lost in” (MONA 2014), MONA’s design invites exploration. It contradicts typical gallery/art museum design by offering an engaging and memorable experience that challenges the visitor to encounter the artworks.

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Figure 11

Figure 12Figure 12

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The above are examples of spaces and interventions that have been designed with the active participation of the occupant in mind as the essential component for engagement with space; “space and action are inseparable” (Tschumi as quoted in Bure 2008, 13). Architect Bernard Tschumi describes “space, event and movement” (Tschumi as quoted in Bure 2008, 32) as interconnected and essential to successful architecture, designing the event to take place within his spaces before the space itself (Bure 2008, 32). His designs often blur the distinction between spectator and active participant, inciting a performance of sorts when these ‘actions’ are viewed from the exterior, or by someone outside the experience. Matta-Clark’s blurring of interior/exterior, viewer/participant through the reframing of space and creation of in betweeness, and MONA’s hidden complexity and challenging nature of its interior and artworks, all employ an element of mystery as they restrict and reveal only certain elements of space - provoking engagement with space through exploratory action of the occupant.

“There is no architecture [...] without action, without event.” (Tschumi as quoted in Hann, 10)

Activating Space

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Design Process

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Design IntentWith Volume 1 research into the engaging qualities of mystery and this semester’s exploration into ‘in betweeness’ and its ability to shift routine and habitual behaviour, I have decided to create a series of interventions that test the applications of mystery and occupants response to it within the Built Environment. These interventions will be situated within the urban context of Perth city, where they can provide the greatest opportunity for individual and collective experience for the occupant to engagement meaningfully with these spaces and even with one another. With Mystery’s endless possibilities for application into built form, I decided that I needed to ground what is inherently an ambiguous project with a specific use and functional requirements for a client.

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ClientMy chosen client is SymbioticA, a research facility at the University of Western Australia that provides a platform for artists to work with scientists and explores the implications that scientific discovery could have on society within an artistic realm. They are biological artists who work with living organisms through to microscopic cells, or what can be described as life on a different scale. They refer to this process of growing life outside the body as semi-living - a process where life is assisted in existing outside of the body in a suspended state. The nature of their work is often microscopic within the field of biology but also includes ecology, bioethics, neuroscience, tissue engineering and sleep science. Whatever form they may take, the artworks that come out of SymbioticA always involve life, often life that occurs on an entirely different scale from what we are used to, testing our preconceptions of what we perceive to be a living entity (Humpston 2014).

Figure 14

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Bio Art and DesignThis crossover of artistic and scientific fields that takes place within SymbioticA is often referred to as Bio Art. Bio Art or Bio Design is the “harnessing [of] living materials” (Meyers 2012, 7) and incorporating them into a finished product as an “essential component” (Meyers 2012, 8). This goes beyond mimicking processes and forms found in nature and applying them, as seen in “biology inspired approaches” (Meyers 2012, 8) or Bio mimicry, and specifically refers to integrating “life into design” (Meyers 2012, 10). The field emerged with the onset of the 21st century and the realisation of our current environmental crisis due to an ever-increasing reliance on fossil fuels, high consumption of natural resources and population growth (Meyers 2012, 12). The artwork and designs that are developed within this field are varied and can come in the form of objects, photography, film, performance and installations that consist of actual living elements or replicate them in some form. Whichever form these works take, they always provoke from the viewer a questioning of the advances in science and how they could affect society (Humpston 2014).

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Figure 15

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SymbioticA occupies three spaces between the Anatomy and Physiology on the UWA campus. A primary office space on the second floor of the Anatomy building is the face of SymbioticA; it is the first port of call for visitors, a space for informal meetings and the location for Friday afternoon research or artists talks for up to 30 people. It provides permanent work areas for two staff and semi-permanent research spaces for up to four artists-in-residence and is where much of the research and artwork is stored. The laboratory area is designated for SymbioticA’s artists-in-residence and post-graduate students, and is on the first floor of the Physiology building where much of their wet biology work takes place. It requires space for laboratory work and equipment and quiet areas for research. It also needs to be a flexible space that facilitates workshops provided by SymbioticA and occasional performances by artists for up to 15 people. A secondary space on the first floor of the Anatomy building houses a smaller laboratory used mainly by SymbioticA’s other director and a small office space.

Initially, I was going to simply rework the current series of spaces that house SymbioticA and concentrate on developing the transitory in-between spaces to provide them with more of a public presence. I then realised that to provide them with a public presence, what was required was to actually take SymbioticA’s work into the public realm.

