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GREGORY BECK RUBIN - STUDIO DEDALE JANUARY TO APRIL 2008

Walls are the most element aspect of architecture. at is because they limit space.

We build walls, like Vitruvius, to be pure and homogenous. However, if we slice through the walls o

and the prefabricated walls in a building in Winnipeg Today, they would b ear no resemblance to on

accommodate both the ideal of architecture and the reality of building in a Northern climate, we h

technologies that we can hide inside the wall. Perhaps if we had not thought of the wall the way Vit

to, then we may not have designed all its layers in the way we have, compacted and, more importan

ideals we impose on our most basic tool, the wall, is indicative of the way we value space in g eneral,

and artificial. If we were to envision this threshold between interior and exterior differently, we wou

space differently.

For my project, I will investigate the hidden space of the wall. e goal of the project is to explore n

of the wall in the Canadian context, historical and environmental. e project takes on the wall as a

symbol as well as technological system.

IMAGES

a. Kabah, Mecca

b. Barber House, Point Douglas Winnipeg

c. Abandonded Crack House, Point Douglas Winnipeg

d. Sketch: Building behaviour & body behaviour

e. Black Box, Winnipeg

f. Black Box at night

g. Black Box Interior

a b c d e f


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WHEN I began the project, I wanted to find space in Point Doug las where I could cut into an existing building

envelope, preferably a home. e wood frame wall of most typical home constructions is in fact a void wall. e

cavity spaces inside the wall are the spaces where we hide vital infrastructure. By cutting into the wall, and reveal-

ing the hidden inside the wall I would do t wo things. First, I would identify the systems as they relate to the lived

world. And second, by revealing hi dden activity, I would alter my understanding of architecture, and its effectson our perceptions of internal and external spaces. Aer a good few weeks of searching, I was generously offered

space in a home. However, for a number of reasons, I have decided that the project will not be built in Point Doug-

las. Rather, I will build my own space here on campus, and go through the same exploration, closer to Studio, the

lab equipment, etc... ere are disadvantages and advantages to both situations (building on campus versus in Point

Douglas), and I am going with my gut on this one.

(aside: anks very much to the good folks I have met in Point Douglas and helped me to get the space, but more

importantly, introduce me to the neighbourhood and its various facets. I am still very keen to develop work in Point

Douglas, and hopefully, this can happen in the future).

e plan now is to bui ld a black box on campus. e space is defined by the walls that enclose it: a wood framed

room closed and sealed: a non-space, a void space. Aer the space comes to be, I would enter the space, and begin to

define it by revealing the layers of the wall in that space, creating new space. I have two roles to play in this project,

and each role comes with its own set of questions. First, I will define the system that is the wall for establishing

the black box space. What are they? e composite wall is a complex organism - is it autopoetic? What are the

minimum layers or systems that make up this wall for it to limit space (and do what: sustain inhabitation)? Is there

such a thing as space without someone to inhabit it? is last questions lends itself to defining my second role, that

of observer/eventual inhabitant or the void space. I will have to enter into the black box (how ?) and then transform

the walls so that it can sustain me. But sustain me how? What is the essence of Architecture? In this sense, the walls

and I take on the role of two performers. How will we interact?

e transformation of the black box is an evolutionary process. But it is also the site for recording th

tion. Similar to my last terms final installation, Curio, I intend to draw on the box, inside, outside, a

around. It is critical that both the drawing and whatever armatures, insertions, details and construcat the same scale.

e transformation is also directly linked to how my body, and i ts different senses measure and defi

think that seeing space dominates all of our other perceptions of space. And this is largely true in th

context. But it is another contradiction, like the Vitruvian and the prefabricated wall section. Build

with all of our sense is essential to exploring the new paradigms of the wall.

Another rule I would like to establish throughout the process of this project, is to recycle/reuse exis

materials as I start to cut into the walls. Habitat for Humanity runs the Restore in town and there a

of building materials they sell there. e black box itself will be bu ilt from dimension standardized

plywood sheets, 2 X 4 lumber beams, rigid insulation, pipes, circuitry, etc... As I take apart these pre

ponents, what I will add should embody the same cultural phenomena which produced these mate

attributes in the first place.

e project embodies the idea of expanding the systems and codes that are embodied in the archite

room. Bu building into the order of the wall, its expansion becomes an example of what potentials l

materials and language of building we employ today. e new spaces are there, and with rigorous an

interpretations of their layers, they will be revealed, and their phenomena will affect our vision of ar

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ASSEMBLY & D OCUMENTATION METHODOLOGY

