journal of architectural education volume 44 issue 1 1990 [doi 10.2307%2f1424974] marc angelil --...

7/23/2019 Journal of Architectural Education Volume 44 Issue 1 1990 [Doi 10.2307%2F1424974] Marc Angelil -- Experimentati…

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/journal-of-architectural-education-volume-44-issue-1-1990-doi-1023072f1424974 1/13

Experimentation as Modus Operandi. An Investigation of Design Process: The Los Angeles ArtParkAuthor(s): Marc AngelilSource: Journal of Architectural Education (1984-), Vol. 44, No. 1 (Nov., 1990), pp. 37-48Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Association of Collegiate Schools ofArchitecture, Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1424974 .

Accessed: 17/06/2014 14:39

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Taylor & Francis, Ltd. and Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Inc. are collaborating with

JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Architectural Education (1984-).

http://www.jstor.org

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=taylorfrancis

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=acsa


http://www.jstor.org/stable/1424974?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


http://www.jstor.org/stable/1424974?origin=JSTOR-pdf



http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=taylorfrancis



Experimentation

s

Modus

Operandi

An

Investigation

f

Design

Process:

heLos

Angeles

Art

Park

MARC

ANGELIL,

University

f

Southern

California

In a

situationwhere

here

s no secure asis

n

terms

ofform

and

content,

reative

rtists re

compelled y

orce

of

circumstanceo

experi-

ment....

Experimentationspainful;

t

elicits

resentment

against

o-called isms"r

groups f

artists

consciously

nited

by

a shared

agenda

r

style.

-Theodor

Adorno,

Aesthetic

Theory.

THE

STUDIO OR ATELIERSTHE

PLACE

N

WHICH

ideasareconceivedandbrought nto form.

Hypotheses

are

tested,

rejected,

and

newly

formulated.

n

this

sense,

the architectural

product

hat

is

being

created an be seen in

close

affinity

o the

process

f

design.

The

de-

sign

studio as

the locus for

learning

and

teaching

rchitecturet

universitiesnd

acad-

emies

offersa framework

or

understanding

the

fundamental

relationship

betweenthe

means

and

ends of

architectural ndertak-

ings.

A

primary

bjective

of

the

design

stu-

dio,

in

other

words,

pertains

to the

investigation

f

the

processes

hat

contribute

to the formulationf architecture.

Design

as a

method of

production

consequently

ngages

n a

search

oward he

definition f newsolutions. n

analogy

o

the

concept

of

laboratory

experiments

in the

physical

sciences,

the

architectural

design

process

n

the context

of the studio

environ-

ment

encompasses

he

ideaof

experimenta-

tion.

Design

work

considered rom

such a

vantage

point

suggests

the

possibilities

or

searching

and

revealing

in

a

very

general

sense.

Experimentation, ltimately,

can be

considereda modeof operation n thepro-

cess

of

design.

Experimentation

hallenges,

y

defini-

tion,

the

establishedrderof

things.

Precon-

ceived

notions

about

architecture and

establishedonventions recalled

nto

ques-

tion. Suchan

approach

o

design

necessitates

a

conscious ffort

and the

willingness

o take

risks. "The

need to run

certain

risks,"

as

Adorno

asserts,

"is

actualized

n

the

idea

of

experimentation."'

incesuch

workcontains

qualities

hatare

unforeseeable

n the

process

of

production,experimentation

llows

new

territory

o be

explored

nwhat

s oftena dif-

ficult earch.

Investigations

of

process

imply

an

awareness f

the

specific echniques

nvolved

in

production.

Technical

design

skills

must

be

consideredn viewof

ideas,

concepts,

nd

intellectual onstructs o

achieve

a

meaning-

ful

architecture.

Only

withinsuch a

frame-

work, in which theoretical and practical

considerationsre

merged,

an an

investiga-

tionwithin the nature

of

process

be

identi-

fied. Process

is herein

founded on

the

understanding

of

design

as a

constructive

method,

including

both intellectual

and

physical

rameworks. dorno

writes:"Con-

struction

necessitates

olutions that are

not

immediately

present

or

obvious to the

senses."Within

construction,

he

continues,

"the

unforeseen,

hen,

not

only

is a

contin-

gent

effect

butalsohasa

momentof

objectiv-

ity."2

n that

dea

a

connection s

established

between

experimentation

s an

operational

strategy

nd

design

as a

constructive

ethod.

The

experiment

resented

ere

devel-

oped

sequentially

within

a defined

tructure

to

the

process

of

design,

movinggradually

from

the abstractnto the

concrete,

hereby

attempting

understandings

f what

Roland

Barthesdentified s

"concrete

bstraction."3

The first

step

suggested

a

syntactic

analysis

f

a

given

workof

architecture.

he

analysis

as

to

be

performed

hrough

he

cre-

ation of

an

architectural

rtifact.While

read-

ing

the

textof

the

givenpiece,

a

new

textwas

to

be

made

by

the

designer

that

assumed

both

the rolesof

reader ndauthor imulta-

neously.

