architecture where the desire may live

Inspirations blog: http://ginatre.blogspot.com/

Design Blog: http://rudyte.blogspot.com/

TUTOR: SHAUN MURRAY

AVATAR 2009-2010

[email protected]

ARCHITECTURE WHERETHE DESIRE MAY LIVE

GINTARE RUDYTE

Architecture where the Desire may Live 2

Architecture where The Desire may Live

My project questions whether the existence of an aesthetic desire can trigger a desire to create something beyond the object or image itself. It is supposed that through this, we may be able to find a place where desire may live and learn what an architecture of desire might be.

10-2_“Micro scale”

10-1 _“Biological

Journey through the scales of ‘3 powers of Ten’

This journey demonstrates how the movement through 3 different series of scales helps to find the answers to the main

Location

>> Project

_Fourth method

_Third method

_Second method

_First method

10+0_“Anthropological

<< Project Visual Map>>

Desire OrchidArchitecture(Architectural ob-

ObjectSubject

‘The metaphor of orchids’

‘The metaphor of architectural desire’Art

icul

ates

with

arc

hite

ctur

e th

roug

h 4

met

hods

Links 2 metaphors

Object

through the idea of desire, passion and adaptation

Is framed in 10+0anthropological scale and trying to disclose people’s passions and desires for the ‘‘objets’- orchids.

Is dealing with object -orchid itself as a ‘selfish’ organism and is framed in biological scale 10-1 in order to understand if the organisms have desire, do they have passion?

Introduces architecture not through the built objects but as new way of representing what architecture could be in the future. Also it suggests that architectural object could not exist without desire.

2 theories focus on ‘the methapor of orchids’

1st Theory

2st Theory

10+0 Scale

10-1 Scale

Represents Represents

The design work of this project are the outcomes of analysis, used theories, methods and study of living organism- orchid, which are used as an object to construct the framework for my architecture.

‘Architecture where the Desire may

10+0

Scale

10-1

10-2

The structure for this design project is presented as a journey through three different scales from macro to micro; reflects the effect of adding another zero to the number and the value of exploring things in different dimensions.

Film ‘Adaptation’ (Kaufman, 2003)

<< Refernce Visual Map>>

Research meaning

Jacques Derrida, Philosopher

Architecture(Architectural object)

‘The metaphor of orchids’

‘The metaphor of architectural desire’

Links 2 metaphors

His view on the architectural desire and crea-tion: ‘there is a formless desire for another form. The desire for new location, new ar-cades, new corridors, new ways of living and of thinking ...places where desire can recog-nize itself, where it can live’(1996).

Suggests that architectural object could not exist without desire.

‘Architecture where the Desire may live’

Susan Orleanís book ‘The Orchid Thief’

Andre Schuiteman,Scientist and senior

researcher

Richard Dawkins ‘Selfish genes’

The German biologist Ernst Haeckel

Bernard Tschum Architect

Presents how the living organism can adapt to the different environments. Another main idea of this film is about the way people get obsessed with pas-sion for objects.

His idea explains altruism at the individual level in nature.

Person who has passion for it and desire through knowledge who

works, collects, discovers orchids and is a main scientist in Kew Gardens, London.

Analyze the structure of living organism in ‘mi-cro’ scale and communicate with drawings.

Orchid

People passions and obsessions for orcids.

Douglas Darden “Condemned Building”

Peter Eisenman “Moving arrows eros and other errors” (AA mega series)

Philip Morrison & Phylis Morrison ‘Power of ten’ (1996)

The German biologist Ernst Haeckel

Research methods

<< Refernce Visual Map>>‘Architecture where the Desire may where

The method for assembling hybrid images of buildings by first collecting series of different images of various buildings then scaling, etching them and putting different sets of buildings images on top of each other to finally produce the sections To construct these black and white hand drawings Darden also uses layering and college

In this work Nicholson analyses the structure of appliances through copying, layering and collage. Ben Nicholson ‘Appliance House’

Scaling, superimposing and shifting to build up layers of architectural fiction. Different levels of scales are meant to construct the similarities and differences to convey the projectís dual meaning.

Shifting different scales from macro to micro, reflects the value of looking at things through the different dimensions. The effect of adding another zero to the number and the value of exploring things in different dimensions.

Henry Murrays

Mathew Barney

Film ‘Adaptation’ (Kaufman, 2003)Presents how the living organism can adapt to the different environments in order to survive.

Created detailed plant drawings to deal with micro scale and to communicate it with living organisms.

Line drawings, darck & light (Espially during the World war I and II with bodies in the subways)

Uses certain materials and technique like wax. (Inspirational drawings ‘skinny women’, something beautiful exsisting inside the darkness of the space.

