the making of place discovering clarity through the sensory process of making Elise Anne LaPaglia Graduate Thesis Sample Portfolio Master of Architecture 2013
to immerse to enclose to isolate to seclude to connect to respect to be at-one to emote to light to explore to expand to distance to imagine to intuit to touch to discover to disconnect to filter to engage to remember to observe to strip to remove to sense to perceive to pick up to ground to associate to link to mingle to heighten to contrast to compare to disconnect to dismantle to deprive to think to wrap to shelter to perforate to frame to slow to feel to let go to transition to reflect Exquisite Diagram intuitive experience of place ink transfer, watercolor Genius Loci exploration of light charcoal, photoshop Great thinkers who have inspired this thesis Peter Zumthor Steven Holl Maurice Merleau-Ponty Juhani Pallasmaa Richard Serra Richard Lang Tadao Ando Louis Kahn Genius Loci exploration of scale ink transfer, charcoal, photoshop process of making fine & course pumice gel sand, glue, & water mix canvas
sub con scious noun the mental activities just below the threshold of consciousness tech ne noun craftsmanship, craft, or art con scious adjective perceiving, apprehending, or noticing with a degree of controlled thought or observation ep is tem e adjective to know; knowledge There are only two ways to experience architecture: consciously and subconsciously. Conscious thought presents itself with the world as-is the setting of every possible event; and subconscious thought, or perception, is an intellectual re-creation of the world at every moment. Within the realm of consciousness are the tangible aspects of architecture--the tectonic method by which materials are brought together, or Techne. Within the realm of subconsciousness are the intangible aspects of architecture--the emotive forces on your body and mind as you physically move through a space, or Episteme. 6 1/2 7 5/8 5 3/4 3 5/8 The scale of a human hand compared to the scale of a brick acrylic paint, graphite pencil The shape I intuitively created for this installation is the same exact shape that I originally sketched out, six months ago, as an intuitive gesture responding to my experience of Therme Vals. This single gesture brings together my entire thesis objective: how the subconscious constantly informs the conscious, even when we aren t aware of it. This feeling of epiphany comes from the fact that this idea came to surface only when I applied all of the conscious, technical, real aspects of architecture to this subconscious intuition of experience. This is exactly what I have been after throughout the entire thesis exploration. The application of the argument I have been making the act of making architecture can shift sensory perception of space from the subconscious to the conscious. This proves that the art, the practice, the technicalities, the realities, the poetics of architecture can transform a purely intuitive and perceptual interpretation of an experience and turn it into a very real thing that one can experience and touch, and see, and smell, and taste and hear in a real site, immersed in the elements, built by my own two hands. The spacing of the bricks allows for light to penetrate the walls. This also intensifies the effect of being wrapped or enclosed as one moves through the space. By tapering the bricks as the spiral unwinds, it creates a sense of wrapping as the inhabitor moves through the space. When one is inside the interior of the structure, there is no visual connection with the outside. It is quiet solitude inside the enclosure, allowing the inhabitor to reflect thoughtfully. The pairing down of the structure helped to eliminate unnecessary thickness and freed up much needed bricks to bring the structure taller. Plan of installation AutoCAD
Section-perspective of installation photography, AutoCAD, photoshop Louis Kahn, the brick whisperer: To give something presence, you have to consult nature. And there is where design comes in. If you think of brick, for instance, you say to brick, What do you want, brick? And brick says to you, I like an arch. And if you say to brick, Look, arches are expensive and I can use a concrete lintel over you, so what do you think of that, brick? Brick says, I like an arch. Process images of building the installation photography, photoshop And it s important, you see, that you honor the material which you use.