Emphasis

was

put

on a

syntactical

understanding

f

architectural

onstructs-

syntax

being

he

structure f

relationships

e-

tween

architectonic lements.

The

question

of

meaning

n

architecture,

n

other

words,

wasto

beaddressed

through

tructural

rder-

ing,

suggesting

deas

or

conceptions

nherent

within

he

architectural

object.

Thesecond

step

involved

questions

f

context

as

pertaining

to time and

place.

Modernity

s

manifestedn urban

tructures

was

considered

o

contribute o

thesimulta-

neous

existence f

multiple

ystems

f

order,

reflecting

a

heterogeneous uality

n

which

conflict

and

contradictionhave

become

ac-

cepted

norms. Urban

contexts were to

be

read

and

architecturally

edefined

through

analysis

nd

designproduction.

Based n

un-

derstandingsf urban tructures,haracter-

ized not

exclusively y

order,

but

including

divergence,

upture,

iscontinuity,

nd

frag-

mentation,

a

newcontext

wasto be

created

while

integrating

he

conceptual

ramework

of

step

one

into thenew

syntactic

ext

of the

site.

The

third

operative

step

focused on

the

inherent

aspects

f

use,

purpose,

rfunc-

tion.

Programmatic

equirements

ereto be

understood n terms

of their

essential truc-

tureand

meaning,

.e.,

in viewof ideas

aswell

as n

viewof

pragmatic

onsiderations.

s

de-

fined

through

ystems

f functional elation-

ships,

architectural

pace

wasto be

created

y

meansof the

preciseplacement

of

architec-

tonic

elements.Transformational

methods

were to

be

invented to address he

funda-

mental

meaning

of

the

aspect

of function n

the

production

of

architectural

artifacts.

Those

operations

were

brought

o

synthesis

with the

formationsf the

previous

teps.

The fourth

step

required

he

integra-

tion of tectonic

considerationsnto the

de-

sign

process.

Propositions

belonging

o

the

materialrealityof the architecturalobject

were o be

madeso as to inform he

project's

internal

conditions. The

field

of

building

construction

offered

aspects

pertaining

to

material

ualities,

methodsof

construction,

and

production

processes,

nvolving

under-

standings

f structural

ystems,

nvelope,

ir-

culation

ystem,

andmechanical

equipment.

The

question

of

meaning

n

architecture

as

here

o beaddressed

through

he

possibilities

of

physical

ordering,

suggesting

a

material

37

Angelil

This content downloaded from 185.44.79.85 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 14:39:26 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions






PROJECT FOR THE LOS ANGELES PHOTOGRAPHY FOUNDATION

BY ANDREW CHIU

Syntactic

Analysis:

Frank

Lloyd Wnght,

Fallingwater,

Bear

Run,

1936-39

Jackson

Pollock,

Autumn

Rhythm,

1950

manifestationf

conceptions

nherentwithin

the architectural

object.

The

design

process,

consequently,

llows he

reading

of

physical

form to be

informed

by

the

object's

nternal

condition.

The

work

presented ngaged

n an ex-

ploration

f the

interdependence

etweende-

sign process

nd

design

product.

Procedures,

techniques,

nd methods

of

making

architec-

turewere

investigated

n

relation o the archi-

tecturalobject. Emphasiswas put on the

awareness f the instrumentsnvolvedn the

process

of

design.

The

pencil

and

ink

draw-

ing

and the model

wereto be usedas

precise

tools and

contrastedwith the framework

f

ideas,

attempting

synthesis

betweenmate-

rial

project

and intellectual constructs

in

making

architecture.

The

drawing

and the

modelwere not to

be seen as

representing

pictorial mage

of

reality

but

instead

were to

Analysis

of

Contextual Structure

organization

ot

Programatic Components

and

tr

egrti

wt

heir

ntegration

within the Site

be understood s

integral

o the

procedures

f

the

project.

This

involved

n

attempt

o find

correspondences

etween he inherent

quali-

ties within the

techniques

nd

the structural

orderof the architectural

object.

Therefore,

in

attempting

o avoid

he

dominance

f

pic-

torial,

mage-orientediguration

n theact of

making,

he

projectncouraged

he

discovery

f

structural

rders

n

their isible

manifestation.

Architecture as for too

long

focused

on the presentationof pristineobjectsand

their

representation

n

drawing

orm.

A

criti-

cal

understanding

f our

field, however,

ne-

cessitates a reevaluation

of the roles of

processes

involved

in

the

production

of

building.