SymbioticA

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Parallels between Mystery and SymbioticA Mystery

The suspended state of an experience of mystery that resides somewhere between the known and the unknown

Our drive to satisfy our curiosity when mystery is present

Mystery’s complex interior/exterior relationship that invites us inside yet denies us full access to its unknown interior

Mystery being a difficult experience to dissect and label

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SymbioticA

SymbioticA’s biological art processes that suspend life outside of the body; a ‘semi-living’ state

SymbioticA’s work is driven by an innate curiosity for life and science

The biological processes that allow life to sustain and grow outside the body, life externalised

SymbioticA’s ambiguity and hard to define nature of what they produce

Figure 14

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BriefTo provide the City of Perth with a series of interventions that engages the public with the works of biological artists and also their surrounding environment through an experience of mystery. This project encompasses my Volume one research using the nature of mystery that strategically restricts or reveals thereby inciting curiosity, exploration and in turn engagement from the occupant. I imagine this to be an ongoing project that could potentially spread across the city to an endless number of sites, on multiple scales, and that allows and encourages the public to discover the work and also their surrounding environment. Due to the varied nature of the work that is produced by Bio Artists, these interventions will provide a framework for the artists to exhibit within while also enhancing public space even when empty, only adding to the mysterious nature of the interventions.

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Categories

Sound

Objects

Performance

Film

From the vast array of biological artwork and designs produced by SymbioticA and other artists, I have categorised them in order to begin the design process. From these various forms I developed four categories and assigned actions intended for experience them, suggesting the importance of the occupation to take place before the form. Instead of integrating all four categories within one installation, each category will be incorporated within different sites that best support the category. This aligns with the fragmentary nature of mystery, or partial experience that to be comprehended needs to be “explored and filled out, but only in succession [and] never all at once” (Levin 1997, 273) (Humpston 2014).

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Figure 16-19

Listen

Encounter

Perform

Observe

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Site SelectionSelecting the sites for these interventions was a continuation of my initial site investigations into mysterious, or ‘in between’ sites around the city and Northbridge. As this project is designed to be ongoing with an endless number of potential sites to be developed, I decided on four sites that best suited the categories previously described. The sites are concentrated around the Perth Cultural Centre, an area heavily populated to provide the greatest chance encounters, but situated on the periphery to encourage exploration and discovery into underutilised areas that the occupant may not have noticed before or ventured into. All sites have existing elements of mystery or in-betweeness to them that would be enhanced through these interventions.

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Murray st.

King

st.

PICA

Beau

fort

st.

Museum

Wellington st.

Roe st.

Figure 20

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Beau

fort

st.

Museum

Figure 20

EncounterA Space toThis site was selected for its location within, yet, on the periphery of the Perth Cultural Centre. What drew me to this site initially was the slight gap in-between the wall and the Museum adjoining it that allowed only a glimpse beyond. I saw the potential in this site as a space of encounters with objects, offering fragmented views through the wall that divides a grassed area and a car park behind

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PICA

Figure 20

PerformA Space toOn the exterior of the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, or PICA is a small area that is partially hidden from the main thoroughfare. Using the existing stairs, I saw the opportunity for a small performance space that would blur the boundary between where the art exhibited at PICA begins and ends.

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PICA

Figure 20

EncounterA Space toThis wall, situated just opposite the previous, that acts as a barrier between a walkway and stairs that double as seating, was chosen as another space for encounters. It has a small break in its fabric that contains an interior space upon closer viewing that I wanted to highlight and enhance by placing items within it and changing its materiality.

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Murray st.

King

st.

Figure 20

Listen and ObserveA Space toThis site, in-between two buildings on King Street, pushes the boundaries of the other sites clustered around the Perth Cultural Centre in the hopes of encouraging physical exploration of the city. Walking into this space, the acoustics immediately change due to the narrowness and height of the bordering buildings and has an existing sense of depth to it that draws you in. Within this site I wanted to provide a space to listen in the form of an acoustic installation and a space to observe by allowing for the ability to project film onto the walls. These two categories were combined due to the size of the site, and that sound and film are often linked for installation purposes.

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Concept ImagesThese initial conceptual images were exploring the ideas of the in-between, hidden interiority and framing spaces in an abstract way. They didn’t really lead anywhere in terms of form, but did help to form the moments I hoped to achieve in terms of framing spaces beyond and obscuring interiority.

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In-betweeness

Hidden interiority

Framing space

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EncountersThese small sketches were done very early on in the semester and conveyed the encounters I wanted to design between person and space, person and person, and person and artworks. Artworks are placed outside normal viewing range and in-between walls to make viewing difficult, achieve a sense of depth and incite movement and discovery.