I_INTRODUCTION 08

1. Aim of the project 08

2. Methods 08

3. Background 09

II_RESEARCH AND ARCHITECTURAL IDEA 11

1. Architectural desire 12

2. Is it a ‘‘Belief’system in my architecture? 12

2.1 ‘The Metalogue’ 13

3. ‘Selfish organisms’ 15

III_RESEARCH AND AESTHETIC METHODOLOGY 17

>>Methods

1- First _method 18

2-Second_method 20

3-Third_method 22

4-Fourth_method 23

Contents

Project visual map

Visual references: research & methods map

IV_PROJECT 25

1. Location 26

2. Journey moving through the scale 28

“ 3 powers of Ten”

10+0_“Anthropological scale” 28

10-1 _“Biological scale” 28

10-2_“Micro scale” 30

V_CONCLUSION 32

VI_APPENDICES

1. Appendix I: ‘The Metalogue’ with

scientist André Schuiteman 34

VI_BIBLIOGRAPHY 37


I_INTRODUCTION

1. Aim of the project

The aim of this project is to explore if desire can be used to inspire the creation of architectural design. A living organism, namely the orchid, is used as an analogy to architecture: the project takes the highly aesthetic forms of orchids as objects of desire from which to construct and test the project question.The orchids are understood and articulated architecturally through different methods, including adaptation and transplantation. The orchids are also considered at different scales – from the macro to the micro. These scales include the anthropological, the biological and the microscopic. The purpose of the shifting scales is to reflect the value of looking at things from different dimensions, from large frames to smaller ones.

The greatest inspiration for this project came from thoughts of the philosopher Jacques Derrida. Particularly relevant are his views on how architectural desire and creation operate: ‘there is a formless desire for another form. The desire for new location, new arcades, new corridors, new ways of living and of thinking ... places where desire can recognize itself, where it can live’(Derrida, 1996). Derrida’s view on architectural design encouraged further consideration of the living organism (orchid) in diverse ways. The concept of the orchid is used as an analogy to architecture; the form of the orchid is explored through adaptation, motivated by a desire and passion for its form. Thus my architecture links the metaphor of orchids to the metaphor of architectural desire from which I ask what inspires how formless desire can take form. Is a ‘belief system’ required to manifest this desire? In the case of the organism (orchid) does it also have a desire or passion to re-form itself and if so, how does this occur?

Most importantly my projects questions if aesthetic desire can inspire a passion that triggers a desire to create something beyond the original form or image itself. In other words, can desire allow us to explore more about what architecture can be but that does not yet exist?

2. Methods

The work was designed through a number of methodologies and techniques. The primary method used in this project was the creation of new environments for the delicate orchid organism and the study of its strange appearances when placed in different artificial conditions, such as water, ink, dye and fire. These tests mimic the way organisms can adapt and change their appearance in order to survive. The ‘first set’ of photographs is intended to capture the changing shapes and colors of organism in its new surroundings. The inspiration for this method came from the film ‘Adaptation’ (Kaufman, 2003) in which one of the main ideas revolves around how orchids adapt to different environments.

9 Introduction

The second method drew on the technique that Douglas Darden describes in his book ‘Condemned Building’. Darden constructed hybrid images of buildings by superimposing pieces of different images into one composition and then cutting a series of sections through it. Accordingly, in this project the ‘first set’ of pictures from method one was dissected to gain a better understanding of the structure and the form of orchids. These were then layered and cut through sectionally. Dissections of actual orchids followed, adding more knowledge about the biological structure of the plant and the sections of orchids were adapted to compose a ‘second set’ of images. A further step in this method was inspired by Ben Nicholson’s work ‘Appliance House’ in which he analyzed the structure and the form of everyday objects such as appliances, through copying, layering and collage. These techniques were used in my project to describe images of orchids in greater detail.

The fourth method in my project is inspired by the way that Kew botanist, André Schuiteman, investigates the micro-structure of dried orchids. To observe the plants’ fabric, structure and texture through the microscope, he first dries orchids. After observation he then places them into boiling water to make them soft again. This method will be used in this project with orchids dried for six months. In addition, delicate black and white hand drawings will be produced from observations of the orchid micro-particles of the microspore. These drawings will be similar to those by Ernst Haeckel who communicates the micro-scale of flowers by drawing its cells. The outcome of this method will create the ‘third set’ of photographs that will reveal the fabric, structure and texture of orchids before they are placed into hot water for further analysis.

The structure of the design work is arranged in reference to the method of shifting scales from macro to micro which are seen in the short documentary ‘Powers of Ten’ by Charles and Ray Eames (1968) and in the eponymous book by Philip and Phylis Morrison. According to Ray Eames, the journey of moving through different scales demonstrates the power of the relative size of things and expands our intellectual ability to explore extremities of scale ‘The idea of scale – of what is appropriate at different scales, and the relationship of each to each – is very important to architects’ (Eames, 1996). Therefore, this project is arranged into three series of scales – ‘3 powers of ten’ – which descend from the ‘10+0anthropological scale’ to ‘10-1 biological scale’ and finally to the ‘10-2micro scale’.

3. Background

The film ‘Adaptation’ (Kaufman, 2003) is a central reference for the project. It presents how a living organism (an orchid) adapts to different environments. ‘Adaptation’ also consideres the way people become obsessed with their passions for certain objects. The film is based on the book ‘The Orchid Thief’ by American journalist Susan Orlean, which illustrates a belief that people must believe in something strongly to operate, to be passionate about and to work towards what their obsessesion is. It raises the question in architecture: do you really need to believe to make?


Susan Orlean writes about working toward a desire, and about passion and desire itself, as well as the amazing lengths to which people will go to fulfill it. ‘The people who love orchids love them madly, but the passion for orchids is not necessarily a passion for beauty. Something about the form of an orchid makes it seem almost more like a creature than a flower’ (Orlean, 1995).

