Imagination Projects

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

http://www.davidgarciastudio.com/inglewood.html http://www.coop-himmelblau.at/

i m a g i n a t i o n

yui uchimura

cottrell vermeulen architecture - westborough primary school Location: Westcliff-on-Sea, UK Program: Primary School Classroom Completion: 2001 Client: Unknown Area: 105 sqm Construction Sum: £177,157

frank gehry - walt disney concert hall Location: Los Angeles, US Program: Completion: 2003 Client: Walt Disney Concert Hall Committee Area: 27,000 sqm Construction Sum: $274,000,000

_imagination is... >> imagination as cognitive process >> imagination as ontological perception >> imagination as originality / creativity >> imagination as an illusion of language ‘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 environmental 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 pupils), in collecting the raw materials, are instigated to imagine the potential of what everyday material 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)

‘This single classroom facility was designed as an ‘after school club’ and uses an innovative building material – 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 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 tubes, 183mm in diameter support a timber roof truss. Arranging tubes in lines or clusters helps to distribute 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 from cardboard honeycomb edged with timber strips. The timber frame improves structural performance and 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. The embodied energy of the building is greatly reduced in comparison to a masonry structure of a similar size.’ [http://www.imagineschooldesign.org/]

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) what is the relationship between imagination and technology? imagination is used as a tool to realise unexplored potentials in technology, through the use of paper/cardboard which is commonly perceived to be a fairly flimsy and non-lasting material in order create a permanent building. >> the structural ideas are integral to the architect’s imaginative design computer technology is applied later as a tool to realise the imaginative product, or exists independently within the imagined object (the main auditorium area is design by acoustic engineer 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 structural ideas are not integral to the architect’s imaginative design

http://philosophy.uwaterloo.ca/MinDict/imagination.html http://www.cv-arch.co.uk/ http://www.imagineschooldesign.org/ ‘Sketches of Frank Gehry’, Sydney Pollack, 2005 http://www.architectureweek.com/2003/1217/design_1-1.html

‘The building is a stunning piece of architecture, ripe for metaphoric interpretations ranging from blooming flower to sailing ship. 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 than the adjacent orchestra seats... Many of the other lobbies and passages in the middle zone, however, simply feel like oddangled leftover spaces hiding potential sectional wonders. The lack of clear organization may be egalitarian, but the control of chaos slips a bit here... The exterior in-betweens, on the other hand, are extraordinary. The public garden wraps around the western 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 curved exterior corridors circumscribing the building create unique spatial experiences reminiscent of Richard Serra sculptures.’ [http://www.architectureweek.com/2003/1217/design_1-1.html ]