IMAGES

a. CAD drawing of Black Box Assembly

b. Construction Drawing Document Page Setup : Method for Recording Black Box development

c. Black Box frame assembly: 2X4 Spruce stud construction

d. Heat Seal technology : keeping the Vabour Barrier sealed throughout the block box

e. Assemblinf the Vapour Barrier Seal

f. Placing the Vapour Barrier with the wood frame

g. :Interior of black box finished with red painted OSB sheathing

h. Two distinct layers of sheathing on the Black Box: Red interior, Black Exterior.

i. Exterior finishes: painted OSB sheathing, standard 4X8 sheets.j. Movie still from moving the Black Box to the outside, and project site, between CAST and JAR building

k. preparing the site

l. the four black box elevations

m. Making a door: bringing to violate the Black Box

n Construc tion Drawing Set evolution

o. Construction Drawing Set evolution

j


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notes:

title:

black

box ex-

outside

air

temp:

legend:

notes:

title:

black

box ex-

outside

air

temp:

legend:

o

n


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FAILURES AND TECHNOLOGY

IMAGES

a. e tools of the construction: combination of basic construction tools and laser cuter

b. Laser Cut Pieces of the door hanging system: MDF and acrylic

c. Door hanging system pieces assembled

d. CAD drawing of laser cut pieces (MDF sheet)

c

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ESTABLISHING HORIZON AND

POINTS OF REFERENCES

JAR platform - West and North Elevations

Engineering Building - South and East

Elevations

IMAGES:

a. digital survey at engineering building

b. East facade

c. South facade

d. digital survey at JAR platform

e. detail, North facade with plomb weight

f. detail, West facade with plomb weight.

d e

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INITIAL PLANS FOR BLACK BOX VIOLATION/VAPOUR BARRIER WALL EXPANSION

e violation and transformation of the Black Box is planned and acted upon both in the sphere of the drawing and

the construct. It is a back and forth process which gives me two things. a total perspective on the multiple systems I

would like to integrate into the Black Box (drawing), and a direct, 1:1 familiarity with the materials and their limits

(actual building). For each of the walls, I have proposed a different system which each investigates the possible

transformations of the vapour barrier from a hidden system into a visible and architectural element. e four indi-

technology

violation

vidual systems are tied back to the roof. Te roof is the element which prinicipally delegates how wa

forces such as wind, (and its associated loads), & heat are transferred in and out of the building. T

system (see below) rathet than shed or attempt to block the transfer of these elements into the wa

architectural element which embraces and is designed to absorb, trace and make apparent how wate

affect the entire project. Working with the technology whi ch seals the Vapour Barrier, and gives it

edge, I use heat welding as a tool to change the plastic from a barrier into a vessel for holding, and m

the realtionship between the previously hidden systems and their relationship to systems on both si

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IMAGES:

a. sketches: Sou

b. sketches: Nor

c. cutting into t

d. making cells o

vapour barrier, f

wall

e. Roof system 2

f. Roof system V

pneumatic

g. making and inpneumatic (vap

h. detail: ancho

connection with

i. detail: anchor

adjust to wind a

(acrylic)f h i

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IMAGES:

a. 72 X 96 vapour barrier blan-

ket prep for heat welding

b. nichrome wire heat weld

station

c. heat weld test - cut through

seal

d. tool for the heat weld: temper-

ature meter and vapour barrier

e. examples of heat weld test for

anchor points on roof blanket

f. option two for heat welding

anchors points on roof blanket

g. detail: heat weld test, teflon

paper and heat weld probe

h. detail: sealed anchor pointi. laser vut template: acylic

anchor components (18X24

sheet)

j. laser cut template: acylic

anchor components (18X24

sheet)

s

t

p

q

r

k. laser cut template: acrylic an-

chor components (18X24 sheet)

l. laser cut pieces, anchors before

assembly

m. anchors for carrying water

from the roof to the walls (10 in

total)

n. anchors for illuminating the

roof

o. detail: roof anchor with pvc

tube clip

p. detail: assembling acrlic air

feeding clip stage one

q. detail: air feeding clip stage two

r. detail: air feeding clip stagethree

s. detail: welded anchor point afer

pneuma inflation

t. detail: anchor clip with pvc tube

fitted into pneuma roof system.

MAKING: DESIGNING AND ASSEMBLING THE COMPONENTS

OF THE ROOF SYSTEM

e vapour barrier roof blanket filters water to the walls through acrylic

pvc tubes threaded through acrylic anchors. e anchors fix the roof blanket

to the original black box roof sheathing. e anchors can rise and rotate

according to the forces of the wind pushing on the pneuma. eir reconfigu-

rations make apparent a wind topogrpahy streaming around the black box

structure.

e acrylic anchors also support lighting systems to i lluminate the blanket

in the dark. ey are also fitted to deliver air into the blanket, air which is

pumped by inhabitants in the black box, on a device installed in the west

wall (see following pages for details).