>> Research and Architectural Idea

11 Research and Architectural Idea

My ambition for this project is to link the idea of architectural desire to the physical form of the orchid. These objects of desire – the orchids – are articulated architecturally through methods of adaptation and transplantation. Architecture is here thought of not in the traditional perception of built objects but instead as the possibility for new ways of representing what architecture could be. The project is underpinned by an idea that architectural desire cannot exist without an underlying passion and belief.


II_RESEARCH AND ARCHITECTURAL IDEA

II.1 Architectural desire

According to Jacques Derrida, architectural metaphor is one of the essential parts of western thinking and this metaphor helps forms much of Western thought ‘the architectural metaphor conveys a sense of fullness and stability that is a desired goal of the argument’ (1996).

Bernard Tschumi states that architecture is not just used to create buildings it also conveys the concepts, representations and expressions in a different and diverse way. We can understand this as expressing the idea of architectural desire: ‘We could recognize that architecture is, above all, the production of experiences and concepts and not necessarily just of built objects ... which produces the particular kind of desire (that is architecture), which finds its way to the surface of representation in a surprising variety of practise and expressions ‘ (Tschumi, 2009). Moreover, Tschumi states that the object is meaningless without desire, ‘The objects themselves are nothing without the flow of desire, which they produce but which also acts as their support. The setting up of the objects as a triggers, the presentation of them as a substitutes for architecture we desire but not have, construes them as signifiers and mirrors them back to the viewer as marks of a specific, even unique and personal, affective architectural encounter.’ (Tschumi, 2009).

II.2 The metaphor of orchids

The metaphor of orchids is discussed in this chapter with regard to two theories of different scales. Both incorporate the idea of desire, passion and adaptation. The first theory is imagined as being anthropological in scale and aims to disclose a human’s passion and desire for orchids. The second theory is framed as biological in scale and looks at the orchid itself as a ‘selfish’ organism. The ‘selfish’ theory asks: If the organisms have desire (in this case, to adapt), do they also have passion?

II.3 Is there a ‘Belief system’ in my architecture?

This section questions what underpins people’s belief systems, such as their desires, passion, and obsessions. Is it the ‘belief system’ that creates people’s passion for objects or what they are pursuing?

The idea of desire and passion is illustrated through the scientist and senior researcher at Kew Gardens, Andre Schuiteman (figure 01). He has a passion for studying orchids and this desire for knowledge abou the orchis is expressed through his works, collections and new discoveries about orchids.

Figure 01_Scientist Andre Schuiteman in catalogues stor-age room of orchids.


The obsession for collecting orchids began in Victorian England as a hobby for rich people, who had enough land for the greenhouses and money to pay for expeditions where the rarest species of the orchids could be found. According to Susan Orlean, the reason for collecting living things is something imperceptible. ‘The botanical complexity of orchids and their mutability makes them perhaps the most compelling and maddening of all collectible living things ...To desire orchids is to have a desire that can never be fully requited. A collector who wants one of every orchid species will die before even coming close.’ (Orlean, 1995).

Below is a metalogue with André Schuiteman (appendix I) that discusses his passion for orchids. The metalogue reveals his passion, desire, obsession for the plant and how they adapt and transplant in different ways to their environment.

II.3.1 ‘The Metalogue’

Ideas about desire, passion, belief, obsession and adaptation for orchids were discussed with Schuiteman. The conversation began with beautiful sentence about his passion: ‘I could say that all plants are special, but orchids are more special than the other plants’ (Schuiteman, 2010). He has worked with orchids for around 30 years and has travelled the world to look for new kinds of orchids. He also has identified some specific orchid species.

According to Schuiteman, if you are passionate about something, it is easy to choose and specialize in that area, but still he thinks that he will never complete his study of orchids: there are too many of them and they have too many variations. They can appear in any color we can imagine, even in black, and some have very complex shapes. Schuiteman thinks that this may be one of the reasons why so many people collect orchids; that they are more interested in the shapes that look like living organisms: ‘Ít was not just a plant it was like a creature and it is not surprising that orchids can attract not just


human beings but also other creatures find orchids alluring. Some orchids are shaped exactly like the insect that pollinates them; the insect is drawn inside thinking it has found its mate’ (2010).

The idea about how orchids adapt and survive in nature is very interesting. Some orchids adapt to attract insects; in order to be pollinated they became similar looking to the insects which pollinate them. Another species changed its appearance through evolution – they lost their leaves and instead just have roots. The roots now have two functions: as both leaves and as roots at the same time, gaining chrolophyll and water at once. For Schuiteman, the most special orchid is the ghost orchid for its fragility, pureness, shape and beauty. Against a dark swamp background he believes it makes the flower look like a little frog with slender legs.

Kew Gardens has valuable collections of dried and pressed orchids drawn from many different people all around the world, some of which started more than 150 years ago. They are priceless and the catalogues are very old (figure 02) with hundreds of thousands of dried orchids and more than 10, 000 different species. Catalogues are kept in fireproof metal storage units and the collection continues to be added to. The dried plant samples in the catalogues are accompanied by old letters , descriptions (figure 03) or small drawings (figure 04) which explain how the orchid looked when it was collected. Some of these species are already extinct but for those which still exist in very remote areas, flower samples are kept (figure 05). All genetic data in the catalogues helps the scientists to define and identify each species.

