Category: ARCH 793AB: Construction, Abstracted

According to Wikipedia, an impossible object is a type of optical illusion that consists of a two-dimensional figure which is instantly and naturally understood as representing a projection of a three-dimensional object but cannot exist as a solid object. 1 Inspired by “the impossible object”, this thesis aims to explore the collision between two-dimensional flat drawings and three-dimensional architectural space. When a three-dimensional building is presented as a two-dimensional drawing, we usually use a specific refraction method to restore it to three dimensions. Based on this representation of different dimensions, the thesis is interested in the relationship between flatness and solid, ambiguity and complexity, but most importantly, the possibility of architectural space and representation.

Buildings have character. Whether perceived as familiar backdrops, quirky scenery, or tasteless eyesores, this personification intensifies our relationship with architecture. This perception of character can impose upon the practice of architecture, as in neighborhoods deemed to have historic character, where architecture of a different style is unwanted or even prohibited. Furthermore, these impressions are often created within a preconceived collective architectural imagination – the house one imagines has the character of a house. Today we are working in an architectural afterlife, everything new we build must sit within the context of what was built before. What role does human craft play in this future? Artist Do Ho Suh, while crafting sewn architectural sculptures from fabric, has compared clothing to architecture. Both are habitable spaces formed, in some way, around the human body. What might it mean for buildings to be like clothes? What might it mean to craft architecture in the way clothing is crafted, full of delight and identity? “Clothes Make Character” uses the tools of craft to produce a characterful architecture that allows us to form closer relationships with our living and working spaces.

Prompted by an interest in the individual’s personal relationship to and authorship over the built environment, A world much like our own is an experiment in placemaking. Through this experiment, we reflect upon the architectural conditions that define a fictitious project existing inside a mythical United States, but living outside its rules, codes, and customs. Illustrated by way of an imagined community living within these conditions, this thesis explores the reciprocity of architecture, landscape, and property lines in defining ownership and community. In A world much like our own, we explore the possibilities of an architecture reflective of sovereignty and collectivity; we explore a project existing at the intersection between the transient built environment, and the communal longing for places of permanency.

In the contemporary definition of the role of graphic design and architecture, the thesis aims to explore the point of convergence between branding and graphic design in spatial architectural design. By finding the common threads between the three disciplines, the nuanced concept of flatness in architecture has revealed itself. Mark Wigley, in ‘Multiple Signatures’ by Michael Rock suggests, “Think graphic design not as gift-wrapping of an existing or proposed design, but as design itself. Construction, even.” “Iconic Surfaces” challenges the perceptions of architectural space by introducing symbols as dynamic, non 2D-elements that start to inform design, as opposed to their conventional role as mere titles of spatial ownership. Central to this question of flatness in architecture is the recognition of symbols as a universal language, sparking an interest in their use beyond mere representation and surface treatment. Situated within the context of the Water’s Edge building in Los Angeles, recently acquired by Nike for a major expansion, the project aims to redefine architectural space by integrating graphical elements into the built environment. With plans for the Water’s Edge building to serve as a gallery and exhibition space, reimagining its use from a typical retail store program, the project aims to foster creativity, innovation, and community engagement.

“Can Art Be Architecture (The AIA Doesn’t Think So) explores the historical relationship between the architect as an agent of culture in society and the bureaucracy and political responsibility of the built environment. The thesis aims to critique both the profession and education of architecture using subversive mediums such as graffiti, conceptual art, and interdisciplinary biases as tools to question and challenge the profession and discipline in the age of bureaucracy. By critically examining the hierarchical structures ingrained within architectural education and challenging the notion of licensure as a prerequisite for creative expression, it endeavors to reshape the discourse surrounding architectural pedagogy. The ultimate ambition of the thesis is to challenge contemporary frameworks by revisiting historical ways in which the architect operates while also questioning the limitations and restrictions of our contemporary policies. Emphasizing the need for a paradigm shift.

In philosophy, the concept of simulacrum has emerged as a compelling lens through which to examine the intricate relationship between reality and representation.1 Simulacra, refers to representations or copies that blur the line between reality and illusion, often existing in a hyperreal state. Jean Baudrillard, encompass four stages of simulation: reality, the mask or perversion of reality, the absence of reality, and the total detachment from reality.2 This thesis explores simulacrum through methods of architectural representation, utilizing typologies as a framework to generate reimagined projects. Typologies are often recognizable and have both historical and cultural significance that allow for comparative analysis across diverse contexts.

Analyzing the fusion of film and architecture, a satellite festival grounds for Cannes in Barcelona aims to celebrate Spanish cinema history and ignite urban renewal. Nestled within L’exiample, known for its rigid layout, the project introduces a new midway through the superblock stemming from Parc Joan Miró. This achieves a new film and allied arts hub along the coveted ‘avenidas verdes’ without sacrificing vital green space. The structures, which have resulted in an archipelagic reading, contain dual programs to ensure year-round use, even during the festival’s off-season. Balancing functionality and aesthetics, this endeavor seeks to enrich both the cinematic and urban experience, fostering enduring community engagement and championing a new way to view what is possible within Barcelona’s well-established urban fabric.

This thesis aspires to offer a comprehensive approach where aesthetics, historical precedent, and modern technology converge into a Western representation of the built environment. Presented through the design of a contemporary Architecture Museum, the thesis aims to create a close reading of construction, tectonics, representations, and building technologies. Through its Western approach to building, the thesis embraces capitalism and post-modernism as a problem for understanding and critiquing architecture in the post-digital turn.

This thesis research explores the mixing, meshing, and unity of growing hybrid identities, races, and cultures occuring around the globe. Climate migration, Economic migration, Political instability and so on are all growing factors to the migration of different cultures, races, and ethnicities throughout the world. How can we explore the growth of hybrid identities through architecture? How can we incorporate traditional patterns, textures, and identities through new abstract architectural forms? This thesis explores diaspora and embraces its collaging, montaging, weaving, and 3D projections through abstract forms in architecture. Currently, there is a lack of cultural centers for people of all mixed or migrated backgrounds. This thesis hopes to address this issue in order to explore the creation of a cultural center for future generations to come.

In architectural design, a dichotomy traditionally exists between the tangible constructs of solid and void, addition and subtraction. However, within this binary framework lies a nuanced, yet underexplored, domain: a realm characterized by the absence of materiality, yet still holding purpose and significance. This liminal space, between tangible and intangible, could benefit from a deeper examination of its potential and function within architectural discourse.

This research aims to examine and articulate the role of non-tangible mediums in architecture and design, with a particular focus on the ephemeral and elusive qualities of light projections, illusions, spatial voids, and the “membrane” that is created when the intangible converges with tangible architecture.

When reapproaching spatial design by examining the inherent qualities of projected images as a material, how can thoughtful integration of these elements reinvent and expand the program of architectural spaces?