View Full Version : Dissertation Topic Ideas - Digital/Media Facades or CAD vs. Hand drawing
I am currently in a bit of a pickle as the tutor for my original dissertation topic, at the end of 4th year, has now said that I can't do it as it is "too much for one student to do". The dissertation had to have the tutor's backing in order for it to work (as it required technical kit etc).
Anyway, I've now got to come up with a topic that doesn't require much traveling due to the fact I start writing in a few months and am currently working in practice.
The two topics I want to possibly have a look at:
Digital/Media Facades
Looking at buildings like the Kunsthaus (BIX), SPOTS on Potsdamer Platz, Herzog & de Mueron's Allianz stadium etc.
Billboard buildings, massive posters on the side of buildings, that university that was selling advertising space on the side of its building.
Does the facade become the architecture or does the architecture become the facade? (going in to Herzog's birds nest China stadium)
CAD vs. Hand drawing
Looking at the pros/cons of various methods of drawing/design
Buildings that could never have been built drawn (zaha/gehry etc.)
Are we just making these complex buildings because we can and not for their architectural merit?
Is it a case that we are not taught to use our tools correctly? i.e. You can sketch because you know how to use a pencil, yet we are never taught how to use a computer (i.e. you can use a tablet to replace a pencil etc)
Any help/suggestions on where to narrow down the topics and what books/places to see would be great.
Apologies for the roughness of this post, I haven't fully concieved what I am trying to write about, hence this post. I would like to use this as a space for bouncing ideas about at the moment.
chick,
I see two very radically different dissertation topics...BTW, kudos to doing your dissertation, a doctorate in architecture, eh? planning on teaching?...
anyway, digital facades seems to be more of an exploration into a certain typology that is digital architecture, but one that has already been somewhat developed. how does digital facades tie into the future? how does it relate to the past? i could see a robert venturi starting point, as well as a futuristic development one. what more did you have in mind? dive into the idea further.
the second seems rather profound, will have to sidestep opinion of use (yours and others: yours may be the most difficult), and may potentially be very much less tangible. the analysis of the tools of design seems to be a little less rewarding when related to architecture, as architecture is secondary to studying of the tool in this case. you may have to consider how had drawing and CAD have impacted other professsions (design or not) to hep you decide. Or perhaps you may need to limit yourself to not delve into other professions. more questions and thoughts that are popping to mind: how does the tool shape architecture? why be contradictory to evolution of time and technology to eventually say "hand-drawing wins"? when you ask the question "Are we just making these complex buildings because we can and not for their architectural merit?", you will have to define architectural merit (or some basis or starting point) to compare to in order to make a worthy statement. why couldn't buildings be built like gehry's only by handdrafting? why does formal training have an impact on "proper" use of a tool? where does the generation behind you fit in with this idea? what about new interfaces like: this awesome video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp-y3ZNaCqs]video)....
Ahhh too much to think about. I'll let others input more and I'll get to work.
Good luck. Just make sure to give it 150% thought now. And make sure to do what you love.
Thread moved to Pre-design Discussion...
I really like the idea of the human interaction with the facade and if this all-singing-all-dancing facade could just be "peacock feathers" to an otherwise bland building, a dress if you will.
Maybe I'm thinking more about media screens in urban situations as I'm really interested in buildings like this: http://www.mediafacade.com/
Also I found this book Architecture of the Night. The Illuminated Building. edited by Dietrich Neumann. which interests me from the summary, because most of the examples I have expressed use a play of light in some way. Will have to see if my library has a copy.
Also this exhibition in Stuttgart, http://www.kunstmuseum-stuttgart.de/en/index.php?site=1&page=2&actualSel=4, But I don't think there is any way I can make it to see this, I've tried e-mailing them, but no reply as of yet.
Anyway, maybe it is more about architectural illumination rather than just digital facades? It would be quite interesting to write about how light and architecture (in the synthetic sense) has changed and what it has become to what it could be? Looking at the Eiffel Tower, Empire State to Times Square and the recent lot of buildings like the UN Studio one, T-Mobile's HQ and the Allianz Stadium.