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MutationInitially I struggled to develop forms for these interventions, as mystery is often about the effect it has on something else, for example the blurring, obscuring or fragmenting of another element. In an effort to develop forms for these interventions and also integrate the client’s work into the design, I looked to biological processes for inspiration. The process of mutation resonated with me as it is an “action or process” (OED 2014) that responds to a need, similar to evolution. I imagined the ‘need’ to be the occupant’s engagement with space and the ‘action’ taking the form of subtle shifts in the existing urban fabric. Mutation can have negative imagery associated with it, but it is simply the process of variation and deviation that replicates and relocates or inserts and deletes certain elements, and throughout this process, errors can occur (OED 2014). Like this biological process that is opportunistic in nature, I analysed the sites for existing elements to replicate and relocate, insert and delete or vary slightly for the ‘need’ required by the category and action to take place within it. These variations became slight shifts in form, change in material, and the errors in this process became openings in the forms that offered opportunities for viewing.The subsequent interventions are not only mutation in terms of form and materiality, but also in their effect of mutating behaviour of the individual when encountering them and the ongoing process of mutation as the artworks that will occupying theses spaces will constantly change.

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Replicating | Relocating

Errors

Inserting | Deleting

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Organic

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These were the first drawings I made after looking into the process of mutation. Initially developing more organic forms, I then decided to move forward with subtler, geometric forms since I was mutating the existing urban fabric that is made of mostly geometric shapes. These less organic forms would also help the interventions to recede into their environments and compete less with the nature of the work exhibited.

Mutation

Geometric

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Materials

Figure 21-23

The materials chosen were based on their varying viewing qualities and possible effect on interaction from the occupant. Concrete is completely opaque and doesn’t typically invite engagement, but I wanted to play with this by creating opening within for viewing. A material such as polycarbonate or frosted acrylic creates a permanent blurred viewing experience that provides an impression of is beyond but never discloses. And perforated metal that also blurs but allows clear viewing depending on the proximity of the occupant.The model and drawings opposite were testing out how layers and openings react to light with translucent materials.

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Integration of Manifestations of Mystery

Interiority and external experience

Depth and distance

Peripheral space and blurred vision

Fragmentation of space

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Final Design Proposal

E1

E2

D1S1

S2

E3

Plan 1:100 @ A3

EncounterA Space to

Museum

This space of encounters provides a challenging experience for the occupant though its exposed, yet inaccessible interior spaces. The form is slightly shifted from the original wall dividing a grassed area and car park behind, creating an ambiguous interior/exterior relationship through strategically placed openings that restrict views to spaces beyond and the objects placed within. These objects sit within acrylic boxes to protect them from the elements and are lowered in to sit within the interior. The placement of the objects within, and the openings to view them, are either blurred through the use of frosted acrylic or located outside of typical field of vision. This is above and below 1400 mm – 1600 mm in the hopes of altering physical behaviour and in turn engagement. Concrete was chosen for its opaqueness, a quality that doesn’t typically invite engagement, but played with by creating openings within that invites a closer interaction with it.

Elevation 21:100 @ A3


Section 11:50 @ A3

Frosted acrylic

Acrylic boxes for artworks

Aluminium supports

D2

D3


Section 21:50 @ A3

Detail 1 1:20 @ A3

Existing wall

Steel wall tie

Hook

Formed concrete

Aluminium support for acrylic boxes

Acrylic box containing artworks

Detail 31:2 @ A3

Detail 21:5 @ A3

Viewing gap in concrete

Hook secured to concrete

Aluminium support for acrylic boxes

Formed concrete notch

E4

S3

S4 E5

Plan1:50 @ A3

PerformA Space toThis intervention, located on the exterior of PICA, provides a space to perform and consists of two elements that conceal the existing urban fabric. One element ghosts the stairs to provide seating, while the other partially conceals the façade of PICA: a kind of ‘screen’ that instead of the performance taking place in front of, takes place behind, blurring and restricting views to pique interest. Both are made of perforated metal with openings, or ‘errors’, that allow unrestricted views beyond and are slight alterations to the form that currently exist within the space – shifted either upwards from the stairs, or shifted out from the existing building. Behind the screen are 3 platforms that fit within each other and can be moved along tracks allowing for different heights to be used and a constant shift of the interior space.