e pneuma system is made with nichrome wire technology and similar

technologies learned during theRemedios Terrariuminstallation, March

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EAST AND WEST WALL INTERVENTIONS: STEAM WALL AND PLUMBING & ELEC

TEMS

As in the Fall terms final project, action in the wall is perceived and responds to events both inside

Any form of intervention is felt by observers on either side of the wall. e wall , no longer a simple

inside and outside actually engag es the interaction of observers of either side, transforming their pr

proactive role. With every intervention, the solutions (be in the steam machine, the air pump, the w

tubes, etc....) highten our sense of the increasing back and forth, outside and inside, relationship en

now opened wall.

b

IMAGES:

a. sketches for North and East wall violations/transformation

b. Detail: steam machine copper tube exiting the North wall and returning back inside. Acrylic clips, located along

the one of the two daturm lines are added wherever an intrusion into the wall has taken place.


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IMAGES:

a. steam machine installation

b. revealing the infrastructure wall behind the North wall interiors sheathing

c. steam machine manufacturing

d. detail: copper tubes passing through the vapour barrier

e. detail: electrical passing through the vapour barrier

f. detail: pvc tube carrying water from the roof blanket to the steam machine

g. detail: electrical and plumbing passing through the north wall central stud

h. sketch: east wall intervention

i. inside the east wall, cutting the vapour barrier away

j. drawing for new east steam wall cell system

k. testing the vapour barrier inflated with steam

l. desteamed vapour barrier test

m. east steam wall cell design and manufacturing set-up

n. copper tubes passing through the east steam wall

o. detail: clips and copper tube

p. gathering condesation in the east steam wall

q. acrylic pressure valves for the east steam wall. one per cell systen


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a

bc

IMAGES:

a. spreadsheet lisiting catagories and amounts of clips required for the construction

b. laser cut sheet with pieces for air pump (west wall ) and door hanging system

c. laser cut template for various cell clips

CELLS CLIPS INVENTORY AND LASER CUTTING. LA SER CUTS TO PUMP CONNE

WALL HANGING SYSTEM TOO.


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SOUTH WALL PLANT CELL SYSTEM

IMAGES:

a. initial sketches and of south wall exterior facade and sectio

b. south wall elevation aer the violation. pvc tubes connect

cells to roof system above (not yet in place)

c. interior view of plant cells aer they are first hung

d. template for making the plant cell system out of the South

barrier

e. first iteration of plant cell - curved bottoms not successful

f. second iteration of plant cell - pointy bottoms successful

g. deatil: plant cell to pvc tube acrylic clip

h. detail: pvc tube pass through vapout barrier clip.

i. detail: vapour barrier plant cell

j. detaik: pvc tube exiting exterior wall at JAR building datum

placed along this line

k. detail: heat welding back together the vaious layers of vapo

l. detail: pvc tube passing through vapour barrier acryic clip

m. detail: each of the five different plant cells suystains a doff

algae

n. same detail as above.


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Greg

Each wall was made to fit a different characterist

Interaction outside relates to the inside

N What is the role of architecture

G role is to enhance

T when arch is not solving problems

P hes a problem maker every step he takes opens a new problem

N the problems you make are real problems

G I used to structure to teach and understand the behaviours

N is is your test lab, how does it fold out

G forms that are generated by the way I solve

exploded wall is a proportion , a way to re-inhabitT Next part to take result of the lab

What are the implications

what do you hope to find by steaming the wall

You must take the consequences to a conclusion

e problem with the body of work is that it takes a long period of time. Long process of observat

T what about the specifics, what are you learning

T Curiouse on why you didnt heat water from the sun

G Intended to uses the roof for batteries

T You can get a Parabolic mirror, colour of the building absorbs heat

T How does it adapt to summer

G Doors are open

R do you hammer the wedges to adjust

relates to the foundation as it sinks

T Likes how you are working at a real scale, every student should at one point of time work

T roof has developed the most

P the roof is only the beginning, develop w/ the idea of engaging the barriers, project outw

T feels the project feels arbitrary, not everything is rigorously registered.

CRIT NOTES: TAKEN BY RA NDY WONG.....RESEARCH BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Architecture of Observatories

http://www.jantarmantar.org/

Jantar Mantar: e Astronomical Obseevatories of Jai Singh II

http://www.stevenholl.com/project-detail.php?id=66&worldmap=true

Sun Slice House, Steven Holl Architects

Parallel Spaces/Architecture within Walls

http://www.gregorschneider.de/

Gregor Schneider

Point Douglas

http://www.pointdouglas.com/index.php?categoryid=1

Point Douglas dot com

Cells and Pneumatics

http://topologicalmedialab.net/joomla/main/index.php

Topological Media Lab, Montreal, Quebec

http://www.pneumata.net/

Pneuma, Peter Hasdell & Patrick Harrop

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