i m a g i n a t i o n flynn lewer
david garcia studio - inglewood community centre coop himmelb(l)au - vienna rooftop remodelling
both projects aim to occupy ‘unusable’ space, why?
inglewood: there needs to be a new community place for inglewood, it may be
necessary to get off the ground- away from problems
vienna: “if ever there was really a task in architecture then this is it. the law
office... wished to extend their office upwards” http://www.coop-himmelblau.at/site/
what is being imagined?
inglewood: a new community sanctuary which provides previously unavailable
essential services. a space which releases the community from their environment
so that they can re-evaluate it comfort in an uncomfortable context
vienna: a parasitic form, “cavernous” discomfort in a comfortable context
where does the imagination come from?
inglewood: it is a response to the context -
a tool for addressing community needs
vienna: a desire for something unexpected/alien, experimentation
a process for attaining the unexpected
how was imagination managed?
inglewood: it was an intial project driver, functionally the building responds to real
concerns (eg form reflects sound from highway/planes). though some other
elements (escape chutes) are maintained-
facilitate user involvement in the imaginative
vienna: architects imagined the building, the vision drove all engineering &
functional requirements.
the imaginative vision is a marvel, though abstract
what is the role of imagination over the long term?
inglewood: if we can provide a space for contemplation, and diverse elements
incorporating imaginative aspects maybe
imagination can be a personal interpretation/response passed on
vienna: the building is a singular image/vision, which may be interpreted but
it remains to be understood as an abstract ideal
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i m a g i n a t i o n yui uchimura
cottrell vermeulen architecture - westborough primary school frank gehry - walt disney concert hall
Location: Westcliff-on-Sea, UK Location: Los Angeles, US
_imagination is...
Program: Primary School Classroom Program:
Completion: 2001 >> imagination as cognitive process Completion: 2003
Client: Unknown >> imagination as ontological perception Client: Walt Disney Concert Hall Committee
Area: 105 sqm >> imagination as originality / creativity Area: 27,000 sqm
>> imagination as an illusion of language
Construction Sum: £177,157 Construction Sum: $274,000,000
‘the act of imagining, or forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the
senses // thoughts about things that have never been actually experienced’
_imagination as manifested by cottrell vermeulen / gehry...
what is being imagined?
the potential of unique building materials (recycled paper/card as a structural and architectural
solution) and unexplored building processes (the raw material was collected by the staff, parents
and pupils of the school) are imagined.
>> imagination produces PROCESS, THOUGHT.
the production of unexplored building forms and unknown spatial potentials are imagined:
‘Frank uses shapes and forms unlike anyone has ever used them in the building of a structure.’
(Sydney Pollack - Director, ‘Sketches of Frank Gehry’)
>> imagination produces PRODUCT
what instigates imagination?
imagination is instigated by the search for a suitable process in which to address both the desire
for a sense of user ownership and participation, in conjunction with the need to address environ-
mental concerns about waste management and recyling.
imagination is instigated by the desire to create something that is unexpected (has not been ‘done
before’), facilitate personal expression, and need to understand (‘imagine’) the user’s feelings:
‘There’s an extraordinary discipline in creating spaces for music, but there’s no formula for it -- you
have to feel your way into it. You have to get emotionally into the culture of the musicians and the
music.’ (Frank Gehry)
who is doing the imagining?
the architect must think creatively about an innovative building process in order to facilitate user
participation and environmental sustainability. simultaneously, the users (staff, parents and pu-
pils), in collecting the raw materials, are instigated to imagine the potential of what everyday ma-
terial can produce with a little bit of creativity and about what waste management and recycling
is capable of producing; to imagine the connection between process and product which is not
visually manifest in everyday life.
>> architect + users (architect uses imagination to encourage imagination in users)
the architect thinks creatively in order to produce a building form that is unique and will instill awe
in its users. simultaneously (though this is more a byproduct than an end in itself) the creation of
arbitrary and unexpected spaces are open to appropriation and instigate the user’s imagination.
>> architect + users (the unpredictable imagined form encourages imaginative appropriation)
‘This single classroom facility was designed as an ‘after school club’ and uses an innovative building mate-
rial – cardboard. The architects have worked with Buro Happold engineers, who developed structural carboard
tube frame and cladding technology. The research expertise that this demonstrates can also be found in the what is the relationship between imagination and technology?
buildings of other architects such as Shigeru Ban. The raw material for the cardboard was collected by the staff,
parents and pupils of Westborough Primary School. At either end of the building, two lines of 11 cardboard imagination is used as a tool to realise unexplored potentials in technology, through the use of
tubes, 183mm in diameter support a timber roof truss. Arranging tubes in lines or clusters helps to distribute paper/cardboard which is commonly perceived to be a fairly flimsy and non-lasting material in
applied loads and prevent the material’s tendency to creep or deform over time. Single tubes support lintels
over window openings. A layer of varnish protects the cardboard from sticky hands. Cladding panels are formed order create a permanent building.
from cardboard honeycomb edged with timber strips. The timber frame improves structural performance and >> the structural ideas are integral to the architect’s imaginative design
also means that panels can be fixed using conventional joining techniques... The building itself is made up of
approximately 80% paper/card and also relies on timber elements and plastic weatherproofed external cladding. computer technology is applied later as a tool to realise the imaginative product, or exists inde-
The embodied energy of the building is greatly reduced in comparison to a masonry structure of a similar size.’ pendently within the imagined object (the main auditorium area is design by acoustic engineer
[http://www.imagineschooldesign.org/] Yasuhisa Toyota, not the architect).
‘He (Gehry) got the fact that this (computer technology) was... an amazing tool... entirely suited
to his ability to pick up this cup, crumple it up, stick it on top of this building and say, ‘That’s an
interesting shape, let’s see if we can take that shape into some sort of design.’’
(Thomas Krens – Director, Guggenheim Foundation) ‘The building is a stunning piece of architecture, ripe for metaphoric interpretations ranging from blooming flower to sailing ship.
>> the structural ideas are not integral to the architect’s imaginative design The main auditorium, designed by Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics, is being lauded for its acoustic quality. The building’s
very existence is a miracle of logistics and perseverance... Though essentially a rectangle, one would never know it to sit inside
the sculpted Douglas fir and cedar auditorium. Swooping concave walls of staggered wood panels hold terraced seating in the
“vineyard” layout made famous in the Berlin Philharmonie. The audience surrounds the stage, which is elevated slightly higher
http://philosophy.uwaterloo.ca/MinDict/imagination.html than the adjacent orchestra seats... Many of the other lobbies and passages in the middle zone, however, simply feel like odd-
angled leftover spaces hiding potential sectional wonders. The lack of clear organization may be egalitarian, but the control of
http://www.cv-arch.co.uk/ chaos slips a bit here... The exterior in-betweens, on the other hand, are extraordinary. The public garden wraps around the west-
http://www.imagineschooldesign.org/ ern and southern sides of the site, providing panoramic views of the city while maintaining a sense of enclosure... The site is filled
with a variety of trees, shrubs, and perennials — all selected to ensure that something will be in bloom year-round. Meanwhile, the
‘Sketches of Frank Gehry’, Sydney Pollack, 2005 curved exterior corridors circumscribing the building create unique spatial experiences reminiscent of Richard Serra sculptures.’
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