Nowadays flowers are preserved in alcohol to keep the shape, making it possible to study the flower, whereas previously flowers were pressed. After a while the color in dried flowers disappeared but they still have the ability to reveal texture and surface. When put into hot water the flower becomes soft again and can be studied through the microscope.

Schuiteman makes his own hand drawings of the orchids. Initially he makes sketches in ink. Sometimes he has to use a special microscopic tool in order to draw very small objects which can be traced on the microscope.

His way of operating with and exposing flowers in micro-detail will be referenced in the final stage of my project when examining at the micro-scale. Figures 02, 03, 04_Catalogues

with the dried orchid samples from all around the world.

Figure 03

Figure 02

Figure 04


Figure 05_Dried samples of the orchids over than 100 years old

I.2.1 ‘Selfish organism’

Orchids have an amazing history of strategic development. They grow on another plant and depend on the plant for physical support but not for the nutrients. Therefore, orchids belong to epipyhite plant group and are also known as air plants. They can adapt to almost every environment, can be mutated, crossbred and cloned. The same organism can change its appearance or appear to be masked in wide range of colours in response to changes in the surrounding environment.

The delicate and sensitive organism does not give anything back to its environment, it just takes from it, showing a beauty which often becomes obsessive to the human eye. It’s a very ‘selfish’ artificial organism that can mutate in very different ways. The work selfish is used here according to Richard Dawkins meaning in his book ‘Selfish Genes‘. Dawkins does not mean the genes are ‘selfish’ or being driven by will, but uses it to express a need to survive and adapt. His idea explains altruism at the individual level in nature. Also in his work he uses the term ‘meme’ which in human cultural evolution would be analogous to the gene. This idea suggests that such ‘selfish’ replication may also model human culture in a different sense ‘When an individual sacrifices its own life to protect the lives of kin, it is acting in the interest of its own genes‘ (Dawkins 1976).

The notion of the orchids adapting from one space to another can be compared to architectural development. In the production of architecture, many aspects change according to the economy, financial systems and so forth. The idea of adaptable architecture could also be extended to the notion that a building dictates how its occupants are supposed to use it. In a minimal house, it is not practical for certain spaces to stay clean and tidy because of their practical use. An office building requires of its users to dress and behave in certain ways. Should occupants be able to do what they want inside a building; should they be more ‘selfish’?

17 Research and Aesthetic Methodology

>> Research and Aesthetic Methodology

A number of methodologies and techniques are explored to examine and document characteristics of orchids. These include dissection, collage, tracing, scaling, layering and extracting meaning from original contexts or from depicted shapes to explore a new context for the orchid objects. All the methods discussed are presented in more detail in the following chapter, which is presented in four sections.


Figure 06_First artificial condi-tion applied for the plant, the orchid crossed by light mesh.

III_RESEARCH AND AESTHETIC METHODOLOGY

III.1.1_First method

According to Schuiteman (2010) an orchid’s appearance constantly changes in the course of evolution. Orchids are one of the few organisms on planet earth that easily adapt to different environments. Therefore, they can be found almost everywhere on earth except deserts and arctic poles. Some species of this seemingly fragile plant have even lost their leaves to be able to survive on rocks or trees where the supply of water is limited. This is just one example of the strange ways orchids adapt to survive. Charlie Kaufman’s film ‘Adaptation’(2003) illustrates many layers of the ‘Adaptation’ process, including an orchid’s ability to adjust to a different conditions or situations.

The idea of this first method is to create new artificial surroundings for the orchid and to record the way it changes its appearance by changing color and shape, creating different masks in relationship to new environments it is placed in, such as water, ink, dye and fire. This reflects the way organisms can adapt and change their look in order to survive. The series of photographs were taken during orchid’s exposure to different conditions and make up the ‘first set’ of pictures that examine the adaptation process. The same species of orchid was used to explore this method was chosen to see how the same kind of organism can adapt and appear differently. First, the orchids’ context was changing through different light sources projected from various angles (figure 06). Next, water and ink were introduce as new artificial conditions (figure 07). Finally, dye and fire were applied to the delicate organisms and the results were documented.

Figure 07_3 series of images from the ‘first set’ then the same type

of orchids’ appearance with light projection, water and ink

surroundings was observed.


III.1.2_Second method

The second method helped to explore and analyze the form and structure of the orchid. This was firstly done by dissecting the ‘first set’ of photographs from method one. ‘Cutting’ and slicing those pictures allowed the extraction of some details and to trace more accurate elements of orchid’s structure and shape. Moreover, sections of orchids were drawn from overlaid parts of the sliced images (figures 08, 10). The dissection technique was used to find out more about the biological structure of the plant: the orchid body was sliced and cut from different angles and in different pieces. The ‘second set’ (figure 09) of photographs was taken while applying the second technique to actual plant dissection of its structure.

This method had two sources of inspiration. Primarily, Douglas Darden’s book ‘Condemned Building’ provided ideas for dissecting pictures and orchids. Darden presents a method for assembling hybrid images of buildings by first collecting series of different images of various buildings, and then scaling, etching them and putting different sets of building images on top of each other. He finally produces sections of the newly assembled images. To construct these black and white hand drawings Darden also uses layering and college just like Ben Nicholson does in his work the ‘Appliance House’. In this work Nicholson analyses the structure of appliances through copying, layering and collage. This work serves as a second source of inspiration for this method in my project.


