tectonic design minor project.pdf

7/29/2019 Tectonic design minor project.pdf

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TECTONICS minor project by: Mathias Lind Klogborg [mlkl06] 7,semester, 24.november 2008


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Titel pageAalborg UniversityArchitecture & Design

7.semester, 24.november 2008Minor project: tectonic design (re-examination)Mathias Lind Klogborg - mlkl06

PrefaceThe minor project of the 7.semester is a part of the overall semester theme tectonic design. The project isan individual project, with focus on the works of Jrn Utzon, who has shown great skills in working intuitivelywith the principles in tectonic design through his architecture.The project takes its point in an analysis of the Kuwait National Assembly by Jrn Utzon. In order to get anidea of the overall principles in tectonic design, different theories of the subject is presentet in the beinningof this repport. The second part of the project is about creating a tectonic system and use it to structure a

model. This repport is a part of the re-examination on Architecture and Design

Contents

00

Jrn Utzon s. 01

Tectonics s. 01

The Kuwait National Assembly s. 03

- The canopy s. 04- The Bazaar s. 05- Additive system s. 07- The parliament hall s. 08- Brief sum up s. 08

Working with the tectonic system s. 09The final model s. 10


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Jrn Utzon 01Jrn Utzon was born in Copenhagen (1918) but he and his family moved toAalborg, where his father, Aage Utzon went to be a ship designer. He de-

signed the well known Utzon Spidsgattere and his fathers way of design-ing ships had very much influence on Jrn Utzons approach to architecture.Jrn Utzon spend a lot of his childhood watching his father building ships,and studied the way structure, material and design worked together in orderto create the optimal shape. He was also fascinated by nature and startedto evolve a sense of poetic understanding of things in nature which he in hiswork as architect has used to create many of his architectural visions. A prin-ciple which can be referred to as tectonics.

TectonicsTectonics can be rather difficult to explain and understand, so in order to givesome idea of the subject I will in this section refer to theorists who has triedto define tectonics. In the end I will try to relate these theories to my ownunderstanding of tectonics.The theorists I am referring to were mentioned in the lectures of Phd studentIda wraber, which has introduced us to them in order to find our own under-standing of tectonics.

Karl Btticher was a 19th century architectural theorist, who argues thattectonic is a kind of synergy effect from structure (inspired by gothic ar-chitecture and described as kerneform) and representational ornaments(taken from the Greek and described as kunstform). Btticher is of theopinion that the ornament should underline and reveal the essence of theconstruction, but at the same time he also thinks that the ornament is a sepa-rate element from the structure, so you should always be able to separatethe construction from the covering.

Gottfried Semper argued that architecture consists of both tectonics andstereotomics, where tectonics is the fundamental structure, and stereotom-


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02ics is the heavier constructions. How exactly the tectonics is expressed and the relation-

ship between stereotomics and tectonics is highly dependent on factor such as climate,place/context etc. Semper belives that the essence of architecture lies in those knotsand joints of a construction.

Eduard Sekler who is a 20th century theorist describes tectonic as the visual playbetween construction an structure. So as far as I see it, Seklers ideas have a closerelationship with the ideas of Btticher. Sekler also introduced the term atectonic. Thisterm describes an incoherency between the loads and the support, and the visual ex-pression of the building.

Kenneth Frampton is another 20th century architectural theorist. According to Framp-ton tectonics is something which comes out of a clear structure, which also shows thelogic of the structure. Also another important element is the joints which also com-municate and articulate the construction. So in some ways Framptons view on tectonicsvery much relates to Sempers.

Especially, Framptons ideas of tectonics relates to my own understanding of the theory

which very much is about clearness in the structure of a building and an elaboration ofjoints, in order to read how the building is put together. Besides that I also believethat the unifying concept as Btticher mentions or overall architectural vision is animportant part of tectonics. As spectator to be able to see and feel the architects visionof a building, is what gives architecture its honesty.

Of cause that is somewhat a very wide description, but that can perhaps relate to thequestion if architecture can just be tectonic or not? Maybe it is not that black on whitebut more blurry, that architecture instead can be more or less tectonic. As far as I see

it, a building with a clear structure does not necessarily have to be tectonic because ofthat, but that the clear structure in combination with the unifying concept gives the tec-tonic. And that refers very much to Utzons work with the National Assembly in Kuwait.

Swiss Re Head Quarters, London. By

Foster+partners. The clear structure

becomes the unifying concept.

Parthenon, ancient temple in Athens.

Example of the basic structure in beamsand columns.