Possibly delving into film/cinema and what they predict as the future, such as Blade Runner, I-Robot, Minority Report, Fifth Element. (one of my earlier choices, but someone in our university has already done a film/architecture disseration)
CAD vs Hand-drawing has been done to death.
Digital/Media Facades is way more interesting IMHO. You can get really deep into the philosophical and theoretical side of it. It might encompass Phenomenology, - Urban Semiotics, Baudrillard - , Imageabilty of the City etc. etc. - the list goes on. - I think that's a really exciting subject you've chosen - it's much more political and probably more relevent.
.....hope that helps???? :confused:
Yeah looks good, the facades one always interested me more (with CAD I was really looking at new technologies thinking about it, such as google earth, new laser technology, better rendering programs etc).
Had to even look up that work Phenomenology! Any more that you could expand on would be a great help!
The Urban Semiotics brings it back the the flâneur ideas that I toyed with when I was looking at skyscrapers etc. in Hong Kong.
Definitely look at Robert Venturi's 'Learning from Las Vegas' if you go with the first topic...
I've already read that, but it was more than a few years back. I will have to re-read it again. Any specific parts of it you think I should look at?
CAD vs Hand-drawing has been done to death.
I could not agree more. My heart sinks when I hear people wanting to debate/write about this issue. It really is the most tedious topic possible. Don't go there!! :no no no:
Your other option however seems much more interesting. I would want to read it!! :)
Anyone got any books/buildings not mentioned above that I could look at on this topic?
imasayer
01-08-2006, 17:15
Here is a good source for an overview of phenomenology. (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/phenomenology/) Good luck. It is a little ambiguous when applied to architecture. OK, a lot ambiguous.
It is a little ambiguous when applied to architecture. OK, a lot ambiguous.
I'd look at Steven Holl's work when it comes to phenomenology. Parallax is a good read dealing with his perspectives on phenomenology and how it informs/drives his architecture.
imasayer
01-08-2006, 17:36
I'd look at Steven Holl's work when it comes to phenomenology. Parallax is a good read dealing with his perspectives on phenomenology and how it informs/drives his architecture.
Yeah, good call. I still think that it is a little "out there". I have discussed it with a friend who is getting his doctorate in philosophy and he has trouble seeing how you can make the connection between phenomenology and architecture.
Yeah, good call. I still think that it is a little "out there". I have discussed it with a friend who is getting his doctorate in philosophy and he has trouble seeing how you can make the connection between phenomenology and architecture.
read AlbertoPerez-Gomez to understand the Maurice Merleau-Ponty phenomenology and architecture connection. it is the corner stone of his work.
:not worth
Built Upon Love: Architectural Longing After Ethics and Aesthetics
Perez-Gomez, Alberto
The forced polarity between form and function in considerations of architecture--opposing art to social interests, ethics to poetic expression--obscures the deep connections between ethical and poetical values in architectural tradition. Architecture has been, and must continue to be, writes Alberto Perez-Gomez, built upon love. Modernity has rightly rejected past architectural excesses, but, Perez-Gomez argues, the materialistic and technological alternatives it proposes instead do not answer satisfactorily the complex desire that defines humanity. True architecture is concerned with far more than fashionable form, affordable homes, and sustainable development; it responds to a desire for an eloquent place to dwell--one that lovingly provides a sense of order resonant with our dreams. In "Built upon Love Perez-Gomez uncovers the relationship between love and architecture in order to find the points of contact between poetics and ethics--between the architect's wish to design a beautiful world and architecture's imperative to provide a better place for society. "Eros, as first imagined by the early lyric poets of classical Greece, is the invisible force at the root of our capacity to create and comprehend the poetic image. Perez-Gomez examines the nature of architectural form in the light of "eros, seduction, and the tradition of the poetic image in Western architecture. He charts the ethical dimension of architecture, tracing the connections between "philia--the love of friends that entails mutual responsibility among equals--and architectural program. He explores the position of architecture at the limits of language and discusses the analogical language of "philia in modernistarchitectural theory. Finally, he uncovers connections between ethics and poetics, describing a contemporary practice of architecture under the sign of love, incorporating both "eros and "philia.