Figure 08_Hand drawings of orchid from the collage and cutted images from the ‘1st set’ photograps.


Figure 09_’second set’ image set of dissected plant through the

different angles in order to analyse biological structure.

Figure 10_Hand drawing made from the collaged, cut, traced im-ages has some similar parts from

‘second set’ which were first cut.


Figure 11_ Layering and shifting scales were applied for the ‘first set’ of photograps to extract fresh meaning from them.

III.1.3_Third method

In order to explore what is beyond the image of orchid, this method observes the photographs by layering them on top of each other and extracting certain information from each layer by scaling and tracing in two dimensions. This method helps to perceive the certain qualities of orchids as new forms and lines appear(figure 11). According to Eisenman (1986) displacement, superimposition and shifting scales taken metaphorically, are necessary to construct fresh meaning. The ‘first set’ of photographs taken using the first method were further employed in this method to extract a new context of orchids.

Peter Eisenman created a layered, multi- scaled project entitled ‘Moving Arrows Eros and Other Errors’. He used scaling, superimposing and shifting to build up layers of architectural fiction. In order to rearticulate with the viewer each layer was introduced on a different transparent leaf of paper. Different levels of scales are meant to construct the similarities and differences and to convey the project’s dual meaning. As expressed by Whiteman (1986) ‘the technicality of the discriminations made by the process of scaling is turned from cold to warm, from harsh to delicate, by the beauty of their allusions’.


Figure 11_The image from the ‘third’set study of the micro

structure of the pressed and dried orchid.

Moreover, the next method of this project was encouraged by the botanist, Schuiteman. During the interview (appendix 1) at Kew Gardens he explained his method for investigating micro-particles of dried orchids in order to analyze their micro-structure namely fabric, surface and texture (figure 11). Schuiteman first carefully pressed the flower on a piece of paper allowing them to dry for several months. In this way orchids preserve their original structure for many years. Therefore, during 150 years of compilation the Kew Gardens’ collection of dried orchids is enormous and continues to grow, allowing comparison and understanding of plant family variations. In order to study the flower’s structure after drying, Schuiteman places it into hot water until it becomes soft again, and then uses a microscope to observe micro-details. For this part of the project orchids were dried and pressed for six months and then used to create the ‘third set’ (figure 12) of pictures, which emphasise the fabric, surface and texture of dried plants. A method comparable with Schuiteman’s will be used to trace the micro details and to produce the delicate black and white hand drawings just like the ones by Haeckel (picture n) who created detailed plant drawings to communicate the microscale of flowers.

III.1.4_Fourthmethod

Figure 12_The fabric and texture of the 6 month dried orchids

emphasises the micro details of the surface and belongs to the

‘third set ‘ of photographs.

25 Project

>> Project

This project questions whether the existence of an aesthetic desire can trigger a desire to create something beyond the object or image itself. This idea is investigated through the metaphor of the orchid, an aesthetically beautiful object that is known to provoke responses of obsession and desire. The project takes a living organism – orchids – as being analogous to architecture and investigates how these objects can be operated on to create new perceptions and forms. The resulting re-designed orchids construct the framework of my architectural project. The design project is investigated at three scales: from the anthropological, to biological and micro-scales.


III.2.1 Location

The site of this project is in a subterranean cave in Royston, selected for its extraordinary location, numerous carvings, unknown mysterious origin, symbolism, and unfamiliarity. One of the fascinating aspects of the subterranean cave are the narrow shafts leading up to the ground level (figures14 ,15). These different carvings, holes and openings throughout the dark hidden areas connect them with other spaces of the cave (figure 16).

The other feature of the cave is that this special underground location is situated exactly under the intersection of ancient cardinal roads around which Royston town developed. Coppens emphasizes the unique combination of the site arguing that ‘the creation of roads and crossroads was an important aspect – the crossing of two roads was visualised as an axis mundi: an axis of the world, in which not only two roads on the horizontal plane cross, but also a vertical line that connected Earth to both Heaven and the Underworld’ (Coppens, 2007).

The Royston cave can be seen as an axis mundi that connects the two spaces above and below ground (figure 17). This gives rise to the three scales in which the project is constructed: The space above ground represents the ‘anthropological scale’ which belongs to people and their ideas, desires, and passions. The ‘biological scale’ is represented by the earth, which gives nutrition and support to orchids; the artificial contracture of the underground cave represents ‘micro scale’ where the particles from which is is formed were artificially removed from to construct something new.

Figure 16_Cave section through the holes, shafts, dark hidden places which connects wthe other cave spaces.

Figures 14, 15_The interior of the underground cave with shafts connecting to the ground level, oppenings, holes and carvings .

Figures 14

Figures 15

27 Project

Figure 17_Cave section through the holes, shafts, dark hidden places which connects wthe other cave spaces.

III.2.2 Journey through the scales of ‘3 powers of Ten’

This journey demonstrates how an enquiry through three different scales helps to reveal the answers to the main question of this project at varying degrees appropriate to each scale shift.

