Framing Without Borders- Liberty Hall, Dublin City
Introduction
(Above) Overall section through all floors of Liberty Hall.
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Throughout the mid to late 20th century the focus shifted from interactive architecture to beautiful yet unyielding ‘building surfaces [that] privilege the human gaze (Harrison, 2017) over human needs. This quote by architect Ariane Lourie Harrison, a strong proponent of designing for all forms of life, not only makes a general remark on modern architecture but a more pointed one when considering the motivations behind the designs of buildings like Liberty Hall.
Liberty Hall was designed as an image, not as a functioning building. It had a poorly sized floorplan, a large dominating central core and mismatched facade glazing that reflected Dublin City. Liberty Hall felt like a looming presence that neither provided for its users or interacted with the city. This is where 'Framing Without Borders' comes into play. For the past semester, this scheme has built upon the idea of designing a building that would open its self up to the living systems that surround and use it. It would provide a place for people to eat, work, rest and live amongst plants, natural systems and the local species identified that call Dublin City 'home'. It would provide space and an option for the ecosystems displaced through urbanism to feed, nest, rest, breaking down the boundaries between humans and ecosystems as well as interior and exterior. This would thus create a new way of semi-interior/ semi- exterior living. This would all be achieved through a alternative form of facade cladding, subsequently dubbed as 'thread-and-frame' facade paneling. This is where thread would be used in different patterns to partially or fully fill up a frame depending on a variety of factors that will ultimately culminate in a new Liberty Hall. These frames will be used to create a new type of equalitarian co-habitation that will question how we design, who we currently design for and how we can alongside nature and other species for the benefit of all involved.. |
Previous Semester- Biophilic Design- Design by Connection
In the previous semester, my focus was to create space that prioritized the human experience through the use of biophilic design. The theory behind biophilic design is to use elements of nature and natural systems to provide restorative experiences to people that ‘can reduce stress, improve cognitive function’ (Browning et al., 2014) and several other benefits backed by academic studies.
These studies are brought together to back the principles of the core patterns laid out in ’14 Patterns of Biophilic Design’. Using these patterns as a guide, Liberty Hall was redesigned to provide new methods of living within nature in the urban context by providing gardens, sanctuaries and farms throughout its seventeen floors. This was to blur the boundaries between exterior and interior, built and natural, so that the existing systems surrounding Liberty Hall could brought inside, creating a semi-indoor/ semi-outdoor form of living. As the semester came to an end, I became more curious as to how this could be actualized in Liberty Hall’s façade. Throughout the project’s duration, the line between interior/ exterior was intentionally left faint so as not to create sub-conscious boundaries between the two spaces I was attempting to blur together. In a 1:25 scale model of Liberty Hall created in semester 2, no border was provided around the edges to convey how open I imagined the building's facade would be surrounding the lives and activities of the building's residents. And while this helped in understanding and conveying a core concept of the project, I wanted to progress into the final semester by actualizing this concept in a facade of Liberty Hall. To create this border that wasn't a border. This ultimately felt like the natural next step towards a more open and responsive building for the residents of Dublin City. Website from the previous semester: https://marthadineen.weebly.com Reference: Browning, W., Ryan, C., & Clancy, J. (2014). 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design- Improving Health and Well-Being in The Built Environment.. Terrapin Bright Green. |
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Concept Proposal/ Precedent Research
(Left to Right)- Silk Pavilion- Neri Oxman, First Test Model and the Butterfly Sanctuary
Over the summer, I came across the work of Neri Oxman, a Professor at the MIT Media Lab in Massachusetts, whose research and Silk Pavilion explored ‘ways of overcoming the existing limitations of additive manufacturing at architectural scales’ (Howarth, 2013) using silkworms and thread to make a pavilion (above left).
This was the catalyst of my idea to use, what I later coined as a ‘thread-and-frame’ façade paneling system for Liberty Hall. I began experimenting with creating my own frame using nails, a photo frame and thread (above center) to understand and explore the concept of using a nature inspired, yet human designed, system to clothe Liberty Hall.
Yet it felt as though the panels could do more than acting as a boundary that let in different degrees of natural systems dependent on the threading density and pattern. This is where the Butterfly Sanctuary (above right) comes in. This precedent inspired the idea for Liberty Hall not to provide for solely the human users of Liberty Hall but the ecosystems surrounding it. This would actually better fulfill the idea of blurring the line between Liberty Hall and its context.
Over the summer, I came across the work of Neri Oxman, a Professor at the MIT Media Lab in Massachusetts, whose research and Silk Pavilion explored ‘ways of overcoming the existing limitations of additive manufacturing at architectural scales’ (Howarth, 2013) using silkworms and thread to make a pavilion (above left).
This was the catalyst of my idea to use, what I later coined as a ‘thread-and-frame’ façade paneling system for Liberty Hall. I began experimenting with creating my own frame using nails, a photo frame and thread (above center) to understand and explore the concept of using a nature inspired, yet human designed, system to clothe Liberty Hall.
Yet it felt as though the panels could do more than acting as a boundary that let in different degrees of natural systems dependent on the threading density and pattern. This is where the Butterfly Sanctuary (above right) comes in. This precedent inspired the idea for Liberty Hall not to provide for solely the human users of Liberty Hall but the ecosystems surrounding it. This would actually better fulfill the idea of blurring the line between Liberty Hall and its context.
Reference Material
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Core Semester 2 Literature:
- 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design- Improving Health and Well-Being in the Built Environment by William Browning, Catherine Ryan and Joseph Clancy - The Emergence of Biophilic Design by Jana Soederlund -Let's Discuss it with Catherine Larrere from 'Industry of Nature' Core Semester 3 (Final Semester) Literature: - Dublin City Biodiversity Action Plan 2015- 2020 by Dublin City Council - Draft Dublin City Biodiversity Action Plan 2021- 2025 by Dublin City Council - Architectural Theories of the Environment: Posthuman Territory by Ariane Lourie Harrison |
Primary Research Questions
This initial research and exploration aided in generating the primary questions that I plan to use to guide the development of this scheme and hopefully by the end of this project. -How can the theories of biophilic and post humanist design be used to generate a new material assemblage to broach the non-living, non- responsive border of Liberty Hall with surrounding ecological systems? -Is it possible to engage ecology, humans included, with an interactive building facade that allows for co-habitation and natural growth? -Can we formalise and frame defined ways to cater for both ourselves and our ecology using a 'thread-and-frame' facade? -Can we circumvent the presupposed concept that the human world, ecological and natural are to be treated as three separate entities? Seeing how they have long been studied and regarded in three distinct fields of study, it may be challenging to change perceptions on how unifying the three, through design, can be possible. -Finally, could a posthuman influenced view on Liberty Hall create new discourse in architectural theory where ecology and humans are treated as equal catalysts for design development? |
Image References:
- Butterfly Sanctuary- Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Building in New York City with Terreform ONE. (2018). [Image]. Retrieved 10 January 2022, from http://terreform.blogspot.com/2018/07/monarch-sanctuary-building-in-soho-new.html.
- Neri Oxman Silk Pavilion- Neri Oxman- Silk Pavilion. (2015). [Image]. Retrieved 10 January 2022, from https://www.archpaper.com/2015/03/neri-oxman/.