Tectonic Elements from the Site Model

Scale as an Architectural Means

For a moment we take our focus off the ground and return to the training routine established in Week One. We identify body positions and derive the spatial demands for each exercise of the routine. While articulating the spatial characteristics of the exercises we introduce scale as an architectural means, starting with 1/4" = 1'-0". Ultimately we form an understanding of scale in relation to the human figure.

The Movements - of crowds, dancers, fighters - recall the inevitable intrusion of bodies into architectural spaces, the intrusion of one order into another. The need to record accurately such confrontations, without falling into functionalist formulas suggested precise forms of movement notation. An extension of the drawn conventions or choreography, this notation attempts to eliminate the preconceived meaning given to particular actions in order to concentrate on their spatial effects: the movement of bodies in space. Rather than merely indicating directional arrows on a neutral surface, the logic of movement notation ultimately suggests real corridors of space, as if the dancer has been carving space out of a pliable substance': or the reverse, shaping continuous volumes, as if a whole movement has been literally solidified, 'frozen' into a permanent and massive vector. (Bernard Tschumi)

We also want to show some appreciation for the phenomenological conditions specific to each exercise. Performing each activity, how does the body experience space? Is your routine designed to build endurance, strength or speed; how does that affect the experience? Privileged Wordset: Develop a matrix of terms that relates the Exercise (noun) of your routine and its Activity (verb) to a Spatial quality (adj.) Example:

warm-up / to crouch / compressed
warm-up / to stretch / expansive
warm-up / to jump rope / continuous

sparring / to jab / measured
sparring / to swerve / dented
sparring / to duck / depressed

The authenticity of Architectural experience is grounded in the tectonic language of building and the comprehensibility of the act of construction to the senses. We behold, touch, listen, and measure the world with our entire bodily existence and the experiential world is organized and articulated around the center of the body. Our domicile is the refuge of our body, memory and identity. We are in constant dialogue and interaction with the environment, to the degree that it is impossible to detach the image of the self from its spatial and situational existence. "I am the space, where I am," as the poet Noel Arnaud established. (Juhani Pallasmaa)

In addition to the individual moments of perception we map the procedural character of the routine. From the bodily procession emerges an infrastructural, navigational system, which currently comes in the form of an abstract notation - a circulation diagram. It defines the sequence of spaces and spatial potential of an overlapping and loosely knotted path.

Black and White Pictures With High Contrast to Accentuate Light and Shadows

Theories of Light

Newton's theory - light consists of particles called corpuscles; this theory only explained reflection.

Wave theory of light (Maxwell's theory) - light behaves like a wave; this explained all the properties of light such as reflection, refraction, diffraction, and interference; it did not explain the photoelectric effect or radiation produced by an incandescent light.

Quantum theory (Einstein's theory) - light has a dual nature; when light is transmitted through space or matter, it behaves like a wave; when light is emitted or absorbed, it behaves like a particle called a photon.

Maxwell's theory of light as an electromagnetic wave:

-a changing electric field will produce a magnetic field
-a changing magnetic field will produce an electric field

A magnetic field is produced in empty space by a changing electric field. Maxwell hypothesized that if a changing magnetic field produces an electric field, the electric field must also be changing. Maxwell found that the net result of these interacting fields was the production of a wave of magnetic and electric fields traveling through space at a speed of 3 x 108 m/s. Thus, light is an electromagnetic wave.



A photocell is used in the experiment. When placed in the dark, the galvanometer reads zero. When light shines on a metal plate in the photocell, the galvanometer detects a current. When a variable voltage is used and the terminals reversed, a point is reached where no current is detected. This voltage is measures the maximum kinetic energy of the ejected electrons (or photoelectrons). The current flow does not depend upon the intensity of the light used, but upon the frequency of the light used.

Maxwell's wave theory predicts that as the intensity of light is increased, the current flow should increase. The frequency should not affect the maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons. According to this theory, the electric field of the electromagnetic wave exerts a force on the electrons in the metal and some are ejected from the surface.

Einstein's photon theory predicts that only the frequency of the light used affects the maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons. As the intensity of light is increased, no change is seen in the maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons. No photoelectrons are ejected until a minimum value of energy is reached, no matter how great the intensity. After this point, the maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons increases linearly as the frequency of light used increases.

Architectural Speculation

A fertile ground has been found and undergoes a deep site analysis revealing both rhizomatic and hierarchical qualities. Cellular formations and infrastructural networks are tested for their integrity and stability as well as for their deviations, dislocations and for their enclosures. Potential points of intervention are identified; internal growth is exaggerated and manipulated externally. Monstrosities emerge from the meshwork and become objects of architectural speculation. Programmatic demands start to guide the speculation ..

Design Review