10+0_“Anthropological scale”

The Anthropological Scale considers everything that did not originate naturally from nature and was invented and constructed by man for a comfortable life. This includes the economy, nation, norms of behaving and means of communication. Humans constantly look for beauty; they are obsessed with fulfilling their passions and desires even though, according to social norms, this is sometimes perceived as a negative trait. Such obsessions, passions and desires for beautiful objects can provoke the human mind on a journey to find shape for their formless aesthetic desire. Therefore, we can say that one of the places where an aesthetic desire beyond the form or image itself lives is in the human mind. To create more comfortable and beautiful lives for themselves humans artificially adapt the environment. Appositely, the orchids naturally adapt themselves to survive in severe or changing environments, in this way they become adapted beauty itself.

10-1 _“Biological scale”

The Biological Scale deals with the orchid as a living organism. Many people consider orchids to be pure beauty and therefore embody aesthetic desire. The first two sets of pictures (‘1st’’ and ‘2nd’ ) represent this part of my project and depict how orchids and their dissected pieces are able to adapt to different environments. At the Biological Scale, these two sets of pictures (figure19 and 20) are employed as a raw material which is then dissected, copied, layered and scaled to produce hand drawings. The drawings embody an aesthetic desire beyond the form and object of the orchid itself. My own aesthetic desire was used to imagine and shape the formless idea into something that could be observed by others in the drawings (figure 21) .

The Biological Scale presents the actual form of my architecture in which an aesthetic desire is materialized from a formless wish for pure beauty. The existence of this desire at the biological scale can be observed by the human eye – a tool of the larger anthropological scale – which can be said to record the image of an aesthetic desire in the human mind.


29 Project

Figure 19_The outcome of the ‘1st’ and ‘2nd’ photograps sets of

orchids in order to find shapes for the formless aesthetic desire.

Figure 20_The photograpgs from ‘1st’ and ‘2nd’ images series have

been copied layered and scaled to produce a delicate aesthetic form

beyond the original image .


10-2_“Micro scale”

The form which an aesthetic desire objectifies in the preceding Biological Scale is composed of micro particles and is dealt with in this third scale, the Micro Scale. These micro particles cannot be observed by the human eye but constitute everything that exists on this planet, whether natural or artificial. Just as a building is made of bricks and glass, the human body of flesh and skin, and the plant of water and nutrition.

To illustrate this Micro Scale in my project a ‘3rd set’ of pictures (figure 22, figure 23 and figure24) will be composed based on insight into an orchid’s micro structure, metaphorically expressing a microscopic construction of my architecture of desire.

Figure 21_The image of the fabric and texture of the six-month-long dried orchids emphasises the micro details of the surface of the ‘3rd set ‘ photographs.

31 Project

Figure 22_Images from the study of the dried orchid surface, tex-

ture and fabric from the ‘3rd set ’ .

Figure 23_Looking at the orchids through the ’Micro’ scale, it is

diffcult to recognise the actual object.

Figure 24_Plant surfaces , texture and structure.


IV_Conclusion

The ambitions of this design project respond to the question of whether the existence of an aesthetic desire can trigger a desire to create something beyond the object or image itself. It is supposed that through this, we may find a place where the desire may live and learn what an architecture of desire could be. In part, this project is inspired by Tschumi’s view which considers ‘concepts, representations and expressions in a different and diverse way’ as being proper to architectural desire. Derrida’s approach to architectural desire and metaphor was also fundamental to the project. His metaphor suggests that an object in architecture is meaningless without desire.

A living organism, namely the orchid, is used as an analogy to architecture: because of this, the project is organised with the orchid as a fundamental object which helps to construct my architecture of desire. The orchid metaphor is represented by two theories each concerning a different scale:

The first theory explores what I have termed the anthropological scale and deals with people’s passions and desires for objects, in this case, orchids.

The second theory deals with the biological scale and presents the orchid as a ‘selfish’ organism that adapts its form as it desires to survive in adverse conditions.

The metaphor of architectural desire is explored through the orchids which inspire desire: ‘the subject of desire here is nothing less than architecture itself’ (Tschumi, 2009). Four different methods were employed to test how an architecture of desire could be reflected through architectural operations on the orchids:

Firstly, orchids were placed in different environments to capture their ability to adapt to those environments. The ‘first set’ of photographs was obtained after exposing orchids to water, ink, dye and fire. In the second method, a dissection of the ‘first set’ of pictures and orchids themselves was drawn, as well as copying, layering and collaging their forms. This method aimed to analyse and become familiar with the structure and the form of orchids. The pieces of orchids obtained through the second method in different environments formed the ‘second set’ of pictures. The third method draws new meaning from the ‘first set’ , tracing through two dimensions and extracting information from the original context of the ‘first set’ of pictures. A final method awaits, which will focus on the micro-scale of orchids. This method will consist of pressing and drying orchids, then placing them into boiling water and finally observing their micro-details through a microscope to produce delicate black and white drawings of the orchid micro-particles. This ‘third set’ of pictures will show the fabric, structure and texture of orchids.

The structure to investigate the design project is presented as a journey through three different scales. These series of scales descend from macro to micro; from anthropological down to biological and finally to micro scales. This method of shifting scales is adapted from the film ‘Power of Ten’ by Charles and Ray Eames. According to the Eames’ the film reflects the value of exploring objects in different dimensions.