PICA


Detail 51:5 @ A3

Detail 41:5 @ A3

Metal sheet joint detail

Corner joint overlap

Lighting

Steel support

D4

Metal flange

Lighting

Steel base support

Platform tracks

Metal sheet joint detail

Detail 61:2 @ A3

Detail 81:2 @ A3

Section 3 & 41:50 @ A3

Detail 71:2 @ A3

D5

D6

D7

D8

E6

E7

S6

S7

E8

Plan1:50 @ A3

PICA

EncounterA Space to

This second space to encounter located opposite the previous within the Perth Cultural Centre ‘deletes and inserts’ an existing wall that separates a thoroughfare and seating area. Again, objects are housed within an inaccessible interior space that blurs the artworks and only allows for small openings of unrestricted vision. These openings act as a point of connection between occupant and object and occupant and occupant when viewed from both sides.


Section 71:20 @ A3

Frosted polycarbonate

Support

Lighting

Aluminium interior

Section 61:50 @ A3

Frosted acrylic

Interior shelving for artworks

Plan 1:100 @ A3

E8

E9

S9

King

st.

Listen and ObserveA Space toThe last intervention is a space to listen and observe, located just off King Street, which draws people into it through the use of sound and projection. A series of speakers and projectors are housed within a metal element that runs along exterior of both buildings that create this in-between site. The areas of perforation were ‘replicated and relocated’ from the shapes of the windows on the exterior of the building to allow for either small, or large areas of sound and light to emit. The artists who exhibit here have the option to use all, or only some of the speakers and projectors to create their work. Sound can either be restricted - resonating within the metal where no perforations exist, or revealed - allowing for varying encounters with this intervention by the occupant.


Detail 10 1:10 @ A3

Detail 91:10 @ A3

D9 D10

Speaker

ProjectorPowder coated aluminium perforation

Powder coated aluminium perforation


Section 91:20 @ A3

Aluminium sheet

LightingSliding access for speakers

Speaker on oscillating support

Existing wall

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“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer marvel, no longer wonder, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed.” (Einstein as quoted in Trombley 2012, 31)

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Volume ReflectionIt is precisely the unknown that makes mystery the ‘beautiful’ experience as stated by Albert Einstein. The allure of something withheld, which, in the moment in-between the unknown and the known, contains a world of possibilities that differs for each individual that encounters it. The simple enriching experience which withholds yet enhances; provokes engagement between occupant and space as the individual fills in the missing information obscured by mystery through either physical exploration, or mental completion via the imagination. Though not situated within a building or involving the inhabitable enclosure of a traditional interior, these interventions convey their interiority via the occupant’s interaction with them. This could be through a short glance or pause that interrupts someone’s routine, or through intense attention, exploration and subsequent shift in an individual’s behaviour when encountered. These interventions all contain an element of difficulty with interior spaces that are often physically inaccessible to the occupant. Yet it is my hope that the challenging experiential nature of an encounter with mystery and “the courage necessary for taking up the challenge” (Dufrenne 1973, 399) encourages and heightens engagement between person and environment, and even between person-to-person allowing for a collective experience that enhances and activates public space. The design proposal in this thesis illustrates only a few possibilities for the integrating mystery, however I believe that any application of mystery has the ability to counteract sameness and monotony within the Built Environment providing a “space of encounters – maybe unexpected encounters” (Khan and Hannah 2008, 56) encouraging a deeper connection to it between occupant and space (Humpston 2014).