Rather han

emphasizing

urface

appearances,

n architecture ooted

n

pro-

cess aims

ultimately

at

revealing

he funda-

mentaland

deep

structuresnherentwithin

the

making

f architecture.

One of the

primary

asks f the

process

is to

provoke

ntuitionand

ingenuity-and

the awareness that both are founded

on

knowledge-and

that

knowledge

must

be

applied

with

imagination.

Notes

1. Theodor

Adorno,

"Experimentation

[II]"

and

"In

defence

of'isms,"'

in

Aesthetic

Theory,ranslatedrom Aesthetische heorie

(1970)

by

C. Lenhardt

(Routledge

&

Kegan

Paul,

New

York,

1984)

p.

55.

2.

Adorno,

"Experimentation

I],"

p.

35.

3.

Roland

Barthes,

TheEiffel

Tower,"

in The

Eifel

Towerand Other

Mythologies,

translated rom La Tour

Eiffel

by

Richard

Howard

Hill

and

Wang,

New

York,

1979),

p.

9.

November 990 JAE

44/1

38

l

-

I

-v

i.

'l .B^^^

_s

.~~?

~,*1~Y] C

~

4.., -.Ai







2

Building

Configuration,

Model

Photographs

39

Angelil







PROJECT FOR

A

CENTER FOR OPERATICART

BY

ELIZABETH EUNG

P

n

11 1

-

Plan

Sequence,

Diagrams

Syntactic

Analysis:

Hiromi

Fujii,

Miyata

House,

Tokyo,

1980

Andy

Warhol,

Green

Coca-Cola

Bottles,

1962

November

990JAE

44/1

40

Site

Analysis,

Drawings

Site

Analysis,

Model







Proposed

Structure

of the

Theater

Complex,

Model

41

Angelil

Plan

Development

Programatic

Organization

Functional

&

Spatial

Structure







PROJECT FOR

AN

INSTITUTEOF THE

PERFORMINGARTS

BY MARKLIEB

Syntactic Analysis:

Peter

Eisenman,

House El

Even

Odd,

project

1980

Marcel

Duchamp,

'The

Bride

Stripped

Bare

by

her

Bachelors, even,'

1915-23

Site and

Program

Analyss

November 990

JAE

44/1 42







Volumetric

Configuration,

Model

Photographs

43

Angelil

Study

of

Architectonic

Structure,

E_1--.__il

7

:-s-%pi

I

;-----_ "9

_f7

I----?







PROJECT FOR THE BALLET

OF THE

20TH

CENTURY

BY

RUBEN

TORRES

I

Syntactic

Analysis: Arhitetonic

Parts of th

Syntacic Analyss.

Alvar

Aalto, Architecrs

House,

Muuratsao, 1953

Individual

Elements, Model

Paul

Klee.

Inthe Currnt

Six

Thresholds, 1929

Architectonic

Structure,

Assembly

of

Elements

&

their

System

of

Relationship, Model

November

990 JAE44/1

44

il`

IFZ77

%.

;'XE25ilq~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~







II I

mWnlI

- J

Integration of

Functional

Requirements

Plan

Proposal,

Spatial

Organization

Bulding Assemby,

Modelhotogra-ph

Building

ssembly,

Model

hotograph

45

Angelil

Sections

??







PROJECT

FOR

A

THEATER

BY SABRINA

WILLIAMS

Syntactic

Analysis:

Rudolf

Schindler, Lovell

Beach

House,

Newport

Beach,

1926

Kurt

Schwitters,

Formen im

Raum,

1920

November990

JAE

44/1 46

Plan

Diagram







?

.

r

I

r~

'

:

_

L

?

,

_.~

*

:

.

Diagram

unctional

equirements

Study

of

Spatial

tructure

Construction

System

= *j _ r

a

r

J ---

.,

-.7

,

I/

..-

E

T

Plan

Organization

IL

_

-i X

.U

.

i

_r.-

L

,u

,

Section

47

Angelil

Model

Photograph

I

r

d

.

o

-:

'-S -

-.

tq

- X







PROJECT FOR THE UNITED NATIONS PACIFIC RIM HEADQUARTERS

BY

ANDREW WONG

,

..,/

..f

.._

??

~

_

A

1

^I

X kj

L

4

L

i

Syntactic

Analysis:

Pierre

Chareau,

Maison de Verre, Pans 19 32

Joseph

Comell,

Medici

Slot

Machine,

1942

Site

Analysis

Contextual

Structure,

Model

and

Drawing

November

990 JAE

44/1

48

---- -- .._i

journal of architectural education volume 44 issue 1 1990 [doi 10.2307%2f1424974] marc angelil --...

Documents