33 Conclusion

All the design works created are an outcome of analysis through different methods by which to study the living organism of an orchid, which is the object of desire from which a framework for potential architectures of desire are constructed. These outcomes include a series of pictures that capture conditions such as an orchid’s appearance in different environments with artificially created contexts. as well as pieces of the dissected orchids. The abstracted orchid is also described through sectional drawings of extracted shapes taken from a series of layered images which describe the orchid in a new context. A series of delicate black and white hand drawings at a micro-scale remain to be completed.

To date, the hand drawings of abstracted orchids are suggestive of space and the creation of a new environmental condition. These hand drawings have been abstracted and overlaid to create a fictional section of the underground cave at the Royston site. Though more testing is required, the project suggests that an aesthetic desire can be expressed that exists beyond the forms and images of the original orchid. In this way, we can see that the project question is addressed: an architecture of desire has commenced, triggered by my aesthetic desire for the beauty of orchids.


1. Appendix I: ‘The Metalogue’ with

orchids’’ scientist André Schuiteman

Q: Why for you orchids are so special and different from the other plants?A: I could say that all plants are special, but orchids are more special than the

other plants. Probably related with pollination of orchids they are so specialize in attracting pollinators most plants attracting many different pollinators for one species, but orchids really try to get one specific pollinator that fits only that flower it’s almost each flower have a different pollinator, for ex. If you have a normal flower like a rose they have many different like bees, fly, wasps, they can all pollinate roses, but orchids have only one insect that can pollinate that specie. That’s why also very a very special. There is one orchid which looks similar as bee and is called bee orchid it attract male bees, these orchids even smell like female bees, it very amazing how they adapt in nature in order to survive. There more orchid species in the tropics which imitates female insects. But you can’t find that these flowers would imitate male insects, it is always the males are attracted by females. It’s interesting that even in nature attraction for other mate is that the males are attracted by female.

Q: Why you are interested in orchids? When it started? What was the driving force for you?

A: I always like nature, but if you are passionate about something it is easy to choose and specialize, but still I think we will never finish to study, there are too many of them, they have too many variations. And if you have a passion for something you always will be willing to know more about it and go deeper. I’m more specialize in orchids which grow in Asia in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam. Thousands different species are living there. But many of them are still unknown so my job is to find these unknown orchids and describe them for the first time, give them names, qualified how they are related with the other orchids and I already found many new kind of orchids which grow particularly in Laos.

Q: Many orchids are unusual shape and are strange looking organism, is it one of the reason why people so many years are still so obsessed of them?

A: This could be because of the different combinations of many things. The first is on the way how orchids grow also there are big variety of them; from very big till very tiny flowers. They can appear in any color you can imagine, even black one now exists, and some of them can be in very complex shape and for this reason every human taste can have an orchid. Many people who collected orchids were more interested in the shape because they looked as a living organism, it wasn’t just a plant it was like a creature and is not surprisingly that orchids can attract not just human beings but also other creatures find orchids alluring. Some orchids are shaped exactly like the insect that pollinates them; the insect is drawn inside thinking it has found its mate.....

Q: Is it any special kind of orchid which you are passionate about? A: They all are different and special in way but one which is temperamental,

hard to find in the wild and is difficult to propagate is the ghost orchid for its fragility, pureness, shape and beauty against dark swamp background which makes the flower look like little frog with the slender legs.

35 Appendices

Q: Do you have this ghost orchid in the greenhouse of Kew Gardens?A: No, it is very difficult to get them and also they are protected it is hard

to get material for cultivation also. We have just similar to them but off course they are not the same as the ghost orchid. In a wild are actually two kind of them, one is in Europe and the other one is in North America in Florida. They both have the same name but they look different, one grows on trees and has big white flowers with only roots and no stems and others which grow in Europe forests and swamps as very small white flowers. Also sometimes these orchids is called “frog” flower because of its not traditional appearance. But we have a real ghost orchid in our collection here just the dry one. This dry plant is very tine, but still the flower of the plant is even bigger than the body also next to it there is a drawing. The same kind of ghost orchid can be quite big or small; like people are different individuals and can be big and small the same valid for plants.

Q: Where from it came these collections of dried orchids does someone from Kew Gardens started to collect them here?

A: These collections came from many different people all around the world, they got money to collect the plants others did for the scientific reasons some of the places are quite dangerous where these orchids grows and it is very difficult to get them. Many years ago was even profession “Orchid hunter” because of significant demand of unusual flowering plants. This profession was very dangerous but some people devoted their life to find the rare species of orchids.

These collections you can’t buy anywhere and they are very valuable, they are very old it have started from 1865, and in these collections we can have hundreds of thousands of dried orchids. Sometimes than they are taking these plant samples next to it they have even pieces of trees on which they were growing, because roots were very strongly attached to barks so then you want to take the roots off you have to pull away some pieces of barks.

All these collections are very valuable and they can’t be replaced for this reason we hold all the catalogues in the storages which are protected from fire in case if it would be burned. There are hundreds of thousands of orchids in these storages and more than 10 000 different kind of orchids. This collection still continues and we are still adding new samples to it. It is very interesting then you start to think that more than 150 years ago someone started to dry them, collect and put on the piece of paper. Now for some of them you need a microscope to study. In these catalogues with the dried plant samples are the old letters and descriptions which explain how it does looked like than it was collected.