ima, you should read more holl, too...you'd be surprised how he has made that type of connection to phenomenology.
imasayer
01-08-2006, 17:54
read AlbertoPerez-Gomez to understand the Maurice Merleau-Ponty phenomenology and architecture connection. it is the corner stone of his work.
:not worth
Built Upon Love: Architectural Longing After Ethics and Aesthetics
Perez-Gomez, Alberto
The forced polarity between form and function in considerations of architecture--opposing art to social interests, ethics to poetic expression--obscures the deep connections between ethical and poetical values in architectural tradition. Architecture has been, and must continue to be, writes Alberto Perez-Gomez, built upon love. Modernity has rightly rejected past architectural excesses, but, Perez-Gomez argues, the materialistic and technological alternatives it proposes instead do not answer satisfactorily the complex desire that defines humanity. True architecture is concerned with far more than fashionable form, affordable homes, and sustainable development; it responds to a desire for an eloquent place to dwell--one that lovingly provides a sense of order resonant with our dreams................
Sounds like my thesis. I dealt with the meaning of dwelling and contrasted Gaston Bachelard (The Poetics of Space) and Martin Heidegger (Poetry, Language, Thought) as two incompatible ideas of dwelling.
imasayer
01-08-2006, 17:55
ima, you should read more holl, too...you'd be surprised how he has made that type of connection to phenomenology.
I have the book, but not read it yet. I'll check it out.
ima, you should read more holl, too...you'd be surprised how he has made that type of connection to phenomenology.
i would like to get a copy of this...
HOLL, Steven, Juhani Pallasmaa, and Alberto Perez-Gomez.
Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture, 3rd edition.
San Francisco, 2006.
This is the third printing of the classic A+U 1994 special edition covering the work of Holl, Pallasmaa, and, Perez-Gomez, titled Questions of Perception. Their three individual essays presented in the book, are thematically linked; each one tries to explain the role man's perception plays in architecture and also explores phenomenal accounts. In their original introduction, the authors write: "The endless cultural limitations and contradictions inherent in artistic work, revealed with impeccable clarity and logic by the critics' deconstructive theory, are ultimately of limited use for the generation of architecture. The architect must take a position, one that necessarily has ethical consequences, and for which words, a theoretical discourse is nevertheless indispensable. The architect's work exists silently, in the public realm, and is therefore, unavoidable, an affirmation. This is perhaps a dilemma, one that makes architectural practice in the late twentieth century difficult, yet fascinating. Unlike the critic and the philosopher, the architect must embrace the contradictions between perception and logic, the slippage between architectural intention and realization, and the unpredictability of the future's judgement upon the acting present, and "resolve" or confuse these aporias through his/her personal imagination. [This book] represents a humble attempt to articulate words and images with this generative intention in mind" English/Japanese.
Binding: Pap.
Pages: 160 pp
Book Id: 71167
Price: $45.00
I've found a few more buildings:
T-Mobile HQ - Bonn
Schaulager - Münchenstein (H&dM)
Soccer Stadium St. Jakob Park - Basel (predecessor to the Allianz)
Torre Agbar - Barcelona
You may have a look here. This product was developed especially for this purpose.
http://www.medienfassade.com/mediamesh.html
http://www.creativeweave.de/index.html?fr_start_unt.html
Sorry only in German.
The GKD mesh by ag4 is the material used on the T-Mobile HQ. This was an addition to the building rather than an integrated media facade system, however it does seem to have worked very well.
I think that may be one route my dissertation goes down, the differences between an integrated lighting/media facade system during the design phase and as an after-thought (Times Square, Picadilly Circus etc)
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