Bagsvrd Church, by Jrn Utzon. Clear

structure, related to the overall vision of

the building.


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The Kuwait National Assembly

In 1968 the Kuwaitian government had invited four architectural offices toconceive a master plan for the city, which during the oil boom, had been ru-ined. The four architects all suggested a site near the old palace, as the placefor government buildings, and suggested that a separate competition shoulddetermine how these buildings should look, and the winner of this completionwas Jrn Utzon.

The general building concept of the Kuwait Assembly consists of a large cov-ered plaza, from which a bazaar street emanates with small side streets,

forming a network of paths around, which the rooms and interior courts wereorganized.Utzon is working very deliberate with additive architecture inorganizing the lay out of the building, which basically means, that spaces canbe subtracted and added without altering the main structure of the scheme.Besides the general building concept, Utzon works with a number of prin-ciples and systems, in order to create a structure in the building that is easyto assembly, but most of all, gives a poetic approach to creating architectural

spaces.

Kuwait National Assembly, at night

Utzon plan sketch, shows the principles in

the additive system.

Plan drawing of the Kuwait National

Assembly

Jrn Utzons vision of the Kuwait National

assembly in a hand sketch.

03


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04 The canopyTaking a look at the great canopy, which covers the large plaza, facing the

Arabic Gulf, you will see some of the principles in the structure, Utzon use tocarry out his visions. The idea of the canopy was to let the plaza be a moreformal passage between building and landscape according to traditional Ara-bic architecture.Looking at the structure you will see the footprints of this vision in the largealmost organic columns that carry a huge curved concrete roof which givesassociations to the Bedouin dessert tents.Although the structure seems very organic it consists of basic geometric vol-

umes which roughly spoken has been stacked on top of each other. A prin-ciple that was very important to Utzon, in way to advance pre fabricatedelements, lower the costs, and make the building process simpler.The columns consist of half a cylinder with a curved cut in the top. Thehorizontal lines in the columns indicate that they are assembled by pre castelements and not in situ made, which is done deliberately by Utzon, to cre-ate a more honest expression according to the way they are assembled. Butthe cylinder shaped columns doesnt support the roof structure alone, which

I think is a shame according to ex. Frampton theory, because logic of thestructure might disappear a bit.Inside the half cylinder is a rectangular column that helps to support theroof. If the roof structure should have been supported by the cylinder col-umns alone, they would probably have to be shaped differently and in largerdimensions. So I believe, Utzon has chosen this solution in order to carry out

his idea of the columns in the best way.

Illustration of the great canopy, whichstands as a formal passage to the building.

Illustration of the principle in the

design of the columns. A cylinder cut in

half, with a curved cut in the top.


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The roman Via duct, Pont Du Gard, illustrates the c learness in the structure. The arches

seem logical, because of the way they are used in the structure.

Looking further at the roof structure I alsofind some problems according totectonic principles. The curved surfaces indicate, just as the columns, that

they are made by single pre cast elements. But visually it seems wrong, be-cause how do they hang up there? Looking at a traditionally round archstructure as in the Pont Du Gard Via Duct (illustration to the right) you can tellhow the single stones in the arch move the forces, because it seems logi-cally. Looking at the roof structure at The Kuwait Assembly, it doesnt seemlogic or clear compared to the round arch which, I think, makes it less honestor less tectonic. Facts will tell that the roof is a combination of pre cast ele-

ments and an in situ cast solution.

The joint between the roof and the columns also makes the roof seem veryheavy, because the cross section is closed in the end. That i think differs fromUtzons real vision and that seem to me like Utzon really wanted the roof to bea light concrete shell, hanging as a canvas in a Bedouin dessert tent whichalso makes the fact that the top of the roof is totally flat, a bit of a shame.Compared to Alvaro Sizaa expo Pavillion (see ill. bottom right) with the greathanging concrete roof, I think Siza is more honest, compared to his vision of

the roof and the actual solution. And the visual joint (see Ill. bottom right)between roof and building clearly shows how the structure is made. So ac-cording to Frampton the elaboration of the joint between roof and buildingmakes it tectonic.

So although Utzons vision of the great canopy has been carry out in a beauti-ful way, there are some things that may differ according to ex. Framptonstheory of tectonic design, as well as my own.

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The cross section of the hanging roof structure is closed

and therefore, it seems heavy, and not light as a canvas.

Alvaro Siza, Portuguese pavillion. Great concrete roof

hanging as a light canvas. The detail clearly shows the

structural principle, and supports the vision.