In Egypt they found the tomb of Tutankhamen and inside it they found the dry flowers which were 2000 years old and they still could recognize the flowers. Dries flower can stay almost forever, if there are no insects it can continue to keep them for few hundred years more. From these dry flowers you can’t see that they are so old but some of them are very rare and almost extinct.


Then we found new species first we have to give the name, find the type get the diagnosis in Latin and then we have to check in the public institution that could be always consulted, so it is part of the plant which have to be dried or put in alcohol so people knows and can check later if they want to find out some more details about the plant. Like here in Kew gardens in our collections we have many types of orchids dried samples. They all are classified by many different things which help to understand better the family variations.

In Orchid library we have also not just books but all the old journals about the orchids, they are quite old more than 100 years old. This Kew Gardens private library has the oldest orchid journal in the world.

Q: If you just dry the flower for 6 months would be enough? Would it have the same effect if we put it into hot water in order to study the organism?

A: Yes, but nowadays even they put flowers in alcohol, than it stays the shape only loose the color, this way you can study the flower. After a while only the color disappears but still it have such a nice texture and surface and if you would put it into hot water it would became soft again and you could study the shape, even cook it in the hot water and very slowly it becomes soft again and you can analyze it or you can look them at the microscope, look for the details, turn the flower around.

Sometimes I also make my own drawings of the orchids. Sometimes I draw by hand sometimes using special tools as microscope, if there are very small objects you can trace them on the microscope. But it takes lot of time, because first I have to make the sketches and then put the ink

Q: Is it difficult to clone orchids?A: No, it quite easy, but you need laboratory to do it sterile and expancive

equipment, but then it’s quite easy.

Q: Did they change the appearance by time in order to adapt and survive in new environments?

A: Yes they did and quite a lot. Like now even ghost orchids have changed they don’t have leaves anymore instead of that now they have just roots, in evolution they lost their leaves because they were not necessary anymore. This kind of orchid now can take chlorophyll and get the nutritious from the roots because now roots have two functions as leaves and as roots at the same time. This way they don’t need so much water because if they would have leaves they have to evaporate water and if they grow on rocks or trees water can be a problem, if it is too dry for the long time they can die.

The other kind of orchids adapted to attract insects in many ways in order to be pollinated. Some became similar to insects which pollinates them other have a trick for insects it fall into structure of the flower and only can get out through the very narrow holes this way they can pollinate the flower other orchids developed the protection against slugs –small little hairs on the flower. The part where the hair are growing cannot be damaged and have to be well protected against insects and slug who want to eat flower that later it would be able to pollinate. It is very interesting how they adapt and survive in nature.

37 Bibliography

Books:

Beldam, Joseph. 2009. ‘The Origan and use of The

royston cave’. Bibliolife.

Darden, Douglas. 1993. ‘Condemned Building’’.

Princeton Architectural Press .

Davidson, Davidson, eds. 2006. ‘Tracing Eisenman

Peter Eisenman Complete works’. Thames & Hudson,

LTD, London.

Dawkins, Richard. 1976. ‘The Selfish Gene’. Oxford

Derrida, Jacques and Peter Eisenman. Kipnis,

Jeffery and Thomas Leeser, eds.1997. ‘Chora L Works’.

The Monacelli press.

Dressler, Rober L. 1990. ‘The Orchids. Natural

History and Classification‘. Harvard University Press.

Gould, Stephen Jay.2000. ‘Wonderful life: The

burgess shale and the nature of history’. Vintage

Eisenman, Peter. 1985. ‘Moving arrows eros and

other errors’ . AA mega series. London

Hays, Michael K. 2009. ‘Architecture‘s Desire:

Reading late Avant-Garde’. MIT Press.

Leach, Neil. 2009. ‘Rethinking Architecture: A

reader in cultural theory’. Routledge, second edition.

Morrison , Philip & Phylis. 1996. ‘Power of ten’’.

Office of Charles & Ray Eames.

Nesbitt, Kate. 1996. ‘Theorizing the new agenda

for Architecture: An analogy for architectural theory

1965-1995’. Princeton Architectural Press.

Orlean, Susan. 2000. ‘The Orchid Thief: A True

Story of Beauty and Obsession’. Vintage.

Sheehan, Tom and Marion. (1994). ‘An illustrated

Survey of orchid Genera‘. Cambridge University press.

Shimazaki, Toh. 2009. ‘Context Narratives and

Boundaries’. Architecture forum, Toh Shimazaki

Architecture.

Journals:

Coppens, Philip. nr.90, July 2007. ‘Royston Cave:

creating a medieval magical centre’. Hera.

Whiteman, John. 20 February- 22 March 1986.

“Site unscene-Notes on architecture and the concept

of fiction” in ‘Peter Eisenman: Moving Arrows, Eros and

other Errors’. AA Files. London

Filmography

Eames, Ray and Charles. ‘Powers of Ten’.1968.

Office of Charles and Ray Eames.

Kaufman, Charlie. ‘Adaptation’. 2002. Columbia

pictures

IV_Bibliography

architecture where the desire may live

Documents

architecture of desire

idea of desire

wherethe desire

aesthetic desire

formless desire

object orchid

new location

different scales