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References

Attlee, James. 2003. Gordon Matta-Clark : The Space Between / James Attlee & Lisa Le Feuvre. Tuscon, AZ : Nazraeli Press.Bure, Gilles de. 2008. Bernard Tschumi / Gilles de Bure. Basel : London: Basel : BirkhäuserDufrenne, Mikel. 1973. The Phenomenology of Aesthetic Experience. Evanston Ill.: Evanston Ill. : Northwestern University Press.Hann, Rachel. 2012. “Blurred Architecture: Duration and Performance in the Work of Diller Scofidio + Renfro.” A Journal of the Performing Arts 17 (5):9-18. doi: 10.1080/13528165.2012.728434.Humpston, Jessica. 2014. “Mystery in the Built Environment.” Literature Review, Curtin University of Technology. Humpston, Jessica. 2014. “Mystery in the Built Environment.” Thesis, Curtin University of Technology. Humpston, Jessica. 2014. “Advanced Technological Strategies” Report, Curtin University of Technology. Humpston, Jessica. 2014. “Mystery in the Built Environment.” Synopsis, Curtin University of Technology. Khan, Omar, and Dorita Hannah. 2008. “Performance/Architecture.” Journal of Architectural Education 61 (4):52-58. doi: 10.1111/j.1531-314X.2008.00187.x.Loewy, E. H. 1998. “Curiosity, Imagination, Compassion, Science and Ethics: Do Curiosity and Imagination Serve a Central Function?” Health Care Analysis 6 (4): 286-294. Lynch, Kevin. 1960. The Image of the City. Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge, Mass. : M.I.T. Pr.Meyers, William. 2012. Bio Design. London: Thames & Hudson.MONA. Accessed September 5. Architecture Australia. http://architectureau.com/articles/the-museum-of-old-new-art/.Norberg-Schulz, Christian. 1980. Genius Loci : Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture / Christian Norberg-Schulz. New York: New York : Rizzoli.Okakura, Kakuzo. 2003. The Book of Tea / Kakuzo Okakura Introduction by Sam Hamill. Boston : [New York]: Boston : ShambhalaPallasmaa, Juhani. 2009. The Thinking Hand : Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Arthitecture / Juhani Pallasmaa. Chichester, U.K.: Chichester, U.K. : Wiley.Pallasmaa, Juhani. 2005. The Eyes of the Skin : Architecture and the Senses. Chichester : Hoboken, NJ: Chichester : Wiley-AcademyHoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons. Reynolds, Larry T., and Nancy J. Herman-Kinney. 2003. Handbook of Symbolic Interactionism / edited by Larry T. Reynolds and Nancy J. Herman-Kinney. Edited by Larry T. Reynolds and Nancy J. Herman-Kinney. Lanham, Md.Sharma, Sarah. 2009. “Baring Life and Lifestyle in the Non-Place.” Cultural Studies 23 (1): 129-148. doi: 10.1080/09502380802016246.Sharr, Adam. 2007. Heidegger for Architects / Adam Sharr. Abingdon, London.Trombley, Stephen. 2012. Fifty Thinkers Who Shaped the Modern World. London: London : Atlantic Books Ltd.Weinthal, Lois. 2013. The Handbook of Interior Architecture and Design. Edited by Graeme Brooker. London: London : Bloomsbury Publishing.

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Figure 1 - Author’s Own. 2014. Mystery.Figure 2 - Author’s Own. 2014. Possibilities.Figure 3 - Author’s Own. 2014. Possibilities.Figure 4 - Christo Trees. 2014. Womens Mafia. http://www.womensmafia.com/2009/11/the-lady-you-wanted-love-art-and-jeanne-claude’s-lasting-legacy/.Figure 5 - Horizon. 2014. Tumblr. http://mpdrolet.tumblr.com/post/56531695175/anders-linden.Figure 6 - Interior Rome. 2003. Unecollecte. http://unecollecte.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/cy-twombly-photographs-iii.html.Figure 7 - Judith Turner. 2014. Art Animal Mag. http://www.artanimalmag.com/judith-turner-flatness-of-ambiguity/.Figure 8 - Matta-Clark 1. Patternity. Accessed September 10. patternity.org. Figure 9 - Matta-Clark 2. Kunstgeschiedenis. Accessed September 10. kunstgeschiedenis.jouwweb.nl.Figure 10 - Matta-Clark 3. Kunstgeschiedenis. Accessed September 10. kunstgeschiedenis.jouwweb.nl.Figure 11 - MONA 1. Discover Tasmania. Accessed September 10. http://www.blog.discovertasmania.com.Figure 12 - MONA 2. Tasmania Times. Accessed September 10. http://www.tasmaniantimes.com.Figure 13 - MONA 3. Light Project. Accessed September 10. http://www.lightproject.com.au.Figure 14 - Victimless Leather. Wanderlustmind. Accessed September 10. http://www.wanderlustmind.com.Figure 15 - UWA. Google maps. Accessed October 1.http://www.maps.google.com.au.Figure 16 - Sound. 2014. Hapihour. Accessed October 10. http://www.hapihour.org/amusing-light-sculpture-bio-sound-and-light-installation/.Figure 17 - Object. 2014. Wired. Accessed October 10. www.wired.co.uk.Figure 18 - Performance. 2014. Super Design. Accessed September 5. http://www.supernaturedesign.com/work/newangles/newangles.php#11.Figure 19 -Film. 2014. BH Buck. Accessed September 12. www.bhbuck2.org.Figure 20 - Perth City. Google maps. Accessed October 1.http://www.maps.google.com.au.Figure 21 - Concrete. 2014. Texturezine. Accessed November 15. www.texturezine.com.Figure 22 - Metal. 2014. Design Inspiration. Accessed November 10. http://designspiration.net/image/536094146601/.Figure 23 - Acrylic. 2014. Design Inspiration. Accessed November 10. http://designspiration.net/image/536094146602/.

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