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06 The bazaarCompared to the great canopy, the structure of the bazaar seems much moreobvious and clear. Here the columns are shaped just as the cylinder part ofthe columns in the canopy, but they are not supported by rectangular col-umns. Here the cylinder shaped columns support the roof entirely and it isvery easy to see how the structure works.The columns support beams which from where a roof is spanned. The roofconsists, again of simple geometric elements, in form of half a cylinder wherea piece has been cut out and reversed, to create a more differentiated look.(see ill. right). Especially when light falls on the structure, you will see why

Utzon has come up with this solution, and that makes the bazaar much moretectonic, because it has a clearness and honesty in the structure, and it hasbeen done in a way, that creates a beautiful space (see ill. right). There isstill a problem with the roof, just as the roof at the canopy. Looking from theoutside, the cross section is also closed, and seems very heavy, but it has noinfluence on the space inside.

Illustration of the principle in the

design of the beams in the bazaar.

The bazaar street at night. The light

gives a poetic tuch to the building.

The folded beams gives a differenti-

ated look


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From the bazaar, Utzon has worked with the principles in additivearchitecture, as mentioned earlier.

The whole scheme of the building is modular, which makes it easyto add or subtract elements. Utzon works with a single elementthat can be modified by his wish, which makes it possible to add anumber of different functions. That results in a very flexible systemto create the plan, but it also has its effect in the composition inthe faade.

A problem can be that the modularity in the scheme is creating amonotone expression in the faade. In order to prevent this Utzonhas come up with a solution for most of the faade. With inspira-tion in traditional Arabic architecture he has created an arcadethat stands like a skin in front of the main body of the building.(see ill.) This skin is like other parts of the structure, made ofsimple geometric elements, which has been turned into a modularsystem. The result gives a variation in most of the faade, and re-

lates the building to its context.

07Additive system

Skin of the building, has becom a modular system, which gives a authentic expresion to

the building facade, acording to traditional Arabic architecture.

Plan drawing, shows the principle inthe additive system.


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The tectonic system should have its startingpoint in the principles Utzon works

with in the National Assembly.

The key element in Utzons work, as far as I see it, is the way he converts singlegeometric elements into something more. The Shells of The Sidney Opera, ismade of pre fabricated elements, which has been put together basically like Lego(another Utzon favorite) just as the tiles on the shells, and as in the beams andcolumns in the Kuwait National Assembly are assembled by precast concrete ele-ments.Thus, my own works in creating a tectonic building system takes its point in a

simple geometric approach, in order to create something more.

In order to relate my system to something in real life, my overall approach is tocreate some kind of building module which can be added multiple times and inthe end make a span that can create space for ex. a pavilion.

I first tried to work with a single beam element, in order to establish some kind ofgrid for my structure. Afterwards I twisted the grid and added trusses so I ended

up with a truss structure.

Then I tried to cut out the five elements in cardboard to see how they could con-nect to each other in a system.The obvious problem was that the strait sides did only develop in one plane, so itwould not be possible to get a curved or irregular surface. There for the sides wasgiven some angle, which made it possible to attach the modules to each otherat their sides. The angel was defined by the triangle in the middle. Basically themodule could consists of only four triangulere plates, but in order to get light into

the structure, the upper part was cut away, and added with the center triangle sothat the final module came to look like in the illustrations below.

Because the module is double symmetric it can be added in different ways, creat-ing different irregular surfaces.

09Working with the tectonic system


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10 The final modelTo discover the possibilities in the element, I made a physical model where I tried to

take advantage of the ways the element could be assembled also with the goal to cre-ate space with the elements. The idea is that the elements start almost in the planeand then grows up to create a grid shell like form. The triangular shapes creates a verypoetic pattern which is reflected both inside and outside.

The overall question regarding the model is whether it is actually tectonic?

According to Utzons way of designing the Kuwait National Assembly, I believe that theprinciple in the model is pretty clear. It consists of single elements that together cre-

ate a shape that is more than the elements themselves. Just as Utzon has designed thebeautiful columns in the Bazaar.

If we look at the model according to Frampton, the elaboration of the joints may notappear that obvious, but the triangular shapes creates patterns that is easy to readand makes the overall principle of the structure rather clear.

An interesting thing regarding to this minor project model is the theory of Semper whothinks that the conceiving of a work of architecture is always dependent of the con-text, in which it is placed and the socio-cultural frame of the observer. If that is thecase one can discus, whether the final product in this project, which has no context,

can be directly referred to as being architecture or for that instance tectonic?


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